South

I had the opportunity to spend much of the last week exploring the far South. When I dream about Sweden, I usually think North…thus more time in the south is good for me—expands my idea and understanding of Sweden. And most valuable for me gives me a broader feel for the varied Swedish landscape.

First stop was a quick trip to Uppsala (not Southern Sweden) for a Fulbright lecture and tour of that historic city…

A city of Viking mounds, the oldest University in Sweden, the most important cathedral of Sweden, the burial place of Swedish kings and 'heroes'…for example, here is the Carl Linnaeus burial site in the Cathedral in Uppsala (just in case you are wondering, Linnaeus is the father of modern scientific binomial nomenclature…the Latin system for naming living things…)

From Uppsala it was south to the Swedish region of Blekinge. There does not seem to be a direct route and my travel to Blekinge required three train changes. The entire coast of Blekinge is defined by its islands.

The Friluftsliv I Förändring team met on one of the islands, Tjäro...here is where I stayed:

The gathering was the annual Spring meeting of the research team. I am very impressed by the organization and focus of this group, while the individual researchers are all engaged in different questions, the interconnections are strong. This meeting was particularly valuable for me in terms of testing my conceptualization of friluftsliv and seeking ideas for a few of the research questions I am juggling. I am very grateful to the team for their willingness to let me participate.

At the conclusion of the meeting, I caught a train deeper South. I traveled with one of my Friluftsliv collegues (Mattias Boman) to his home in Malmö, deep into the heart of Skåne.

Skåne is one of the Swedish cultural landscapes that take special pride in its distinct heritage. Back during the time period of war between Denmark and Sweden (hundreds of years of bloodshed), this region was at times ruled by a Danish King, and times the Swedish. You see the Danish medieval influence in architecture and you hear the strong dialect. The land is heavily agricultural and very flat…the coast is sand beaches, the forests are few and largely deciduous…here one can find beautiful beech forest!

Vitsippor in bloom everywhere!

The agricultural landscape is dotted with modern wind turbines and medieval churches. And the capital city of this region, Malmö, has a unique sense of contemporary urban design.

The most famous element of this new design is the skyscraper, the ‘Turning Torso’—a highly interesting building towering above the West Harbor and thus serving as a reference from most parts of the very flat city.

I found the Torso to be interesting, but not nearly as engaging as the infill neighborhood that surrounds it.

Like Göteborg, the empty spaces of a past ship building industry are slowly being reclaimed. The neighborhood is a jumble of contemporary styles, almost all interesting.

The landscape architecture and the relationship of the entire neighborhood to the sea is terrific. One can see over the water, Öresund, to Copenhagen. It is interesting to me to think about what nature feels like to someone living on dredged land in a highly engineered environment yet with such access to endless beach, sky and water…

I also wonder about the creative impact on a person of living in such interesting esthetic environment.

Mattias gave me a grand tour of the area around Malmö—from the frilufts (outdoor recreation) area outside of town where we ran 10 km through beautiful beech forest...to a small national park...to the old university town of Lund.

It is interesting to think of the new Sweden, as you travel around you meet people from all over the world who now make Sweden their home. Sweden has become a destination for immigration and Malmö is one of the places you see that diversity.

And another thing you can't help but notice in Lund and Malmö are the bikes! The cost of gas, coupled with environmental awareness and aided by the flat topography, makes for a bike-rich world.

The final bike shot above is actually a floating bike parking area just outside the train station in Malmö! 'Overflow' bike parking?

So after an interesting and active tour through the South, I wearily returned home to Göteborg; one of the most striking images I noted pulling into town were the hills and rocks...a return to topography! The lovely hills of Göteborg...

Super Sustainable City!

Super Sustainable city?


A few more thoughts about sustainability...as mentioned in my last post. It is hard to avoid considering sustainability in Göteborg right now, the city, Chalmers, The University and other creative forces in this city ar pushing for change. The photo above is from a building site on the Lindholm campus of GU and Chalmers. If you look carefully you can see solar panels on the construction trailer--they are there to power the crane in the construction process! The sign says: Here we shape a sustainable future at Lindholm. The sign below says: Chalmers, for a sustainable future (Chalmers is the large technical university in Göteborg).


Lindholm, by the way, is a part of town that used to be the heart of the shipping/ship building area...now it is a tech park and a waterfront neighborhood. The crash of the shipping industry left this space to be reconstructed as a new part of the city: (a view of the solar powered crane)


A group of artists, architects and engineers have put together a project envisioning a sustainable Göteborg by the year 2050. Check out this blog site for more info. and imagery:

http://supersustainablecity.blogspot.com/2009/02/vision.html

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC8f2aQItHk&feature=player_embedded#!

It is exciting to get inspired here by what I am seeing with the hope of contributing to Duluth and UMD's efforts back home.

Vår

Spring is here--or at least trying real hard (see the bee?). Here are some random signs:

1. Crocus coming up in parks everywhere--they grow like wildflowers in the city parks. The color is so welcome.

2. Frogs! I came across a pond teeming with action. Quiet croaking by the males, expansive egg masses (can you see the eggs in the second photo?), and movement everywhere--it was exciting. I am not 100% sure, but have tentatively identified the frogs as the European Common Frog, Rana temporaria.


3. Harbor action, the port is coming to life with ships and boats, reminding me of Duluth. Yesterday was a Duluth day, I realized I was so reminded of home because I was down by the water and the wind was screaming...very Duluth.


The last photo from the harbor is the 'harbor bus.' Many people commute back and forth, thus these ferries serve as the mass transit link across the water.

4. Wildflowers slowly emerging...not sure was this is but has a saxifrage like stem...
(It's not a dandylion.)

5. Ice is gone! This weekend's trip on the Bohusleden (I can't stay away) was the first with ice free lakes:
Yes, a little more hiking. I am so thrilled by the reality that a person living in a city of 500,000+ can access such great green space without a car. The more I read and experience, the more I am realizing that mid-sized cities (Göteborg sized) should be the sustainable model. They allow for sustainable density (transport, utilities, etc.) while ALSO allowing for human connection to nature.

To end this spring post, here are a few more pictures emphasizing Göteborg's proximity to green space (OK, largely brown and grey...but greening), see the city in the background?:

Thinking about Iceland

The big news in Sweden tonight is the volcano in Iceland. Swedish airspace, along with that of most of Northern Europe, will soon close due to the danger that the volcanic ash poses to airplanes. I have a friend sitting at the Oslo airport wondering when his flight to Canada will be allowed to take-off...Anyhow, it is much more interesting that a geologic event vs. a terrorist attack has closed the skyways. The news has made much of the fact that the last time this happened was 9-11.

No ash here, but oddly enough the whole city smelled like sulfur yesterday...I was walking downtown and had this self conscious thought, "Do I stink?" And then I heard a couple near me talking about how much the city stinks and could it be the volcano...I was relieved, but surprised as I had not imagined the smell to be the first noticeable impact. I heard in the news people talking about the smell in Scotland and Oslo too.

I have visited the part of Iceland that is now flooding (due to the tremendous melt from the heat of the eruption)...fire and ice is now water and rock and mud. I can remember seeing evidence of past floods caused by eruptions under the glaciers...wide rock strewn flood plains. The drama of glaciers and volcanoes contribute to making Iceland such a starkly beautiful place. I fell in love with the open tundra-like landscape for much the same reason I love the open Mts. of Sweden's North--there is something quite liberating about the feel of the wide open northern space...(The picture above is that openness I am referring to and was taken in Jämtland this past Sept.)


Sunshine and ice! (and rock and forest)...the photos, of course, are not from Iceland, but rather from further adventures on the Bohusleden. Mattias and I hiked a 'wild stretch' North of Göteborg called Svartedalen--in an area noted as being the largest wild landscape in Western Sweden.

Old growth forest, signs of wolves, and a chain of Lakes reinforce the Minnesota feel.


No hike is complete without fika...

Bohusleden

I’m just back from a short adventure. Given that everyone is celebrating Easter, I thought I would get into the spirit and celebrate the arrival of Spring.

A four-day weekend and sunshine, I couldn’t help but abandon my studies and hop on the tram.

A recurring theme in my correspondence and blogging is my love of public transport…in Sweden when you discuss public transport you use the generic term ‘kommunication.’ How great is that? I like the idea of communication as mobility, as movement. And I’m sure it goes down to our common Germanic language roots. For example, when you read about the establishment of the border between MN and Canada, the phrase ‘line of water communication’ is noted (think canoes full of goods, news, new people…). Hmm, so we used this idea historically, but when was it dropped?

My 'expedition' was on the Bohusled, a Lake Superior Trail-like route through the West Coast region of Sweden. 370 km (~170 miles). I hiked about 25 km.

The trail is beautiful and equally great is its accessibility. I literally rode a tram 30 minutes from city center to a suburb (Angered) and then started walking.

After a few miles of ‘suburban hiking’ I was on the trail…at first, the trails are wide, have lights (remember Nov.-Jan.) and are seemingly well used.

Once you get beyond the first tier, the trail feels wild, i.e. feels like one is in the BWCA, Isle Royale or some other lovely wild spot.

I hiked all day and ended up in a town North of Göteborg; Kungsälv is a town noted for the old fortress ruins (can you see it in the far distance in this picture?).

I didn’t explore the fortress—too much road walking, instead I retreated back into the woods to find a good camping location. I camped high on a rock outcropping with the hope of taking advantage of both a setting and rising sun. Further, with moose droppings everywhere, it seemed like a good spot to spot a moose. No luck with the moose or the tjäder (a large grouse like bird I was hoping to see) but I was happy to see returning cranes—and hear that unmistakable crane call…’a low loud mystical cackle’

Camping solo can be a little lonely, especially when I am alone most of the time, thus I took my crime family with me and spent the evening hours on my rock reading from the Stieg Larsson Trilogy. OK, it is a little creepy to read a crime novel when alone in the woods at night, but no major nightmares to report…and actually, I was at that critical point in the story that I had to finish...thank goodness I had my headlamp with me. Note, fireworks are a big part of Easter Eve, thus while reading I could hear fireworks in the distance, sounding like guns, which proved to be fitting background noise to Luftslottet Som Sprängdes.

Anyhow, the real point of this trip was my ongoing interest in accessible green, accessible wild, accessible nature…I have a pretty strong sense of what it means to me, but what about to the people living in the suburb where I started? Angered is largely an immigrant suburb…do these new Swedes get into the woods? Is it important to them? Should it be? I can only imagine how different these woods are to the wilds of Iraq…