Natur og Ungdom
Encyclopedia
Natur og Ungdom which translates Nature and Youth, also known in English as Young Friends of the Earth Norway is a Norwegian
youth environment protecting organisation. It is the only environmentalist
youth organisation in Norway. 7000 members in 80 local groups work on environmental issues all throughout the country. Officially NU is the youth branch of the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature
. The organisation is led by Ola Skaalvik Elvevold
.
The main issues the organisation works with include petroleum
, public transport
, energy
and nature conservation. In addition to local groups there is a central board with 14 members that works on national issues and an administration, both located in Oslo
.
Natur og Ungdom is a member of Friends of the Earth International, and publishes the magazine Putsj
.
. But in the 1970s nuclear power
became a hot issue in Norway and NU gained organisational strength as it opposed the plans, and won a victory when it was decided to not build nuclear power in Norway.
Through the 1970s and 1980s the organisation worked with many issues, including the Alta controversy
, and also to prevent environmental contamination, especially from industry
. In 1984 members from NU and Greenpeace
chained themselves to the factory Titania in Sokndal
in a civil disobedience
action to prohibit the dumping of 2.2 million tonnes oil
and rockdust mixed with chemicals in Dyngadjupet in Jøssingfjord
. This was the first civil disobedience. In 1990 Titania was required to deposit the waste on land, like the environmentalists had demanded.
During the end of the 1980s environmentalism grew among the general population, further strengthening the organisation with more members and local groups. In 1991 NU was the prim organisation in the Rotvoll controversy
. In the EU referendum in 1994 NU worked actively against EU membership. During the late 1990s the main focus has been on trying to prevent the building of natural gas
power plants in Norway and in the 2000s stopping the opening of the Barents Sea
for petroleum production.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
youth environment protecting organisation. It is the only environmentalist
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
youth organisation in Norway. 7000 members in 80 local groups work on environmental issues all throughout the country. Officially NU is the youth branch of the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature
Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature
The Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature , also known as Friends of the Earth Norway and commonly abbreviated NNV is the largest Norwegian environmental organization with 28,000 members. The organization is based on a volunteer work among the members, constituting work both at local and...
. The organisation is led by Ola Skaalvik Elvevold
Ola Skaalvik Elvevold
Ola Skaalvik Elvevold is a Norwegian environmentalist. He is the current chairman of Natur og Ungdom. Prior to his leadership he had been deputy chairman since 2008.-References:...
.
The main issues the organisation works with include petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
, public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
, energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
and nature conservation. In addition to local groups there is a central board with 14 members that works on national issues and an administration, both located in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
.
Natur og Ungdom is a member of Friends of the Earth International, and publishes the magazine Putsj
Putsj
PUTSJ is a magazine affiliated with the Norwegian environmental organisation Natur og Ungdom. It was started in 2000 to replace Natur og Samfunn and has an informal tone discussing topics related to youth, activism, culture and environmentalism...
.
History
In 1967 the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature (NNV) had announced that they wanted a youth organisation, and the two organisations Norsk Feltbiologisk Ungdomsforening (NFU) and Oslo Katedralskoles Naturvernforening decided to merge on November 18, 1967. The organisation had a difficult start with few members and difficult organisation, but in the 1970s NU got better organised with more local groups. Focus in this period was agricultureAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. But in the 1970s nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
became a hot issue in Norway and NU gained organisational strength as it opposed the plans, and won a victory when it was decided to not build nuclear power in Norway.
Through the 1970s and 1980s the organisation worked with many issues, including the Alta controversy
Alta controversy
The Alta controversy refers to a political controversy in Norway in the late 1970s and early 1980s concerning the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Alta river in Finnmark, Northern Norway.-Key events:...
, and also to prevent environmental contamination, especially from industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
. In 1984 members from NU and Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
chained themselves to the factory Titania in Sokndal
Sokndal
Sokndal is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Dalane.The parish of Soggendal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
in a civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
action to prohibit the dumping of 2.2 million tonnes oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
and rockdust mixed with chemicals in Dyngadjupet in Jøssingfjord
Jøssingfjord
Jøssingfjord is a fjord located within the municipality of Sokndal in south-western Norway.The fjord is known as the location of the Altmark Incident, where, during World War II, on February 16, 1940, the British destroyer Cossack managed to free prisoners taken by the Admiral Graf Spee from the...
. This was the first civil disobedience. In 1990 Titania was required to deposit the waste on land, like the environmentalists had demanded.
During the end of the 1980s environmentalism grew among the general population, further strengthening the organisation with more members and local groups. In 1991 NU was the prim organisation in the Rotvoll controversy
Rotvoll controversy
The Rotvoll controversy refers to a political controversy in Norway in 1991 concerning the construction of a research and development facility for Statoil at Rotvoll outside Trondheim.-Key events:...
. In the EU referendum in 1994 NU worked actively against EU membership. During the late 1990s the main focus has been on trying to prevent the building of natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
power plants in Norway and in the 2000s stopping the opening of the Barents Sea
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
for petroleum production.
Chairmen
- Knut Skedsmo (1966–1968)
- Willy Klein (1968)
- Geir Tveit (1969)
- Tore KillinglandTore KillinglandTore Killingland is a Norwegian business manager, environmentalist and politician for the Liberal Party.He took his cand.mag. degree at the University of Oslo. He was a co-founder and chairman of Natur og Ungdom , worked for the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, the Norwegian Consumer Council...
(1971–1973) - Preben Ottesen (1974)
- Espen Wæhle (1975)
- Karen Johanne Baalsrud (1976)
- Bjart Holtsmark (1977)
- Trond Amundsen (1978)
- Espen Koksvik (1979)
- Grete Bæverfjord (1980)
- Marit Smith (1981)
- Haakon Vennemo (1982)
- Inger Spangen (1983)
- Stig Horsberg (1984)
- Tom Christian Axelsen (1985–1986)
- Marianne Gjørv (1987–1988)
- Marit Nyborg (1988–1990)
- Åsne Berre Persen (1991–1992)
- Heidi SørensenHeidi SørensenHeidi Sørensen is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party.She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Oslo in 2001, but was not re-elected in 2005. She instead served as a deputy representative, but met on a regular basis as Kristin Halvorsen was appointed to the second cabinet...
(1993–1994) - Lars HaltbrekkenLars HaltbrekkenLars Haltbrekken is a Norwegian environmentalist and chairman of Friends of the Earth Norway since 2005, after having been deputy chairman the two preceding years. Haltbrekken was also chairman of Natur og Ungdom in 1995 and 1996...
(1995–1996) - Silje Schei TveitdalSilje Schei TveitdalSilje Schei Tveitdal is a Norwegian environmentalist and politician for the Socialist Left Party.She was the leader of Natur og Ungdom in 1997 and 1998. Before being leader she had been deputy leader since 1994...
(1997–1998) - Einar HåndlykkenEinar HåndlykkenEinar Bakke Håndlykken is a Norwegian environmentalist and director of Zero Emission Resource Organisation . Håndlykken started with environmentalism as a youth in Grenland Natur og Ungdom, and became deputy chairman of the national organisation in 1997 and in 1999 and 2000 he was chairman...
(1999–2000) - Elin Lerum BoassonElin Lerum BoassonElin Lerum Boasson is a Norwegian environmentalist and was chairman of Natur og Ungdom in 2001 and 2002. Before being chairman she had been deputy chairman and active in the organisation since she was 13...
(2001–2002) - Ane Hansdatter KismulAne Hansdatter KismulAne Hansdatter Kismul is a Norwegian environmentalist and politician for the Centre Party. Since July 2008, she has been political advisor in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. She joined Nature and Youth in 1996 and started a new local chapter in Mosjøen. In 2000 she was elected deputy leader...
(2003–2005) - Bård LahnBård LahnBård Lappegård Lahn is a Norwegian environmentalist and in 2006 and 2007 chairman of Natur og Ungdom. Prior to his leadership he had been deputy chairman since 2003 and an active member og Natur og Ungdom since the mid 1990s...
(2006–2007) - Ingeborg GjærumIngeborg GjærumIngeborg Gjærum is a Norwegian environmentalist.She hails from Ottestad. She broke national news in 2005, when she was a central board member of Natur og Ungdom. She was deputy leader from 2006 to 2008, and became leader in 2008. She remained so until 2009.In 2010 she was hired by the public...
(2008–2009) - Ola Skaalvik ElvevoldOla Skaalvik ElvevoldOla Skaalvik Elvevold is a Norwegian environmentalist. He is the current chairman of Natur og Ungdom. Prior to his leadership he had been deputy chairman since 2008.-References:...
(2010-)