Media & Democracy is a national collaboration platform for media innovation and democracy-related social research.

Media & Democracy and The Hamrin Foundation have signed a collaboration agreement. This means that The Hamrin Foundation will strengthen the research and innovation program's core funding for two and a half years starting from 1 July 2024.

- “Very exciting and valuable,” says Martin Holmberg, Program Manager for Media & Democracy.

“The Hamrin Foundation has previously funded one of Media & Democracy's research and innovation projects. It was the pioneering and acclaimed Beta Borås, which - in addition to the foundation and participating parties - was also funded by the Västra Götaland region's cultural committee.

- Our commitment is an investment in the information and media landscape of the future. We want to be involved in building strong networks between academia, foundations, business, politics and public organizations. The focus of Media & Democracy is cross-cutting collaboration in research and innovation, which is fully in line with the foundation's purpose,” says Hanna Ståhl, CEO of The Hamrin Foundation.

The joint ambition is long-term, and in addition to the Hamrin Foundation's involvement strengthening Media & Democracy as a platform, one goal is to identify and initiate a national pilot project in the area, as well as explore other opportunities for collaboration with Lindholmen Science Park.

- Media & Democracy has existed as a program since 2017 and the relevance of the platform's focus and activities has only increased. Therefore, it is very valuable that an actor like the Hamrin Foundation with curiosity about the future, and who places great value on collaboration between business, academia and society joins and thus contributes to the continued development of the program, says Martin Holmberg.

Martin Holmberg leads the research and innovation program Media & Democracy at Lindholmen Science Park. He has a long background in news media, as a journalist and as an editorial leader, most of the years at Göteborgs-Posten. He has held managerial roles in digital development and been part of various management teams. Linked to his assignments, he has had the privilege of lecturing on media development for two decades.