Grete Swensen has her PhD in ethnology and works as senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, NIKU. Her field of interests comprise studies related to how cultural heritage and cultural environments can be incorporated in today’s physical planning, including how to integrate cultural heritage as a vital component in a sustainable urban development. She places special emphasis on interdisciplinary co-operation and use of qualitative research methods. She has been project coordinator of four strategic research programs in NIKU since 2000, and is today the coordinator of the institute’s strategic research program:  Urban Heritage – history, character and potential in urban development (CITY-SIS). She has in addition been the project leader of a series of interdisciplinary research projects funded by the Norwegian Research Council; the three most recent are “Cultural Heritage and Urban Place Identity”, “Local Heritage Values and Cultural Heritage Plans in Urban Fringe Areas” and the ongoing project “Green urban Spaces - the role of the cemetery in multicultural and interreligious urban contexts”. She has also held special assignments as external expert in research evaluation and as referee for several international scientific journals. Recent publication: Guttormsen, T.S. & G. Swensen eds. (2016). Heritage, Democracy and the Public. Nordic approaches. London, Ashgate