Ander Seminar | 6 may 2026
Ideas flowed when House of Democracy was presented at Karlstad University.
With support from the Ander Foundation, Karlstad University organizes seminars aimed at journalists twice a year. During the most recent seminar, titled “Elections Under Influence,” attention was drawn to hatred and threats directed at journalists and decision-makers. As an introduction to the program, the House of Democracy initiative was presented to an audience for the first time and was met with spontaneous applause.
“We received an enormous response when we asked participants how House of Democracy can help counter hatred and threats against journalists and decision-makers,” says Victoria Svanberg, CEO of Ernagruppen.
Media camps, democracy-themed games in schools, documentary screenings followed by discussions, democracy research, and letting young people work with journalism in school and produce content are just a few of the 65 proposals that participants used to summarize their discussions. A clear takeaway from the responses is that democracy must be experienced, practiced, and talked about.
“This is exactly the type of activity we want to stimulate, and we are already working on initiatives in that direction. We are building House of Democracy in collaboration with others, and we think better together,” says Anna Lundmark Lundbergh, project manager for House of Democracy.
Both she and Victoria Svanberg encourage anyone who wants to take part in the initiative to contribute ideas. Those with an idea at this moment can share it via the tips page here.
“There is no single solution for how we can create a democratic society together. That is why we are pleased with the strong response we received as soon as we opened up the question at the most recent Ander seminar at the university,” says Victoria Svanberg.
The question posed to the more than one hundred participants at the seminar was: What could an initiative like House of Democracy contribute to counter hatred and threats against investigative journalists and decision-makers?
Perspectives on the House of Democracy
Among the participants at the Anderseminar were, among others, Jerker Moodysson, Vice-Chancellor of Karlstad University; Linda Larsson, Chair of the Municipal Executive Board in Karlstad; and Fredrik Larsson, Vice Chair of Region Värmland. Here you can hear their thoughts on the House of Democracy.