Read interviews with some of our students and alumnis from the Master in Sustainability Science - Environment and Decision Making. They will tell you about what they like about the programme and what it was like to study in Gävle.
Carolina Svedlund first became an environmental strategist and now continues with a research-preparatory master’s programme. “An obvious choice for me because I am very interested in how we can encourage human behaviour that promotes a more sustainable society.”
For her, the end goal has always been to do research within sustainability, preferably with a focus on human behaviour and on how to promote a more sustainable society. For this reason, the research-preparatory master’s programme Master in Sustainability Science – Environment and Decision Making was an obvious choice to her.
“I spoke to a teacher in the Environmental Strategist programme when they were developing the master’s programme and the curricula and the courses sounded so exciting so I had no doubt that this was the right choice.”
The fact that this is an international programme taught entirely in English was not a problem to her.
“We hardly notice that our cultural backgrounds differ. We are taking the same courses in the same discipline, and it doesn’t matter where we are from. The fact that the programme is taught in English doesn’t make things more difficult. Since all course literature is in English, it makes things easier because we only have to deal with one language.”
“It is true that I felt a bit nervous the first few seminars, but that nervousness went away soon. In my class, there are only one or two people who have English as their first language, so we are all kind of in the same boat.”
Moreover, she was fairly prepared for remote teaching, as half of her bachelor’s programme was taught online because of COVID-19.
“Things are going great. I have the luxury to live in Gävle, where University of Gävle is located. Me and a fellow student often study on campus together to get away from home for a while.”
To Carolina, the master’s degree is an excellent addition to the programme Environmental strategist because it offers a mixture of new knowledge and specialisation.
“The best thing about the programme is its diversity. The students bring different experiences and so do the teachers. And experts are sometimes invited to highlight the topic of the day.
“We notice that the labour market demand for our skills and knowledge is increasing. Sustainability is now in demand in all kinds of fields, for example in how to design office spaces and the value chain of products.”
Carolina Svedlund is 33 years old, and she is from a small village called Växbo near Bolllnäs. She moved to Gävle to become a hairdresser as a teenager and she has remained there, apart from one brief detour to Oslo, Norway.
“I like it very much here in Gävle. The city is of a good size, close to forests and nature, which is very important to me. I find it hard to imagine living in a big city. My dream is moving back to the countryside.”
“I exercise a lot. It gives me a nice break from studying which it is mostly about sitting in front of the computer. Right now, my focus is on powerlifting and running since I am going to run the Copenhagen Marathon in May,” Carolina Svedlund says.
