The PhD student network is heading north! Today we started our three-day workshop on the theme: The role of mining in society and the role of society in mining. Joining the tour is 22 PhD students from Örebro universitet, Luleå tekniska universitet, Uppsala universitet and Kungliga Tekniska högskolan.
Day 1
The day started at Luleå tekniska universitet and the participants got to listen to Professor Dag Avango who gave us a historical background to the mining industry in the region. Anna Kumpula, Chairman of Georange gave us the story of the Pajala mine: about how it all started, the end of the mine and how it a few years later was resurrected.
🚌After that we went to the Boliden’s Aitik mine in Gällivare kommun by bus. There we got to listen to Anders Forsgren and Sture Holmgren who talked about how the company interacts and cooperate with the community.
The day ended with an exciting trip down into the open pit mine. We will spend the night in Kiruna kommun and look forward to more exciting visits and new insights tomorrow!
Day 2
The second day of the PhD student network tour started 540 meters underground in LKAB‘s visitor mine. Jenny Greberg and Erik Sundqvist talked about the company’s challenges and opportunities linked to the green transition. Anna Skogh works with LKAB´s sponsorship and Corporate Social Responsibility to strengthen the brand and she told us about how they contribute to attractive communities in the regions.
After lunch we went to Jukkasjärvi and Mikael Dahlberg gave us an interesting lesson in the history of the ICEHOTEL and the importance of tourism as well as the interaction with the mining industry.
We also got insights about the Sámi culture, first from Ylva Sarri who gave us a personal Sámi perspective on nature and reindeer herding, and after that we got a guided tour at Nutti Sámi Siida AB open air museum and we got to feed the reindeer. We ended the day with a traditional, and delicious, two-course Sami dinner.
Day 3
The third and final day of the PhD student network began with an exciting review of Kiruna’s history including the ongoing work to move Kiruna as the mine expands.
Clara Nyström is municipal heritage officer for Kiruna kommun and looks after the cultural heritage of Kiruna. Through her work the history of Kiruna and the impacts that mining has had is preserved in different ways. She talked about how today you can find and feel the history of the old city in a completely new city center.
After that Anders Lundqvist, sustainability manager at Copperstone Resources AB talked about their work to be able to reopen the Viscaria mine and how that may affect Kiruna and how they are in turn affected by the society.
🚌 Before we got on the bus on our way home, we summarized these three days together and here are some of the quotes:
💬 “I have understood the importance of having the whole picture. What has happened historically, the culture, the social aspects. To understand it not only from an engineering perspective, but also from a human perspective”.
💬 “All stakeholders have different perspectives when they look at a specific issue, you have to take that with you. It has been very valuable to be involved in these days and hear all the different perspectives”.
⭐️ Many thanks to all participants, to the companies that received us and all the speakers who shared their perspective.
