Svein is committed to social policy

The second part of the group course The political system - election 2025 was recently completed. Engaged course participants visited the Norwegian Parliament and brought with them important input on both the interpreter/companion scheme and the TT scheme.

Svein Fossum lives in Hønefoss. He is known for his involvement in socio-political issues and is therefore not completely unfamiliar with the political world. He is one of the participants in the group course who has discussed and prepared topical issues for meetings with politicians in Parliament. Here he gives you an insight into what such a group course can contain and how he helped to prepare and provide input to politicians from several parties.

Can you tell us about yourself and why you signed up for the group course "The Political the system - Election 2025"

- I am interested and engaged in social issues and politics in general. I've been on the board of a political party and served as chair of the Council for People with Disabilities. I wanted to sign up for this course because the topic The political system - election 2025 is very relevant now that there are parliamentary elections.

What preparations did you make in the group course before visiting the Parliament?

- We were going to meet politicians, so it was important that we spent plenty of time during the first week of the course discussing issues that are particularly relevant to those of us with dual sensory loss.

- When we met again the second week of the course, we learnt who we would be meeting. There were six politicians from each party. We continued to work on the issues we had decided on, and worked on formulating the questions we had for the politicians. We prepared a memo with the issues we wanted to talk to them about, which the politicians were given when they met us at the Storting the following day.

Read a note from the course participants to politicians

Can you tell us about your experience during your visit to Parliament?

- It was interesting to experience being in Parliament! We got to see the Storting Hall, Vandrehallen and so on. We were given our own meeting room where we could talk to the politicians. Basically, everything was supposed to work as well as possible for our situation in this room. But that wasn't the case. The induction loop didn't work here. It actually took a lot of time to get it right, which we could have used in a better way. Nevertheless, we were able to ask the politicians several questions, and they answered our questions in a very positive way. I felt that they took our questions seriously and that they understood our situation. We used the fact that the induction loop didn't work as an example of how important organisation is, for all its worth!

- We ate lunch that was ordered from the canteen at the Storting. It was great that they arranged it so that we didn't have to go out of the parliament to eat and back in again for security checks etc. We would have spent a lot of time and energy on that. We ate in the basement lounge. The room was cosy, but it wasn't the best for us. We had to walk up a lot of stairs, the basement room had very poor lighting, there was no induction loop and poor acoustics. We got to talk to another politician after lunch where we ate. This gave us a good insight into our situation, with examples from the conditions during lunch.

What are your experiences, thoughts and lessons learnt from your visit to Parliament?

- "I'm grateful that all the politicians made us so welcome when we visited the Storting. We really appreciated that, and it made the course even more rewarding and rich in content. I'm left with the impression that this was a very useful and important opportunity to raise some of our issues with the politicians. It was also great that we were able to hand in this memo so that they were left with something in writing after the visit.

I am left with some thoughts and experiences that politicians did not know very much about us as a group in society 

- "I'm left with some thoughts and experiences that the politicians didn't know very much about us as a group in society. They expressed this themselves, and they actually said that they weren't aware of several of the issues we gave them information about. I think it's great that they're actually honest about not knowing. But, at the same time, it's serious that they don't know. It shows once again that it's important that we talk about our case to politicians. It's also really nice that course organiser Sondre Varpe has sent an email to the politicians on behalf of all of us now, because it's important to remind them that we were there and our cause.  

What would you say is the value of attending this type of group course at Eikholt?

- That we are given the opportunity to engage in social issues and politics on an equal footing with others in society. At Eikholt, the training is designed for us, so that we have the opportunity to acquire knowledge and gain insight we can use in different contexts. The course instructor, Sondre Varpe, is highly skilled and organises the course in a pedagogically sound manner. He is able to involve and include us with the prerequisites and experiences we have, which is important for a successful course. 

- We are also offered many other important courses that relate directly to our double sensory loss. Being offered themed courses that are customised for those of us with dual sensory impairment is important for us to gain the knowledge we need to engage and participate in society. 

Do you have any questions? You can find contact information here: Contact us 

Here you can read about the general election 2025: Parliamentary elections - stortinget.no

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