Jörgen Sparf
Professor|Professor
- Professional title: Professor
- Academic title: Professor
- Other title: PhD, MA, MFA
- Telephone: +46 (0)10-1428276
- Email: jorgen.sparf@miun.se
- Room number: P2622
- Location: Östersund
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- Employed at the subject:
- Sociology
Presentation
Jörgen Sparf is full Professor of Sociology at Mid Sweden University and a founding member of the university's Risk and Crisis Research Centre (RCR), and coordinates the department's crisis governance research track. He is also Research Professor at NTNU Social Research, in Trondheim, Norway, where he has worked part-time since 2022.
https://www.miun.se/en/rcr
https://www.samforsk.no
Area of interest
Jörgen's work builds on relational sociology, organisation theory and social network analysis, together with theories of disaster, resilience, vulnerability and capacity. He applies these perspectives to how public policy is made and changes in disaster and crisis governance, and to how scientific knowledge finds its way into that work. His objects of study mainly include policy entrepreneurs, collaboration between organisations, national and municipal responses to crises, and societal preparedness.
Research
Current project:
LEGITIPREP: Boundaries of Legitimation. Crisis Normalization and Preparedness
• Role: Project co-lead
• Funder: Swedish Research Council
• Budget: SEK 5.1 million
• Period: 2024–2027
• Partners: Mid Sweden University (lead), Swedish Defence University, NTNU Social Research, Roskilde University, Karolinska Institutet
https://www.miun.se/en/Research/research-projects/ongoing-research-projects/boundaries-of-legitimation-crisis-normalization-and-preparedness/
Recently completed projects:
• FUTURESILIENCE: Creating future societal resilience through innovative, science-based co-creation labs. Horizon Europe, €2.9 million, 2023–2025. Work package leader.
• FOUNTAIN: Fostering sustainable university-industry techno-entrepreneurial collaborations and innovations in Asian universities. Erasmus+, €800,000, 2023–2025. Co-lead.
• SECRA: Strengthening University-Enterprise Collaboration for Resilient Communities in Asia. Erasmus+, €976,000, 2021–2023. Co-lead.
• RISE: Societal Resilience in Sweden: Governance, Social Networks and Learning. Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, SEK 20 million, 2018–2022. Principal investigator.
Jörgen also led the EU-funded project (European Regional Development Fund, SEK 22.5 million) that built the RCR Simulation Lab, an immersive environment for crisis management training and experiments in the social sciences.
https://www.miun.se/en/rcr-lab
Teaching and tutoring
Jörgen has taught at Mid Sweden University since 2004, at all levels. His courses include sociological theory, social network analysis, organisation and leadership theory, and quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as courses in risk and crisis studies. He founded the undergraduate programme in risk and crisis management and co-developed the Master's programme in Sociology: Risk, Resilience, Working Life.
Current doctoral students:
• Colin van den Akker (main supervisor): ambiguity in the transfer and communication of scientific knowledge, 2023–
Completed doctoral students:
• Per Becker (secondary supervisor), 2021, now Professor at Lund University
• Olov Hemmingsson (secondary supervisor), 2023, now Lecturer at Mid Sweden University
• Sophie Kolmodin (main supervisor), 2025, now Post-doc at Umeå University
Other information
Since 2018 Jörgen has been Sweden's appointed expert in the European Science and Technology Advisory Group (E-STAG) of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), where he, among other things, was the scientific editor of the UNDRR Words into Action guidelines on the science–policy–society ecosystem for disaster risk reduction. He is Sweden's country expert for the Bertelsmann Stiftung's Sustainable Governance Indicators, and Associate Editor of European Societies.
https://www.undrr.org/about-undrr/where-we-work/regional-office-europe-central-asia/e-stag
https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/en/our-projects/sustainable-governance-indicators-sgi
Jörgen coordinates the department's crisis governance research track and co-leads the LEGITIPREP project. Earlier he was programme director for the undergraduate programme in risk and crisis management (2009–2016), director of studies for sociology and gender studies (2015–2018), and director of the RCR Simulation Lab (2017–2022).
Research projects
Current
LEGITIPREP - Boundaries of Legitimation: Crisis Normalization and Preparedness
Finished
Local networks for safety and security
ASCENT (Advancing Skill Creation to Enhance Transformation)
Multi-organizational co-operation in response to ordinary emergencies
Resilience in Sweden: Governance, Social Networks and Learning (RISE)
SECRA – Strengthening University-Enterprise Collaboration for Resilient Communities in Asia
Publications
Articles in journals
Articles, book reviews
Books
Chapters in books
Collections (editor)
Conference papers
Doctoral theses, comprehensive summaries
Reports
Articles in journals
Grännsjö, S. , Petridou, E. , Sparf, J. & Weible, C. M. (2026). Coalitions and Characters : Tracing the Maturity of Sweden's Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism Policies. Review of Policy Research, vol. 43: 2
Rubin, O. , Hemmingsson, O. , Petridou, E. & Sparf, J. (2026). From Policy Legitimization to Blame Avoidance—Discursive Strategies During Denmark's Mink Culling Crisis. Policy Studies Journal, vol. 54: 4
Oscarsson, O. , Kolmodin, S. , Sparf, J. & Ioannides, D. (2026). Local resilience in Rural Northern Sweden : Challenges and Opportunities in Disaster Management. Natural Hazards, vol. 122: 5
Petridou, E. , Sparf, J. & Zahariadis, N. (2025). The Policy Entrepreneur as a Crosscutting Concept in Theories of the Policy Process : A Scoping Review of European Empirical Applications. European Policy Analysis, vol. 11: 2, pp. 191-206.
Petridou, E. , Sparf, J. & Shockley, G. (2025). Theoretical Advances in the Scholarship of Policy Entrepreneurship : Drawing From Disparate Literatures, Expanding the Empirical Field. European Policy Analysis, vol. 11: 3, pp. 298-302.
Becker, P. , Sparf, J. & Petridou, E. (2024). Identifying proactive and reactive policy entrepreneurs in collaborative networks in flood risk management. Policy and Politics, vol. 52: 2, pp. 298-320.
Zahariadis, N. , Karokis‐Mavrikos, V. , Exadaktylos, T. , Kyriakidis, A. , Sparf, J. & Petridou, E. (2023). Advancing the operationalization of national policy styles. European Policy Analysis, vol. 9: 3, pp. 200-218.
Petridou, E. , Sparf, J. , Hemmingsson, O. & Pihl, K. (2023). Immersive simulation and experimental design in risk and crisis management : Implications for learning. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, vol. 31: 4, pp. 1009-1017.
Zahariadis, N. , Petridou, E. , Exadaktylos, T. & Sparf, J. (2023). Policy styles and political trust in Europe’s national responses to the COVID-19 crisis. Policy Studies, vol. 44: 1, pp. 46-67.
Zahariadis, N. , Exadaktylos, T. , Sparf, J. , Petridou, E. , Kyriakidis, A. & Papadopoulos, I. (2022). Assessing the effectiveness of public health interventions for Covid‐19 in Greece and Cyprus. European Policy Analysis, vol. 8: 3, pp. 345-359.
Sparf, J. , Petridou, E. , Granberg, M. , Becker, P. & Onn, B. (2022). Pandemic responses at the subnational level : Exploring politics, administration, and politicization in Swedish municipalities. European Policy Analysis, vol. 8: 3, pp. 327-344.
Petridou, E. , Becker, P. & Sparf, J. (2021). Policy Entrepreneurs in Public Administration : A Social Network Analysis. Politics and Policy, vol. 49: 2, pp. 414-445.
Sparf, J. , Petridou, E. , Skog, F. , Kolmodin, S. & Ljungdahl, J. (2019). Experimental Design in Teaching Crisis and Emergency Management in Social Sciences : The Case of the RCR Lab at Mid Sweden University. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, vol. 37: 1, pp. 92-100.
Sparf, J. (2019). Interfaces in temporary multi-organizations in routine emergency management : The case of Stockholm. Safety Science, vol. 118: October 2019, pp. 702-708.
Sparf, J. & Petridou, E. (2018). Collaborations in Routine Emergency Management : Lessons from Sweden. Procedia Engineering, vol. 212, pp. 302-308.
Petridou, E. & Sparf, J. (2017). For safety’s sake : the strategies of institutional entrepreneurs and bureaucratic reforms in Swedish crisis management, 2001–2009. Policy & Society, vol. 36: 4, pp. 556-574.
Sparf, J. (2016). Disability and Vulnerability : Interpretations of Risk in Everyday Life. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, vol. 24: 4, pp. 244-252.
Guiliani, L. , Revez, A. , Sparf, J. , Jayasena, S. & Faber, M. H. (2016). SOCIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF DISASTER RESILIENCE. International Journal of Strategic Property Management, vol. 20: 3, pp. 277-290.
Faber, M. H. , Guiliani, L. , Revez, A. , Jayasena, S. , Sparf, J. & Mendez, J. M. (2014). Interdisciplinary Approach to Disaster Resilience Education and Research. Procedia Economics and Finance, vol. 18, pp. 601-609.
Sparf, J. & Öhman, S. (2014). On Risk and Disability : Investigating the Influence of Disability and Social Capital on the Perception and Digital Communication of risk. Journal of Risk Analysis and Crisis Response, vol. 4: 1, pp. 20-33.
Articles, book reviews
Sparf, J. (2021). Jeffrey C. Alexander, What Makes a Social Crisis? The Societalization of Social Problems. International Review of Public Policy, vol. 3: 3, pp. 382-385.
Books
Petridou, E. , Sparf, J. , Zahariadis, N. & Birkland, T. A. (2025). Policy Entrepreneurs, Crises, and Policy Change. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Elements in Public Policy ).
Chapters in books
Sparf, J. (2025). Disaster risk reduction: the evolution of an international agenda. In Handbook of Public Policy Agenda Setting. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 365-382.
Petridou, E. , Sparf, J. & Broqvist, H. (2023). Sweden : A Decentralized, Coordinated Response to the Pandemic. In Governments’ Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Europe : Navigating the Perfect Storm. Palgrave Macmillan.
Sparf, J. (2022). Norwegian Corporatism : A Centripetal National Response to the Pandemic. In Policy Styles and Trust in the Age of Pandemics : Global Threat, National Responses. Routledge (Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy). pp. 119-133.
Zahariadis, N. , Petridou, E. , Exadaktylos, T. & Sparf, J. (2022). Policy Styles and Policy Making During Times of Crisis. In Policy Styles and Trust in the Age of Pandemics : Global Threat, National Responses. Routledge (Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy). pp. 17-38.
Zahariadis, N. , Petridou, E. , Exadaktylos, T. & Sparf, J. (2022). The Politics of National Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic. In Policy Styles and Trust in the Age of Pandemics : Global Threat, National Responses. Routledge (Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy). pp. 3-16.
Petridou, E. , Sparf, J. & Pihl, K. (2020). Resilience work in Swedish local governance : Evidence from the areas of climate change adaptation, migration, and violent extremism. In Understanding Disaster Risk : A Multidimensional Approach. Amsterdam : Elsevier. pp. 225-238.
Sparf, J. (2016). Kunskap och övningar för resiliens. In Katastrofriskreducering : Perspektiv, praktik, potential. Lund : Studentlitteratur AB. pp. 385-412.
Sparf, J. (2015). Trust as an Opportunity in Public Risk and Crisis Management. In At the Crossroads of Crisis and Opportunity : Interdisciplinary Conversations. Inter-Disciplinary Press.
Sparf, J. (2013). The Risk and Crisis Management Relation between Local Authorities and Disabled People. In Finding Opportunities in Crises. Oxford : Inter-disciplinary.net (Probing the Boundaries). pp. 139-148.
Sparf, J. (2013). Trust As An Element Of Public Risk And Crisis Management. In Finding opportunities in crisis. Oxford : Inter-Disciplinary Press.
Sparf, J. (2009). Funktionshindrade och risker. In Risker i det moderna samhället : Samhällsvetenskapliga perspektiv. Lund : Studentlitteratur. pp. 217-236.
Sparf, J. (2009). Organisering av riskhantering. In Risker i det moderna samhället : Samhällsvetenskapliga perspektiv. Lund : Studentlitteratur. pp. 139-168.
Sparf, J. (2009). Risk ur ett systemteoretiskt perspektiv. In Risker i det moderna samhället : Samhällsvetenskapliga perspektiv. Lund : Studentlitteratur. pp. 121-138.
Collections (editor)
Zahariadis, N. (ed.) , Petridou, E. (ed.) , Exadaktylos, T. (ed.) & Sparf, J. (ed.) (2022). Policy Styles and Trust in the Age of Pandemics : Global Threat, National Responses. Routledge (Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy ).
Conference papers
Sparf, J. (2023). Studying Policy Processes in Wicked Problems : Conceptual and Operationalisation Challenges. Paper presented at the Conference on Policy Process Research (COPPR) 2023: Advancing Policy Process, Theories, and Methods
Petridou, E. , Becker, P. & Sparf, J. (2019). Entrepreneurial Bureaucrats : A Social Network Analysis of Lomma and Staffanstorp Municipalities, Sweden. In Proceedings.
Petridou, E. , Becker, P. & Sparf, J. (2019). Policy entrepreneurs and flood risk mitigation in Sweden : A structural analysis. In Proceedings.
Pihl, K. & Sparf, J. (2018). RCR Lab - Enhanced Learning In A Virtual And Physical Immersion Classroom, Part Of Producing Innovative Research For Regional Development. In 12Th International Technology, Education And Development Conference (Inted). (INTED Proceedings). pp. 5298--5298.
Sparf, J. & Samor, L. (2017). Journeying Rurality - Individuals' Perspectives On Space And Place In The Scandinavian Inland. In INTED Proceedings.. pp. 6873-
Danielsson, E. , Sparf, J. & Hemmingsson, O. (2017). Producing knowledge about extreme situations. Paper presented at the 3rd International Workshop Doing Reserach In Extreme Contest: What can be learned? IAE Paris Sorbonne Graduate Business School 10-20 of October 2017
Sparf, J. & Petridou, E. (2017). Virtual And Physical Immersion Classroom For Enhanced Learning In The Behavioural And Social Sciences. In INTED2017: 11TH INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE. (INTED Proceedings). pp. 6835-
Sparf, J. & Petridou, E. (2015). Tidal wave: critical junctures, political agency and the shift of crisis management policy in Sweden, 2004-2009. In NEEDS - The First Northern European Conference on Emergency and Disaster Studies. University of Copenhagen, December 9-11, 2015.
Danielsson, E. & Sparf, J. (2014). Multi-organizational collaboration - A workshop experiment on how different professionals view an incident. In Proceedings of the 5th International Disaster and Risk Conference: Integrative Risk Management - The Role of Science, Technology and Practice, IDRC Davos 2014.. pp. 192--195.
Sparf, J. (2013). The risk and crisis management relation between local authorities and disabled people. Paper presented at the OPPORTUNITY IN CRISIS Finding Benefits in Difficult Life Events
Sparf, J. (2013). The risk and crisis management relation between local authorities and disabled people. Paper presented at the Amsterdam Risk Conference
Sparf, J. (2007). Personal immobility in crises : GPMS - Göteborg Public Management Seminar - on risk and leadership.
Sparf, J. (2007). Risk, Disability and Resources : Sociologi i Sverige i Samtiden. Sveriges Sociologförbund.
Sparf, J. & Öhman, S. (2006). Resources and risk perception : XVI ISA World Congress of Sociology, Durban, South Africa, 23-29 July 2006.
Sparf, J. & Öhman, S. (2006). Risk perception among disabled people in Sweden: The role of social involvement and resources : New Perspectives on Risk Communication Uncertainty in a Complex Society. A Multi-Disciplinary International Research Conference. 31 August - 2 September, 2006 Göteborg, Sweden..
Sparf, J. (2006). Riskteoretiska perspektiv : Sveriges sociologförbunds årsmöteskonferens "Staden och Östeuropa".
Sparf, J. (2005). Information in times of chaos. In European Sociological Association, "Rethinking inequalities" Torun, Poland, 9 - 13 September, 2005.
Doctoral theses
Sparf, J. (2014). Tillit i samhällsskyddets organisation : Om det sociala gränssnittet i risk- och krishantering mellan kommunen och funktionshindrade. Dis. (Comprehensive summary) Östersund : Mittuniversitetet, 2014 (Mid Sweden University doctoral thesis : 202)
Reports
Petridou, E. , Sparf, J. , Onn, B. , Jochem, S. & Schøyen, M. A. (2024). Sweden Report : Sustainable Governance Indicators 2024. Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung
Petridou, E. , Sparf, J. , Jochem, S. & Detlef, J. (. (2022). Sustainable Governance Indicators 2022 : Sweden Report. Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung
Sparf, J. , Petridou, E. , Granberg, M. & Onn, B. (2021). Kommunal organisering av pandemirespons : En realtidsstudie av lokal resiliens. MSB
Sparf, J. & Petridou, E. (2021). Sweden Country Report. Stavanger : Universitetet i Stavanger (Rapporter fra UiS 98).
Petridou, E. , Sparf, J. , Jochem, S. & Hustedt, T. (2021). Sweden Report : Sustainable Governance in the Context of the COVID-19 Crisis. Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung (Sustainable Governance Indicators ).
Sparf, J. , Petridou, E. , Landgren, J. & Lyckvi, S. (2019). Larmoperatörskluster: Organisering för samverkan i vardag och kris. Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap
Sparf, J. & Petridou, E. (2019). Resilience in Practice : A Survey of Recent European Union Projects. (RCR Working Paper Series 2019:4).
Sparf, J. & Migliorini, M. (2019). Socioeconomic and data challenges : Disaster risk reduction in Europe. Geneva : United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
Sparf, J. , Amaratunga, D. , Faber, M. , Haigh, R. , Indirli, M. , Kaklauskas,, A. , Lill, I. , Perdikou, S. & et al. (2015). Disaster Resilience Education and Research. Roadmap for Europe 2030.
Sparf, J. (2015). Individens förmåga att ta ansvar för sin egen säkerhet : Särskilt utsatta grupper. Karlstad : Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap
Danielsson, E. , Sparf, J. , Olof, O. & Karlsson, R. (2015). Sektorsövergripande samverkan vid kriser. Karlstad : (MSB Rapportserie MSB894).
Danielsson, E. , Sparf, J. , Karlsson, R. & Oscarsson, O. (2015). Sektorsövergripande samverkan vid kriser. Östersund : Mittuniversitetet (RCR Working Paper Series 2015:2).
Demarin, E. , Danielsson, E. , Eliasson, L. , Johansson, R. , Olofsson, A. , Sparf, J. & Öhman, S. (2010). Samhällsvetenskapliga perspektiv på risk och kris : Uppfattning, kommunikation och organisation..