About us

The NHH Symposium is Northern Europe's largest student-run conference for working life. It is organized every other year by 350 dedicated students at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) in Bergen. Over many years, the NHH Symposium has been a prestigious conference, and today attracts around 300 participants from Norwegian business and industry.

​

The conference has been held every other year since 1983 and has welcomed many distinguished guests as both speakers and attendees. Among the notable speakers who have visited the NHH Symposium are former British Prime Minister Edward Heath, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, GATT Director-General Arthur Dunkel, the World Trade Organization's (WTO) first Director-General Peter Sutherland, Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, and SAS CEO Jan Carlzon.

 

Academics such as Henry Mintzberg, Michael Porter, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Peter Lorange, Stéphane Garelli, and Jay B. Barney have also attended the conference. In addition, several Norwegian prime ministers and cabinet ministers have given talks, from Kåre Willoch's opening address in 1983, through Gro H. Brundtland (1991), to Sigbjørn Johnsen and Trond Giske in 2011. His Majesty King Harald attended the conference in 1995, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon participated in 2007. He was so inspired that he returned two years later to deliver the opening address.

The NHH Symposium aims to be a leading voice in Norwegian public debate, while placing its themes in an international context. Together, several hundred participants from business, politics, culture, academia, and the student community are to form "The Perfect Meeting Place."