About We Belong Norway

We bring stories and data together to strengthen inclusion for skilled immigrants and their families, helping Norway’s systems grow more humane, inclusive, and accountable.

A woman smiling outdoors near water at sunset, wearing a purple jacket.

Our voice and story

It started with experience: mine, soon after, the stories of many others.

I came to Norway as a skilled professional in 2019 ready to contribute, build a life, and belong. But somewhere between the paperwork and the promise of inclusion, I fell through the cracks: legal, yet invisible.

That space between being here and being protected, between contributing and being seen, became the reason this community exists.

Many who come through skilled-immigration pathways share this reality: present, engaged, but not always included.

We Belong Norway was born to change that: to listen, document, and turn lived experience into understanding, dialogue, and action, so that systems evolve with the people who live within them.

I continue to document this landscape in my personal journal, The Waiting Room, where I write about belonging, visibility, and the human side of immigration.

Our work

Through Voices of Belonging gatherings, small-scale research initiatives, and collaborations with workplaces and inclusion networks, we help bring lived experience into conversations that shape policy and practice.

Our work combines storytelling and data to make inclusion measurable, relatable, and actionable.

Five people sitting on couches in a cozy living room, engaging in conversation. The room has a wall decorated with numerous photographs and a ceiling draped in fabric with string lights. There are large windows with curtains allowing natural light to fill the space.
Table with two large sheets of paper covered in yellow sticky notes with handwritten text organized into categories, in a room with brick walls, a flat-screen TV, and chairs.
Bar graph showing survey results related to fear of consequences from speaking up about bullying, discrimination, or unfair treatment at work, with 56% agreeing.

Our principles

  • When life circumstances change, many of us fall between systems meant to protect us. We call for structures that recognize contribution and humanity equally, not conditionally.

  • We choose to listen before we label.
    Understanding someone’s story is the first step toward inclusion and change.

  • No one should have to choose between their voice and their security.
    Belonging requires spaces where honesty does not come at the cost of stability.

  • Fairness grows when institutions take responsibility for the human impact of their rules.
    Systems should serve people, not the other way around.

A gold heart drawn with rough, sketchy lines on a muted blue background.

Collaborate with us

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We turn lived experience into understanding and action, so that systems can evolve with the people who live within them.