It was during the European Union's Green Week and the event Policies, Women and Climate Change that Malin Karlsson, project leader at Dalarna University's Energikompetenscentrum, EKC, had the opportunity to talk about the energy branch from an equality perspective.
"One thing I took up was the fact that there are relatively few women in leadership positions in this sector. I also talked about how we have chosen to include women in our project and why we see this to be an important strategic question when it comes to innovation and competence provision," explains Malin Karlsson.
The EU's Green Week draws worldwide interest and is one of the largest recurring events that has a focus on EU environmental policy. The event Policies, Women and Climate Change focuses on climate issues from a gender perspective, hence the interest in Dalarna University's project Energiinnovation. The purpose of the project is to increase collaboration with companies so as to build on co-creation and research within the regional energy fields, with a strong focus on the gender perspective.
"I was somewhat nervous ahead of time. It's very difficult to know what to expect at this type of event. How many will be in the audience? What subjects will the other speakers touch on? Will there be a lot of questions, etc? My feeling is that the fact I spoke about a concrete project was very much appreciated," explains Malin Karlsson further.
How is it that you came to receive the invitation?
"It was the Central Sweden office in Brussels that asked us. We have a great deal of collaboration with them. They in turn had received a question from a region in Spain that works with climate issues from an equality perspective. In such a way, the decision was made that I would travel to Brussels to represent Dalarna University and the project Energiinnovation."