SYDDANSK UNIVERSITET
Syddansk University will function as the co-leader of WP6-The Role of Main Institutions together with Sciences Po in addition to performing the activities foreseen in all WPs
H. Thomas R. Persson, the principle investigator for the Swedish case, he is a Research Fellow and Lecturer at the Dep. of Leadership and Strategy in the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences at University of Southern Denmark. He has a PhD from Warwick University and the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations. Persson has experience carrying out evaluations, action research and research within areas such as: long-term unemployment and institutional collaborations – the Swedish Employment Office, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and the Swedish National Health Service; Corporate Social Responsibility in micro and medium sized enterprises; the Swedish Language and Integration Program for immigrants; national and municipality youth policies; (good) governance in municipality run leisure activities; CSR and (good) governance in Sport Governing Bodies; and on social capital in organised sport. In addition to this, Dr. Persson has been IP coordinator of a ERASMUS collaboration between University of Westminster (UK), NTNU (Norway) and Malmö University. He was also a Research Fellow in a Marie Curie Excellence Grant funded research project hosted by the Centre for Research on Health and Social Care Management at Università Bocconi in Milan, Italy.
Niklas Hafen is a Research Assistant at the Department of Leadership and Strategy, University of Southern, Denmark, and a PhD-student at Malmö University in Sweden. His main research interest is the use of sport as a means to initiate social change throughout the world. Hafen has carried out research on development projects where sport has been used as a means to educate young people about HIV/AIDS and increase gender-awareness in South Africa, and to reconcile countries in conflict (e.g. FYR Macedonia and Moldova).