STIFTELSEN FLYKTNINGHJELPEN

Their core work

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is one of the world's largest humanitarian NGOs, providing assistance and protection to displaced people across dozens of countries. In the H2020 context, NRC contributes real-world operational expertise on forced displacement, refugee governance, and climate-driven migration — grounding academic research in frontline humanitarian realities. Their involvement brings practitioner knowledge on how migration policies, climate adaptation, and crisis diplomacy play out on the ground in affected regions, particularly East Africa and conflict zones.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

NRC's H2020 journey shows a clear shift from political-institutional topics toward climate and environmental drivers of displacement. Their earliest project (MAGYC, 2018) focused squarely on asylum governance, crisis diplomacy, and refugee policy — traditional humanitarian concerns. By 2020, both new projects (HABITABLE and CONFER) pivot to climate impacts: modeling habitability thresholds, climate adaptation, machine learning for climate services, and food-water-energy security in East Africa. This evolution mirrors the broader humanitarian sector's recognition that climate change is becoming the dominant driver of future displacement.

NRC is moving firmly toward climate-migration research, positioning itself as a bridge between humanitarian operations and climate science — expect future work at this intersection.

How they like to work

NRC participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator — consistent with their role as a practitioner organization bringing field expertise to research-led consortia. With 39 unique partners across 21 countries from just 3 projects, they operate in large, diverse consortia (averaging 13+ partners per project). This broad network suggests they are valued as a credibility anchor — the organization that ensures research stays connected to real humanitarian outcomes.

Despite only 3 projects, NRC has built connections with 39 distinct partners across 21 countries, reflecting their participation in large international consortia. Their geographic footprint spans Europe and East Africa, consistent with their operational presence in displacement-affected regions worldwide.

What sets them apart

NRC is not a university or research institute — it is an operational humanitarian organization with 80+ years of frontline experience in displacement crises across 30+ countries. This makes them uniquely valuable as a research partner: they provide ground-truth validation, access to affected populations, and practical policy insights that purely academic consortia cannot replicate. For any project dealing with migration, displacement, or climate vulnerability in developing regions, NRC brings instant credibility and operational reach.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CONFER
  Largest funding (EUR 878K) — co-producing climate services for East Africa using machine learning, covering energy, water, and food security.
• HABITABLE
  Addresses the emerging field of climate-driven migration by modeling habitability thresholds and social tipping points that trigger mass displacement.
• MAGYC
  Large-scale migration governance project examining asylum crises and diplomacy — directly relevant to ongoing European policy debates.