Nordic

CEI Nordic is based in Norway and works with philanthropic organisations, NGOs and local governments to change how social challenges are approached – with a focus on children, young people and families.

Playful boy standing with arm around women. Happy mothers are looking at affectionate son. They are spending leisure time at home.

Norway is often cited as a model welfare state, with strong public services and a long tradition of social investment. Yet, even here, social inequalities are growing, and youth mental health is a serious concern.

Read Norwegian language content HERE

Who we are

CEI Nordic is a non-profit initiative supporting the development and improvement of services for children, young people and families. Based in Norway, we collaborate with municipalities, NGOs and philanthropic organisations to strengthen services that meet the needs of children and families in everyday life.

CEI Nordic is part of the global Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI). We combine international research and implementation expertise with deep understanding of local systems – to co-create solutions that work in practice and lead to better outcomes.

Our purpose

Children are 100% of our future. Giving them safe, supportive environments is a shared responsibility. Local communities and professionals do important work every day, but they also face complex challenges.

Even in well-functioning welfare states like Norway, social inequalities are growing – and youth mental health is a real concern. Many services remain fragmented, and efforts are not always coordinated or effective.

We believe in solutions that are:

  • Evidence-informed and practice-ready

  • Designed together with the people they are meant to serve

  • Built on what already works in local systems

How we can help

Service development
We support municipalities and organisations that want to create more integrated, preventative services for children and families. Together with local partners, we work to strengthen existing systems, improve coordination and co-develop sustainable solutions. We act as a learning partner in efforts to improve services for all children – not just those who seek help.

Evaluation
We carry out independent evaluations of initiatives aimed at improving support for children, young people and families – often in collaboration with local governments or grant-funded projects. We offer support across the full evaluation cycle, from needs assessment and method design to data collection and final reporting. Our aim is to generate useful insights that support decision-making and improvement.

Implementation support
We help teams, leaders and organisations succeed with implementation. Using proven frameworks, we offer structured support to ensure that new initiatives are adopted, used and sustained. We work alongside our partners to build capacity and adjust course as needed – with the goal of lasting impact.

Our team

We are a multidisciplinary team with backgrounds in research, public health, psychology, education, and the public sector. We combine academic rigour with hands-on experience – and share a strong commitment to improving services for children, young people and families.

Arild Bjørndal, PhD
Arild is a physician and professor of public health with extensive experience in evidence-based practice and service development. He has led RBUP, been a professor at the University of Oslo, and a visiting scholar at Harvard.

Arild has published over 200 articles and played a central role in developing the Norwegian Electronic Health Library and Knowledge Centre. Arild leads CEI’s Nordic office.

→ Read more about Arild here.

Camilla Henning
Camilla is a clinical psychologist specialising in work and organisational psychology. She has led major change processes in both leadership and consultancy roles.

Camilla is passionate about helping teams and organisations realise their full potential. She draws on her clinical insight in leadership development and regularly teaches courses in communication and organisational change.

→ Read more about Camilla here.

Hege Kornør, PhD
Hege is a psychologist with 20+ years of experience in systematic reviews and evidence-based practice, including work with Cochrane and Campbell Collaboration.

Hege has expertise in mental health and psychometrics, and developed the InSum database and PsykTestBarn journal.

→ Read more about Hege here.

Marit Tørstad
Marit has a background in child and adolescent mental health, with a special interest in school refusal and preventing exclusion.

Marit has worked in child welfare, BUP, educational psychology services, and public agencies. She holds a cand.ed. in clinical pedagogy, family therapy and counselling.

→ Read more about Marit here.

Selina Sevland Andersen
Selina is a research assistant at CEI, working with municipalities, government and NGOs. She is passionate about youth mental health and participation.

She holds a BA in Lifestyle Change and Public Health and an MA in Interdisciplinary Health Research. Her thesis explored young people denied mental health care.

→ Read more about Selina here.

Siri Abrahamsen
Siri is an author and speaker with a passion for belonging and wellbeing. She founded Gleding, which promotes relationships and emotional safety in schools.

She has sold over 60,000 books, works closely with educators, and leads Childhood for Life. Siri is also Community Lead for HundrED in Northern Europe.

→ Read more about Siri here.

Projects

We work together with municipalities, organisations and local communities to give children and young people the best possible conditions for growing up.

Our projects range from health promotion in kindergartens and schools to the development of accessible services and inclusive neighbourhoods.

Our goal is simple – to contribute to solutions that work and create a lasting positive difference in the everyday lives of children, young people and families.

Kids first

In Kids First, we collaborate with the leadership teams in the municipalities of Gjesdal, Gausdal and Hå to identify strengths and challenges across all work related to children, young people and families. The municipalities have identified several areas for development and are in the process of implementing improvements that we continue to support.

Gjesdal is working to strengthen the integration of children and young people with an immigrant background through the Multicultural Childhood project.

Gausdal is enhancing collaboration with parents through the Important Adults initiative.

 is developing its own comprehensive childhood plan.

The project has been supported by the Kavli Trust. Read more about the project here.

Multicultural Childhood in Gjesdal

The Multicultural Childhood project in Gjesdal municipality aims to improve conditions for children and young people from diverse cultural backgrounds by working systematically to prevent social exclusion and to ensure the meaningful inclusion of children and parents in the local community. The project is funded by Rogaland County Council through grants from the Programme for Public Health Work in Municipalities (2024–2026).

We are responsible for evaluating the project, contributing with baseline assessments, interim and final evaluations – both on process and outcomes.

First Line Services – Development Support

Through a series of projects, we support municipalities in strengthening their first line services for children, young people and families. Norway has the highest per capita spending on specialist health services for children in the world, yet has had no explicit, state-backed initiative to strengthen this foundation. Mental health is built in childhood – where children spend their time and where they live. This makes health promotion and targeted preventive measures in local communities critically important.

In addition, all municipalities are now establishing accessible, low-threshold services to address challenges that do arise – for individuals and families. Some of this happens within statutory services, some through new initiatives, and some in collaboration with the voluntary sector and local businesses.

We evaluate:

  1. Municipal plans for promoting children’s health

  2. How municipalities organise and operate their first-line work

  3. How low-threshold services are designed and implemented

  4. How they address the issue of school absenteeism

In all our work, we aim to partner with municipalities and city districts to support them in the many tasks that must be addressed to build systematic and holistic first-line services.

Gleding

Through our strategic partnership with Gleding, we contribute to the development of tools for kindergartens, schools and parents. The Gleding tools are practical, strengths-based, health-promoting, and focused on relationships – designed to support those who have the world’s most important job: working with children. Read more about Gleding here.

CEI Nordic team

Work with us?

We are eager to help develop more projects that strengthen the health, wellbeing and quality of life of children, young people and families.

Please get in touch if you have ideas, challenges or proposals for collaboration.

📧Email us today:
arild.bjorndal@ceiglobal.org
selina.andersen@ceiglobal.org