Henrik Urdal (born 19 October 1972) is a Norwegian

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and the current director of the

Peace Research Institute Oslo The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO; ) is a private research institution in peace and conflict studies, based in Oslo, Norway, with around 100 employees. It was founded in 1959 by a group of Norwegian researchers led by Johan Galtung, who was ...

(PRIO). Before his appointment as director in 2017 he was a research professor and research director at the institute. He was

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the ''

Journal of Peace Research The ''Journal of Peace Research'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes scholarly articles and book reviews in the fields of peace and conflict studies, conflict resolution, and international security. It was established by ...

'', the premier journal in the field, from 2010 to 2017.

Research interests

Urdal's research interests include the relationship between

demography Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examine ...

, environment, and politics, particularly focusing on how

population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The World population, global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to aroun ...

, "

youth bulge A population pyramid (age structure diagram) or "age-sex pyramid" is a graphical illustration of the distribution of a population (typically that of a country or region of the world) by age groups and sex; it typically takes the shape of a pyramid ...

s", and

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

affect violent conflict.

Education and work experience

Since 2000, Urdal has been affiliated with PRIO, first as a student, then moving on to positions as researcher, senior researcher, Research Professor and Research Director. Urdal received his Research Professor competence in 2013. He obtained his PhD in political science from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

in 2007, entitled
Demography and Internal Armed Conflict
'. Urdal was a PRIO board member 2013-15. Urdal is the Research Director at the Department o
Conditions of Violence and Peace
where he heads th
Conflict Trend
project. PRIO’s Conflict Trends project collaborates with the

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Norwegian or ''Utenriksdepartementet''; or ''Utanriksdepartementet''; UD) is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway. It was established on June 7, 1905, the same day the Parliament of ...

to answer questions relating to the causes, consequences and trends in conflict. He was a researcher with the Centre for the Study of Civil War (CSCW) – one of the 13 original Norwegian Centres of Excellence – from the beginning in 2003 and throughout its 10 years of existence. Urdal has held research fellowships at the Kennedy School of Government (

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

; 2011–12) and East West Center (

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, Hawaii; 2005-2006). He has previously worked for the Office of the Prosecutor at the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

(1999). Urdal has previously been Associate Editor (2006–10), Editorial Committee Member (2004–06), Book Review Editor (2004–05) for the ''

.'' Henrik was the Secretary General of the Socialist Youth League ( Sosialistisk Ungdom) of Norway (1996–98) and worked as a research assistant, at

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

, at the Division for Social and Demographic Research (1995). Henrik was a board member of the Norwegian Demographic Society (2011–12),

Publications (selected)

Gudrun Østby; Henrik Urdal & Ida Rudolfsen, (2017) What is driving gender equality in secondary education? ''Education Research International'': forthcoming. Gudrun Østby,; Henrik Urdal & Ida Rudolfsen (2016) What Is Driving Gender Equality in Secondary Education? Evidence from 57 Developing Countries, 1970–2010, ''Education Research International''. Håvard Strand & Henrik Urdal (2014) Hear nothing, see nothing, say nothing: Can states reduce the risk of armed conflict by banning census data on ethnic groups?, ''

International Area Studies Review The ''International Area Studies Review'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by SAGE Publications on behalf of the Center for International Area Studies ( Hankuk University of Foreign Studies) and the Peace Research Institute Oslo. It c ...

'' 17(2): 167–183. Henrik Urdal & Chi, Primus Che (2013) War and Gender Inequalities in Health: The Impact of Armed Conflict on Fertility and Maternal Mortality, ''International Interactions''39(4): 489–510. Håvard Hegre; Joakim Karlsen; Håvard Mokleiv Nygård; Håvard Strand & Henrik Urdal (2013) Predicting Armed Conflict, 2010–2050, ''International Studies Quarterly'' 57(2): 250–270. Halvard Buhaug & Henrik Urdal (2013) An urbanization bomb? Population growth and social disorder in cities, ''Global Environmental Change'' 23(1): 1–10. Henrik Urdal& Kristian Hoelscher (2012) Explaining Urban Social Disorder and Violence: An Empirical Study of Event Data from Asian and Sub-Saharan African Cities, ''International Interactions'' 38(4): 512–528. Henrik Urdal (2008) Population, Resources and Violent Conflict: A Sub-National Study of India 1956–2002, Journal of Conflict Resolution 52(4): 590–617. Clionadh Raleigh,; & Henrik Urdal (2007) Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Armed Conflict, ''Political Geography'' 26(6): 674–694. Henrik Urdal(2006) A Clash of Generations? Youth Bulges and Political Violence, ''International Studies Quarterly'' 50(3): 607–630.

Dissemination

Henrik Urdal holds policy relevant consultancies for various international and Norwegian organizations and institutions, such as the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

and

References

External links

Staff page
at PRIO.
Staff page
at

Urdal's publications
in the Norwegian library system BIBSYS
Urdal's publications
in the Norwegian publication system Cristin
List of publications at PRIO staff page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urdal, Henrik 1972 births Academic staff of the University of Oslo Harvard Kennedy School alumni Living people Norwegian political scientists