THE BERNADOTTE AWARD
The Bernadotte Prize was established in 2023 by the King. The Academy for the Free Arts (Arts Academy), Royal Vitterhetsakademien, Royal The Academy of Music, the Swedish Academy and the Royal Gustav Adolfs Academy for Swedish Folk Culture in connection with the commemoration of HM the King's 50 years on the throne.
The award is part of the Bernadotte program and is to be awarded annually to a researcher, artist, organization or institution that over a long period of time has contributed to public education or social development in the field of culture, cultural heritage, art and aesthetics.
PRIZE WINNER
2024
Gunnar Bjursell receives this year's Bernadotte Prize
Professor Emeritus Gunnar Bjursell is awarded the Bernadotte Prize 2024 of 200 kroner for his many years of research - and major public education effort - on cultural engagement and its effects on the brain, well-being and health.
Gunnar Bjursell has for several decades been a central figure for research into culture, the brain and health in Sweden. In 1989, Bjursell took the initiative to form the Forum for Science and the Public, which created the basis for the popular International Science Festival in Gothenburg. In 2011, he had the opportunity to establish the Center for Culture, Cognition and Health at Karolinska Institutet and the project The Cultural Brain with a web portal for current research and development. Throughout his career, he has published over 150 scientific articles and given many hundreds of lectures all over the world.
- To have been selected by five royal academies as a Bernadotte Prize winner for my work with the scientifically based message about the great importance of culture for both lifelong learning and well-being feels extremely honorable and confidence-building, says Gunnar Bjursell. I hope that the prize stimulates the establishment of strong Swedish basic scientific research in the field.
2023
The Svenskbyborna association - recipient of the 2023 Bernadotte Prize
The association Svenskbyborna is awarded the Bernadotte Prize, which is awarded for the first time this year. The association is recognized for its dissemination of knowledge about the Swedish descendants in Gammalsvenskby in Ukraine.
The association Svenskbyborna is awarded the Bernadotte Prize for its long-term efforts to explore and spread knowledge about the Swedes in Gammalsvenskby, both in scientific studies on cultural heritage, language development, musical heritage and building archives, as well as in its work to help the remaining Swedish villagers during Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine . The prize sum is SEK 200.
- We are extremely grateful for the recognition of our work. It is important to continue to tell about the special history of the Swedish village residents, for descendants and others interested mainly in Sweden and Gammalsvenskby, which is a unique cultural heritage and an important part of Sweden's history. And right now, thanks to the strong ties we have, we can be a link between Sweden and Gammalsvenskby and support the residents who have once again been affected by war, says Sofia Hoas, president of the Swedish Village Association.
THE BERNADOTTE PROGRAM
The Bernadotte program is a collaboration between the Royal The Academy for the Free Arts (Arts Academy), Royal Vitterhetsakademien, Royal The Academy of Music, the Swedish Academy and the Royal Gustav Adolfs Academy for Swedish Folk Culture. The program was established in 2016 by the five academies on the occasion of HM the King's 70th birthday.
Each year, the academies award a number of scholarships within the Bernadotte program with the aim of promoting postdoctoral researchers and younger artistic practitioners. The projects are interdisciplinary, and the fellows get organized access to the broad competence possessed by the collaborating academies. > Read more