for future reference

I went to Mexico, came back and the first snow both fell and melted. I promise to tell you about it, but first:

In late October, I went down to Skåne, southern Sweden, to conduct my last preparatory stakeholder interviews. What I asked them and what I will use their answers for, I intend to write about some other time. (There is not going to be another trip for a while, so I am hoping there will be more time.) Hässleholm did not show its prettiest face (although, I am not sure it ever is a particularly beautiful place to visit – it was first founded when the railway line between Malmö and Stockholm was constructed in the second half of the 19th century and the lack of both history and size, well, a certain soullessness. This is my snap judgment.)

In Växjö, for the second time, I realized I missed something really special when I was there in early June: to enter the cathedral. The light, and the glass art. The region of Sweden where Växjö lies is known for its glass. I was all alone in there, a rainy Monday at six in the evening. I couldn’t help myself, with those arches. The acoustics were incredible. The sound lingered for what felt like seconds after a crescendo.

I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately, with churches and singing.

It is easy, in a place like the Stockholm Resilience Centre, with so many brilliant people doing groundbreaking research, being exposed to all those papers and books, to lose your balance. Feel small and insignificant and out of place. After a spring and summer of PhD courses and conferences, I had started to doubt what the contribution of my work will be – there are so many doing so much great stuff already.

But while conducting my interviews in October, I was reminded. It is not all about what gets the big headlines in Nature and Science, the shiny global analyses or charismatic case studies in exotic places. Doing locally grounded research in a Swedish local governance context can be just as important – especially for those involved. Several of the people I have interviewed have expressed how interesting they find the participatory process that we have started and how important our perspective on sustainability is. It is like an energy boost, every time I interview someone.

I have to remember that, when the doubt comes looming over me again. I am not doing this for the headlines. I am doing this because I want to understand how things work in my own backyard. I want to contribute to making Sweden more sustainable. And I am doing it for the people who think it is important – the stakeholders in my study area. That is enough.