English

Erfaringssentrum is the national interest organization for peer support workers in Norway. We work to strengthen the role and working conditions of peer support workers, and to create opportunities for connection, collaboration, and shared learning. We promote better working conditions, professional recognition, and meeting places where peer support workers can exchange experiences, build networks, and develop the field together.

As an organization, we provide peer support workers with a platform for professional development, networking, advocacy, and mutual support. We work to improve working conditions and strengthen the professional role of peer support workers. We organize conferences, courses, and professional gatherings that provide opportunities for peer support workers, employers, researchers, and other stakeholders to meet, exchange knowledge and experiences, and develop the field together.

Erfaringssentrum also works actively to highlight the role, rights, and importance of peer support workers, both in society and among decision-makers. We are a central voice representing the interests of peer support workers at the national level. By bringing peer support workers together and strengthening their professional community, we contribute to better working conditions, stronger professional recognition, better services, and greater recognition of lived experience as a valuable form of knowledge and expertise.

We are also interested in international dialogue and collaboration. We welcome contact from organizations, professionals, and networks in other countries who are working with lived experience, peer support, or similar approaches.

Please feel free to contact us at postmottak@erfaringssentrum.no.

What is experiential competence?

Experiential competence (lived experience expertise) is knowledge developed through personal life experiences, for example experiences related to mental health, substance use, social exclusion, or interactions with public services. When these experiences are reflected upon and consciously used in professional work and development processes, they become a valuable resource for improving services, strengthening communities, and creating more inclusive societies.

Our purpose

Erfaringssentrum works to:

  • Promote recognition of experiential competence as an equal and valuable form of knowledge

  • Improve working conditions and professional recognition for peer support workers

  • Contribute to quality, professionalism, and development in peer support work

  • Create meeting places and arenas for dialogue, learning, networking, and mutual support

  • Strengthen the professional community and opportunities for peer support workers to share experiences

  • Influence practice and systems so that the voices and expertise of people with lived experience have real impact
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