---
title: SoCentral
type: foundation
status: active
country: 'NO'
website: https://www.socentral.no
logo: /assets/org-logos/socentral.png
contact:
  checked: 2026-08-09
  form: https://www.socentral.no/kontakt
  source: https://www.socentral.no
summary: A Norwegian social innovation platform that initiates, coordinates, and drives
  collaborative projects for sustainable societal development — including Norway's
  first civil-society-initiated national citizens' assemblies on the use of national
  wealth and sustainable consumption.
concepts:
- citizens-assembly
- deliberative-democracy
- cooperative
location:
  latitude: 59.9139
  longitude: 10.7522
  name: Oslo, Norway
  precision: city
events:
- date: '2026-08-10'
  title: Arendalsuka 2026 — multiple sessions on green transition, fjord restoration,
    and sport inclusion, Arendal Norway
  url: https://www.socentral.no/aktuelt
  quote: Om du er interessert i grønn omstilling, hvordan få til samarbeid, skogbevaring,
    grønnvasking, OsloFjorden eller inkludering i idrett - det finnes et arrangement
    for deg på Arendalsuka
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-12'
  end_date: '2026-08-13'
  notable: true
  type: conference
  location: Arendal, Norway
  country: 'NO'
- date: '2012-01-01'
  title: Founded in Oslo as a social innovation platform for sustainable societal
    development
  url: https://www.socentral.no/english
  quote: SoCentral was founded in 2012, is a non-profit company and owned by its employees.
  note: Date corrected from 2014 to 2012 — the org's own English "About us" page states
    "founded in 2012," and the previously-cited Norwegian om-oss page (still the org's
    general About page) never actually states a founding year at all.
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-12'
  notable: true
activity:
  dod:
    checked: 2026-08-09
    date: 2026-08-09
    note: Site live and actively publishing as of August 2026
  sitemap:
    note: Sitemap found, no lastmod
    checked: 2026-08-17
last_checked: '2026-08-09'
---

SoCentral is an Oslo-based social innovation platform whose core insight is structural: many of society's hardest problems fall into gaps where no single actor — public, private, or civic — has a clear mandate to act, even though everyone agrees something needs to be done. SoCentral's role is to occupy those gaps: initiating, coordinating, and driving forward collaborative projects with over 100 different partners from all three sectors, having launched more than 50 new solutions.

The standout democracy work is Framtidspanelet (2025), Norway's first civil-society-initiated national citizens' assembly — 56 representatively selected citizens spent months learning and deliberating on how Norway should use its national wealth for the benefit of the country, the world, and future generations. SoCentral served as the independent secretariat together with We Do Democracy. This was followed by Folkepanel: Bærekraftig forbruk, a national citizens' panel on sustainable consumption whose recommendations fed directly into the government's white paper on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. SoCentral also runs folkepanel.no as a knowledge hub on the citizens' panel methodology and has facilitated local-level panels (including one in Larvik municipality on urban development).

Beyond democracy work, SoCentral runs a community of 230+ members working on sustainable societal development, neighbourhood-level programs (Nabolagsutviklere youth programme, Fremtidens Nabolagshus for community houses), and sectoral collaborations on fjord restoration, circular construction, and social inclusion.

## Links

- Website: [socentral.no](https://www.socentral.no)

## See also

- [Citizens' Assembly](../concepts/citizens-assembly.md)
- [Deliberative Democracy](../concepts/deliberative-democracy.md)
- [We Do Democracy](we-do-democracy.md)