- It's fun to study again. Use your head and learn, says Malin Høiseth (48).
The master's student is in the final year of sustainability management at the University of Southeast Norway, campus Bø.
Nowadays, most omy time is spent working on my master's thesis on consumer behaviour and electricity consumption. But Malin's story before she ended up in Bø is long and fascinating. She is a professionally qualified chef and has worked with it mostly throughout her professional life.
The cooking profession has taken her literally all over the world.
- Among other things, I worked 10 seasons in Antarctica, at the base for tourists and research teams from all over the world, says Malin.
Together with her partner, she has also rebuilt a car and driven across America and Africa in it.
New knowledge, new energy
But then it was time to settle down and buy a house back home in Grenland, where she comes from. With her in her luggage, she also had a bachelor's degree in South Asian studies from 2006. In order to enter the master's in sustainability, she still needed some management subjects. It was also an opportunity to dust off the study skills:
- I called USN and checked, and found out that I could take 15 credits in management subjects alongside work. That was what was needed to be able to get in, says Malin.
The interest in sustainability has been there for a long time and has focused on sustainable energy use. Some of the inspiration comes from renovating your own house:
- We started a large renovation project and ended up updating most of the electrical to "smart" solutions,installing solar cells on the roof and LED lights where we can. The interest probably started there, says Malin.
Collaborates with "Lede"
For her master's thesis, she has taken the electricity grid company Lede's project as a starting point, called "StrømFlex ". Here, voluntary households in Porsgrunn participate in an attempt to even out electricity consumption during the day, using technological solutions.
- My master’s will investigate the impact of StrømFlex by looking at differences between the participants in the Lede project and a control group of 150 households. What will it take to change people's behaviour when it comes to electricity consumption? explains Malin.
- We have to use electricity smarter in the future, she points out.
- In Norway, we are used to electricity being a resource that is only there, available to us at any time. But when we have recently begun to pay more for it, we are forced to change our behaviour.
Malin has also received a grant from Telemarksforskning for her project, where she has been given a sparring partner to help her, in addition to the supervisor from USN.
- The scholarship is a nice acknowledgement that the topic for my master's is relevant. Behavioural change in the use of energy is becoming more and more important, Malin believes.
Maybe a PhD?
Sustainability management is a master's program with an international character. During the programme, in Malin's circle, people come from all over the world, with most of them originating from outside Europe. That pleases the well-travelled woman from Skien.
- It's very fun and exciting with other perspectives, especially when it comes to sustainability, she says.
She also works as a research assistant on a project in Nome municipality alongside her studies, a collaboration with USN.
- We are looking at how to involve the citizens in the question of the development of mining on the Fens field, says Malin.
The master's thesis is to be delivered in the summer of 2024. What happens after that is still open.
- I've got the feeling to study again, so maybe a doctorate? Otherwise, sustainability is an exciting field with many opportunities in working life. There are increasing demands for sustainability reporting in many industries, for example, says Malin.
