– There is a lot I like about the job, but the best thing is to be able to contribute to a research project on a daily basis, deepen my own knowledge and not least meet all my colleagues, says Matilda Nyström.
Matilda Nyström and Douglas Cederlund share rooms at Technology and Social Change. They work together with research leaders Dick Magnusson and Simon Haikola but in different research projects. The tasks include supporting the research teams with, among other things, data collection, surveys and literature reviews.
Research on community planning
Since March Douglas has been working with the project " Lessons from municipalities' planning for wind power establishments" which looks at how wind power establishment has taken place in Swedish municipalities since 2009, focusing on the use of the municipal veto.– I mainly assist with collecting data that will later be used in the project. I have done this by, for example, examining the local media and collecting permit inspections from the Environmental Assessment Delegations.
Matilda has been working since October 2021 in the project "Planners as agents for conversion to sustainable cities" which aims to discover and support new strategies and tools for a transformative planning and to integrate knowledge in community planning education programs.
– In addition, I have worked with the quality assurance of the community planner program, for example through surveys of the program's content and performed an alumni survey. At present, I am working a lot on a project regarding special municipal requirements in zoning.
Wants to continue studying
They have both studied at Linköping University. Matilda studied the community planner program and graduated in 2021. Before that, she completed the internship program “Tekniksprånget” at power company Vattenfall in Luleå with a focus on hydropower. Douglas graduated from the environmental science program, Norrköping, in 2021.– My plan at the moment is to work for another year and then apply for a master's degree related to environment and sustainability, he says.
Matilda would like to study a master's degree in community planning, but she does not know exactly what program and university it will be.
– It would have been fun to try studying abroad, I’m leaning in that direction. In the longer term, I look forward to working in the community planning area, Matilda concludes.
