Sweden and the world are facing multiple crises and complex societal challenges, and there is a pressing need for research-based knowledge to identify new and effective ways forward. The KRAFT initiative (Knowledge, Advice, Analysis, Research, Application) was established as a response to this need.
The purpose of KRAFT is to collaborate with Sweden’s political decision-makers by creating a platform for mutual dialogue and deeper understanding of the specific conditions and societal contributions of research in the humanities and social sciences. KRAFT serves as a critical and constructive dialogue partner to decision-makers and thus aims to strengthen society’s democratic capacity and its ability to address key societal challenges. The initiative seeks to identify issues of future societal importance at an early stage and provide research-based knowledge needed to address them.
There are several Swedish organizations that successfully bring together voices from engineering, natural sciences, and medicine to facilitate collaboration and bridge the gap between decision-makers and researchers. However, equivalent platforms representing the humanities and social sciences are few. As a result, Swedish policymaking risks overlooking essential knowledge when making important political decisions, as well as failing to detect emerging societal problems in time. The limited dialogue between politicians and researchers in the humanities and social sciences also risks weakening mutual understanding of how research and policymaking operate. KRAFT aims to address this gap.
