The first UN-Habitat «Urban Journalism Academy» (UJA) was held in 2014 in conjunction with the Seventh session of the World Urban Forum of Medellin, Columbia. Since then, more than 40 similar events have been organized all over the world.

The Oslo UJA – the first one in the Nordic countries – took place on 24 May 2019 and was innovative and pioneering in particular as it deliberated the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda from a new angle: The Northern one. It is often neglected that the SDGs and NUA are universal declarations. Unlike the Millennium Development Goals, they are not focusing only on the Global South. The importance of bringing the urban opportunities and challenges of the North into the discourse is evident, particularly as the global inter-dependency of issues such as climate change, migration, inequality and poverty evolve. We are all in the same boat.

UN-Habitat and Habitat Norway are pleased to submit this report to a wider international audience. It contains all presentations held at the Oslo UJA including a summary article highlighting the main themes of the event. The report is meant as an inspiration for further work.

The organizers would like to thank the speakers for their contributions, the “Urban Future Global Conference” for including the UJA in the programme and our sponsors for their support. A particular vote of thanks to “Folk” for providing excellent meeting room facilities.

Based on this constructive partnership we look forward to arranging future successful UJAs in Oslo – Europe’s 2019 environmental capital.