“… a castle with moats and drawbridges that not a single soul of those boring people would be allowed to cross, except those few that we want,” wrote Fridtjof Nansen to his wife Eva in 1898. That vision materialized in 1901 as Polhøgda, a stately home in Lysaker, on the outskirts of Oslo, that became the center of Nansen’s family life and his scientific and humanitarian work.
In 2020, I had the privilege of joining FNI as a master student. Hosted by Tor Håkon Inderberg, it was a memorable year of meeting new colleagues, making new friends, and enjoying what is a rich social environment with numerous convivial traditions, such as the ever-popular lunch quiz, often enthusiastically hosted by Arild Moe, followed by a quick post-lunch dip in the nearby fjord. I ended my time at FNI with the submission of my master’s Thesis, “For they have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind,” which was later published in article form. The work explored the implications of wind power plants in the Fosen peninsula. I am deeply grateful for the support I received throughout this effort and left with the sense that my relationship with FNI and new colleagues would be a lifelong one as I transitioned to a PhD position at the University of Bergen.
As a member of the Empowered Futures research school, I returned to Polhøgda in 2025 for a two-month practicum as a guest researcher at FNI. The decision was an easy one, especially since my PhD supervisor, Siddharth Sareen, had also joined FNI, adding another layer of intellectual synergy to the stay. Once again, Tor Håkon Inderberg generously hosted me, and together we started working on a collaborative paper comparing wind power projects in Finnmark with solar power developments in Rajasthan—two energy frontiers with profound implications for indigenous and agropastoral communities. Midway through my stay, Lars Gulbrandsen, head of FNI’s European energy and environment research group, invited me to present our work at the group’s monthly seminar, which led to a lively discussion. One exchange stands out: a thought-provoking comment from FNI’s director, Iver Neumann, on cultural claims: are they acts of restoration and rediscovery, as I claimed, or invention, especially seen from a poststructuralist lens.
My stay coincided with the Nansen Climate and Energy Seminar, a new highlight for FNI’s calendar. The event brought together leading scholars and institutions, including the International Energy Agency, and featured a keynote by Jan Rosenow, Director of the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University. The day-long discussions were dynamic, bridging theory and practice on accelerating low-carbon transitions, including in petroleum-exporting states like Norway.
I was invited by Siddharth Sareen to contribute to a collaborative paper exploring pragmatic pathways for such transitions, focusing on energy efficiency measures that can sidestep entrenched fossil interests while fostering inclusive governance. My contribution examined the Folk mot fossilmakta’s (people against fossil power) campaign and the role of citizens’ assemblies as democratic counterweights to fossil power. These assemblies, as we argue, can break political deadlock, build trust, and ensure that efficiency measures are socially legitimate and equitable. Anyways, now that I’ve piqued your curiosity, you’ll have to wait for the full paper to get the whole story!
Fortuitously, my practicum also overlapped with the joint Nordic Development Research conference (NorDev), hosted by the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). It was a great opportunity to present an ongoing paper, spend time on the NMBU campus, and connect with future colleagues at the Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric), where I will begin my Postdoctoral fellowship in January.
While my time at FNI was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with old colleagues and friends and make new ones, one encounter eluded me, the legendary stor elvebreddedderkopp (large riverbank spider) rumored to inhabit Polhøgda. Word has it that this eight-legged resident once triggered the security alarm! Alas, I didn’t cross paths with it this time, but that gives me something to look forward to on my next visit.
A heartfelt thanks to everyone at FNI—Tor Håkon, Sid, Jan, Iver, Lars, Andreas, Claes, Per Ove, Eivind, Pål, Bente, Anna, Viviana, Karianne, Arild, Eredm, Ida, Gørild, Regina, Serafima, and many others—who made these two months so generative and memorable. And to Empowered Futures—especially John, Ingunn, and Neil—for making it possible.
I’ll close with a line of wisdom from Nansen himself:
“Det er bedre å gå på ski og tenke på Gud enn å gå i kirken og tenke på sport.”
(It is better to go skiing and think of God than to sit in church and think of sport.)