From the Classroom to Nordic Edge: Meet Maren and Erik

What happens when sustainability moves from textbooks into real-world projects?

Maren and Erik are set to find out this fall. They’re swapping lecture halls with Innoasis and will spend the next few months working on everything from Smart City and Agritech to innovation, agriculture, and their master’s theses.

Both are studying sustainability at the University of Stavanger, but they come to Nordic Edge with quite different backgrounds and interests. Maren will be getting to know the smart city cluster better, while Erik will be joining the agritech cluster. What they have in common is a desire to apply what they’ve learned to something concrete and, hopefully, learn a great deal along the way.

Photo: Maren and Erik with the coffee machine

Maren is taking sustainability out of the lecture hall

Maren is 23 years old, comes from Risør, and has a background in marketing and management from the University of Agder. She is now pursuing a master’s degree in sustainability studies at UiS.

She chose Nordic Edge because she wanted to get up close and personal with various companies, projects, and issues related to sustainability.

– I haven’t settled on a specific career path yet, so this felt like a great opportunity to gain relevant work experience while also gaining a better understanding of what I want to work on in the future.

Here at our company, Maren will be working with Trygve and the rest of the smart city team to contribute to various projects throughout the fall. She’s especially hoping to put into practice some of what she’s primarily encountered through her studies so far.

– I hope to apply some of what we’ve learned in school to real-world projects, rather than just keeping it as theory. This will be my first taste of a “real job,” so I’m looking forward to seeing how sustainability and innovation are actually put into practice.

And when the fall is over, she has a pretty clear goal.

– I hope I can say that I’ve contributed something that’s actually been useful, not just that I’ve been here observing. I hope I’ve been able to take on some specific tasks or maybe a small project.

Photo: Student Maren

Erik Magnus is set to explore the future of agriculture

Erik Magnus is in his final year of the same master’s program. He has also studied natural resource management in England. His interest in nature and research was a key reason he chose Nordic Edge.

This fall, he’ll be joining the agritech team. He’s especially looking forward to working on the “Fremtidsbonden" project and learning more about innovation in agriculture.

– I hope I can use my experience in natural resource management, along with the perspectives and knowledge about sustainability I’ve gained at UiS, to contribute to the projects at Nordic Edge.

The internship will also be part of the work on his master’s thesis. Erik hopes to get to know the people, the network, and the way they work. In addition to gaining insights from experts that may be relevant to his thesis.

But Erik doesn’t want to spend the fall just sitting on the sidelines either.

– I hope I can contribute an idea or, in other ways, help advance one of the projects or initiatives at Nordic Edge. At the same time, I hope to learn a lot from the experts and partners in the agritech network.

Photo: Student Erik Magnus

New perspectives in, new experience out

An internship is about learning, but we don’t want Maren and Erik to spend the autumn watching from the sidelines. They will get the chance to try things out, ask questions, challenge us and contribute to our projects with the knowledge and perspectives they already bring to the table.

For Nordic Edge, working with students is an important part of what we do – both because we want to give students relevant experience and because they bring new perspectives and knowledge into our organisation.

– The connection between academia and our mission is part of our DNA. The value of working with students goes both ways. We want to take responsibility for giving students relevant experience, while we also have a long and positive track record of students making valuable contributions through internships, master’s theses and, in some cases, later joining our team, says Terje Eide, CEO of Nordic Edge.

He also believes that students choosing to spend their internships at Nordic Edge says something important about the organisation.

– Being an attractive place for students is an important indicator of the strength of the Nordic Edge brand.

Now, we’re looking forward to seeing what Maren and Erik bring to Nordic Edge and what they take with them when the autumn comes to an end.