“After this day, I love Haparanda”
– It's like a mini Grand Hotel!
Architecture student Roxane takes out her mobile phone to take a photo and google facts about Haparanda Stadshotell. It's the premiere of Green Deal Site Visits, where LTU students get to visit the county's municipalities, make contacts and discover their future possibilities.
It is early in the morning and it is blowing and snowing when ten expectant students gather at a couple of minibuses outside Teknikens Hus. Today they will leave the campus bubble on Porsön and get to know Haparanda and Tornio. They are given breakfast bags and sit on the buses. As we approach Kalix, someone, for some unknown reason, has a flashback from a holiday in Portugal. Maybe it is the cheerful atmosphere in the bus that does it, because there is hardly any snow drift outside the window.
Ten curious students joined the first tour with Green Deal Buses.
The trip first goes to the Cape East hotel where the students are provided with goodie bags and coffee and get to meet Harry Jatko. He is the company pilot at the municipality and the group's cicerone during the visit.
The students have registered their interest on LTU's website, stating what they are studying and why they want to go. Places on the Green Deal buses are limited. Motivated students get the chance. LTU arranges the trips within the North Sweden Green Deal project.
– Right outside the window is the border between Finland and Sweden. We are going abroad today!, says Harry before he starts with a quick introduction to Haparanda and the region. There will be information about cross-border trade, tourism, the Robinson recording, the profile of the business community, the good infrastructure, the lifestyle, the minority language Meänkieli, culture and cultural heritage.
Curious questions
The students are interested in the extensive cross-border cooperation with Tornio. Questions are flying when Hanna-Leena Ainonen, cross-border cooperation developer, takes over. She talks about the cooperation between the rescue services, joint infrastructure projects and the possibility of working on one side of the border and living on the other.
– How does it work with social security numbers if the children are going to school in the other country?
– In which country do you pay taxes?
– Is it really true that houses are cheap here?
The students started the day at Cape East with a quick introduction to Haparanda/Tornio and the unique cross-border cooperation.
From Cape East, the buses continue to the company Pipelife, where Kimmo Heinänen and Elina Anundi welcome them. Pipelife is part of a large group and is Europe's leading producer of plastic pipes.
– We make the world's finest plastic pipes that the customer burys in the ground or casts into concrete, says Elina, adding that the group has 17 employees and has 000 facilities around Europe. The factory in Haparanda has around 31 employees and Elina proudly says that Pipelife has won a Finnish award for best industrial workplace several times.
“Big challenge to find staff”
One sign that people are happy is the age structure. Almost no one is quitting Pipelife, according to Kimmo and Elina. Now the company is facing a large number of retirements.
– Within ten years, 44 percent of our staff will retire. It is a big challenge to find staff.
“Are you looking for students for thesis projects?” asks Roxane Ndayambaje, one of four students in the group who are studying for a Master of Science in Engineering with a specialization in architecture.
– Would love to! Or if you have courses where we can be a part. You can split a project into small parts. Do a market survey – things like that, says Elina and tells us they may also need summer workers.
Muhammad Ammar Roohani says that the trip to Haparanda was a fantastic experience and gave him self-confidence. He calls this picture "The stretch of an hour within a heart". Photo: Private.
Submitted CV
After the presentation, Elina and Kimmo invite the students on a tour of the factory. One person who has many questions is Muhammad Ammar Roohani, a mechanical engineer. He is in Luleå and specializes in maintenance. Immediately after the tour at Pipelife, he sends in his CV.
– I have already worked in the profession. Then I took a break and came to Sweden. I have been in Luleå for a year and a half and have just started my thesis, he says.
The visit is a chance for the business community and the students to start building relationships early. Pipelife's Elina Anundi exchanges a few words with Hanna Abdulkadir Ahmed, who is in her second year of the MBA program and has moved here from Linköping.
Hanna Abdulkadir Ahmed is studying to become a business economist and became interested in a future in Haparanda.
– What do you dream about?
– I don't really know what I want to do, but I want it to be meaningful and for me to help others develop as people, says Hanna.
– You will find a good job, there is a shortage of economists. Many are retiring within a short time. Where will companies find people to handle finances, accounting, salaries?, says Elina, who herself has a degree in economics.
– When you say that, I feel hope for the future, that there is potential in this, Hanna Abdulkadir Ahmed responds.
Guided tour
After lunch, the students are given a guided tour by bus of Haparanda and Tornio. The historic city hotel arouses the curiosity and admiration of the architecture students. There is a stop to take a closer look at the impressive railway station. Several large industrial companies are pointed out during the tour.
Roxane Ndayambaje quickly googles facts about the city hotel. A little later in the day, she met with staff from the hotel and received an application form for a summer job.
“It's fun that they show what's up here. I wouldn't have thought there were such big companies here,” says Eric Segelström from Karlskoga, who is studying to become an engineer with a specialization in technical physics.
The bus drops the students off at the Rajalla shopping center right on the Finnish side of the border. There is a job fair going on here that the students will visit.
Hanna, the aspiring economist, stops at the KPMG accounting firm's stand for a while. The girls who are going to be engineers stand for a long time at the Stenvalls sawmill, talking. Muhammar steps away to look for the Outokumpu steel mill.
“It's really cool that it works as ONE city”
At a stand where baked goods are being handed out is Johannes Lindholm from Västerås, who, like Eric, is studying engineering physics.
– It's been really nice, a cozy trip, especially towards the end. I like walking around here, he says, adding that he was surprised by how close Haparanda and Tornio are.
– That it works as ONE city, that's really cool. There's probably only one city like this in the whole world.
Johannes Lindholm and Eric Segelström are both studying for a Master of Science degree in engineering physics.
A long day is coming to an end and the crowds at the fair are starting to thin out. But for the students, the excursion is not quite over yet. Now it's off to Seskarö for a delicious dinner in a beautiful manor house setting at Erika's dining room. Lots of happy laughter can be heard from the tables as the day is summed up under the crystal chandeliers.
– It's been great fun and really educational. It's my first time in Haparanda. The most interesting thing was the tour of Pipelife. I think it's really interesting with sustainability issues, says Marwa Sulaiman from Stockholm, who is also going to be a civil engineer with a specialization in Architecture.
“What do I do if I want to live here?”
Perhaps Haparanda has gained a new future resident in Hanna Abdulkadir Ahmed, who will graduate with a degree in economics in a couple of years.
– After this day, I love Haparanda. What should I do if I want to live here, who can I talk to? she asks Harry Jatko.
The students were treated to a large dinner buffet at Herrgår'n on Seskarö.
After dessert and coffee and a warm thank you to Erika Medström at Herrgår'n, it's time to pile back into the buses. Hanna Blomster from LTU is driving one of the buses, which is now heading towards Luleå and LTU. We notice that the girls talking in the back of the bus have already started pronouncing Torneå in the Finnish way:
"Tear-ni-oh".
– Everyone is so excited to see what these activities bring. It's quite a small cost that can make a big impact. Some of them might actually move to a municipality, but everyone can become ambassadors and speak well of the places with other students, spreading a positive image of the entire county, says Hanna Blomster.
On March 14, the Green Deal buses will roll with new students to Boden.
Text and image: Sara Stylbäck Vesa
FACTS: Upcoming Green Deal Site Visits
March 14: The Shop
March 28-29: Jokkmokk
March 31: Kalix
April 3: Arjeplog
April 17-18: Övertorneå/Pajala
April 20-21: Gällivare
April 24-25: Kiruna
May 4: Älvsbyn
May 8: Arvidsjaur
May 15: Piteå
The date for Luleå has not yet been determined.
The North Sweden Green Deal is an initiative to realize a sustainable societal transition, in the wake of the new industrial establishments.
The project is run by Region Norrbotten and Region Västerbotten together with a number of other actors. It is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).