International Student Festival in Trondheim

The tradition & historical record

ISFiT - The International Student Festival in Trondheim, Norway is allegedly the world's largest student festival with a thematic emphasis. Approximately 450 students from all over the world attend the festival. The themes change with each festival, but have always been related to social and political topics with international relevance. In 2027, ISFiT's theme is Changing Winds. The stated purpose of ISFiT is to be a meeting place for discussion and debate, an arena where ideas are born, friendships are made and valuable lessons are learned. The festival aims at fostering inspiration and being a starting point for international cooperation amongst students. ISFiT is a non-profit festival. The ISFiT participants take part in different workshops, which highlight the festival theme in various ways. Several lectures and thematic meetings are arranged, where well-known international speakers share their views with the participants and others. ISFiT has been arranged in Trondheim, Norway every second year since 1990. More than 450 students work voluntarily in order to organize the festival. The president for the festival in 2027 is Jon Bergland. ¹

The idea of an international student festival in Trondheim came to life in 1988. The thought was to gather students from different parts of the world in a combination of a conference and a festival. The theme of ISFiT 1990 was "A Changing Europe -- What are the Roles and Responsibilities of the Students and their Universities?," a timely theme, considering that the Berlin Wall fell shortly before the festival was held. Gro Harlem Brundtland opened the festival. ISFiT arranged for two trains, one from Budapest and one from Paris, to transport 375 students from all over Europe to Trondheim. For many of the participants, this was their first visit outside the Iron Curtain. This train ride has later been called "The ISFiT Rail". In 1992, ISFiT had already established its name in the world. More than 4,300 applications were addressed to Trondheim from students all over the world. Norwegian Minister of Education and Research Gudmund Hernes opened the festival. In 1994, the Dalai Lama visited ISFiT after he had received a visit from dedicated ISFiT representatives, who went to India and spent days outside his office until they got a 10-minute meeting with him. He was reported to have replied, "Cancel my other appointments. This is more important." 1994 was also the year that ISFiT started to offer financial support, so that participants from even more countries could come to the festival. The Dalai Lama visited the Festival for the second time in 2015. The Dialogue Groups were first introduced in 1997. Since then, the Dialogue Groups have been a seminar where participants from different sides of a conflict get to meet at neutral ground to share their experiences and discuss possible solutions to the conflict. In 1999 The Student Peace Prize was awarded for the first time. ¹

2027, Changing Winds 2025, Power 2023, Polarization 2021, Creating Knowledge 2019, Migration 2017, Discrimination 2015, Corruption 2013, Trade Your Ideas 2011, Globalize this: Health 2009, Peacebuilding 2007, Global Boundaries 2005, Education. Why? 2003, Challenging Attitudes 2001, Global Responsibility 1999, Solving Conflicts 1997, Quality of Life 1994, Human Rights 1992, Breaking Communication Barriers 1990, A Changing Europe - What are the Roles and Responsibilities of the Students and their Universities? ¹

ISFiT 2009 was held from 20 February to 1 March in Trondheim, Norway. This was the 10th ISFiT-festival, the first was held in 1990. ISFiT is one of the world's largest student festival with a thematic focus. Approximately 450 students from all over the world attend the festival. More than 350 students in Trondheim work voluntarily for the student festival. Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Desmond Tutu, Dr. Shirin Ebadi and Betty Williams are some of the introductory speakers at the festival. The theme for ISFiT 2009 was peacebuilding. The thematic focus was illuminated through both the workshops and the meetings during the festival in addition to the cultural programme. According to the theme document "ISFIT 2009 sees peacebuilding as a long-term process, with the object to create a stable and lasting peace, a peace that is something more than just an absence of war. Peacebuilding shall create a solid foundation for a peaceful development, as well as increase the society’s ability to cope with conflicts in a peaceful way. ISFIT 2009 recognizes peace building both as a preventative process as well as a process of rebuilding. Peacebuilding appears between different actors on global, regional, national, local and interpersonal level." The Dialogue Groups 2009 kicked off 10 days before ISFiT 2009 with a seminar at Røros, and continued into the festival in Trondheim. In 2009 students from Israel/Palestine, Cyprus and Georgia/Abkhazia were invited to take part in the Dialogue Groups. In addition to the workshops and the dialogue groups there were several lectures and thematic meetings, as well as concerts, exhibitions and performing arts. Through the workshops all the participants of the festival will attend the different workshops. ¹

ISFiT 2011 is a student festival that was held from February 11 to February 20, 2011, in Trondheim, Norway. This was the 11th ISFiT-festival. 525 students from 104 countries gathered in Trondheim to discuss the festival's main theme, global health. The festival's name was Globalize this: Health. ISFiT 2011 board defined global health as the health of the world population in an international context, looking beyond purely national perspectives and challenges. The concept covered all aspects of the human health – physical, mental, and social. Furthermore, the board defined health as an individual resource possessed by all people. By this, health is also a resource for local communities, nations and the world community. The global health affects and is affected by several international conditions – politics, security, economy and culture. Kine Karlsen was voted President at a plenary session held at the Student Society in Trondheim in Trondheim on April 15, 2009. As president, she elected the following as members of the board: ¹

Jørgen W. Thorsen: Vice-president Eivind Berstad: Head of information Stina Låstad: Head of administration Elisa Osmundsen: Head of economy Eirik Vikum: Head of Student Peace Prize Elin Kathrine Saunes: Head of culture Karoline Fossland: Head of Theme Kine Karlsen resigned as president in late October 2010, after a leave of absence since August 2010. Jørgen W. Thorsen was prototed to president in November 2010, after serving as Acting President since Karlsen's leave. Karlsen continued as a regular member of the board. As in previous years, workshops formed the core of ISFiT. The workshops highlighted the festival themes in different ways. ¹

ISfIT 2013 was a student festival held from February 7 to February 17, 2013, in Trondheim, Norwa… ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “International Student Festival in Trondheim”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

International Student Festival in Trondheim is Student festival in Norway, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 5 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²