During the summer of 2022, three UiO:Energy master students gathered data on the so-called twin transition in Norway (Sustainability Lab, 2022). The summer students found out that the area around Mo i Rana can be considered a hotspot of transition activities, with the establishment of battery factories (for instance Freyr), datacenters (for instance the Norwegian National Library), and energy production sites.
Partly based on the data gathered by the summer students, this thesis will focus on and map out what are the implications of those activities in and around Mo i Rana. How do the community and the municipality react and cope with all the new stakeholders in town? Is it possible to map out the impact on nature – or even see nature as a stakeholder? How can Gigamapping help to uncover in terms of hidden or unexpected connections and impacts?
The thesis will use Gigamapping (Sevaldson, 2011) as a design approach and System Thinking as a theoretical framework. You will get access to data gathered during the summer project. The Regenerative Technologies research group will also support trips to Mo i Rana to make observations and in situ interviews.
Supervision
We regard the social aspect of doing a master thesis as important as the academic aspect. As supervisors we will offer you an engaged and inspiring environment in the Sustainability Lab as well as access to experts when needed, such as people knowledgable about energy use, green house gas emissions, and gigamapping. We have a budget for travel to Mo i Rana.
This master thesis project is part of Circular Energy for a Sustainable Circular Economy (Circular Energy), an UiO:Energy financed project led by the Regenerative Technologies research group. In the project we collaborate with UiO's Law Faculty, Science Library, and Climate House (Klimahuset).
Recommended courses:
- IN5010 (Design, Technology & Society)
- IN5470 Design for Sustainability (new course code in 2024)
- You may also want to choose one of the following courses: IN5120 (Tangible Interaction), IN5530 (Research through Design) or IN5510 (Participatory Experimental Design)
- ENERGI 4010
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A SUM course is also an option:
SUM4019 – Consumption, Sustainability and Social Change, (spring, 10 credits)
SUM4034 – Debates in Post-development & Degrowth (spring, 10 credits)
SUM4501 – Achieving the SDGs: Global Goals and National Interests, (spring, 5 credits)
SUM4502 – INCLUDE – Socially Inclusive Energy Transition, (every other spring, 5 credits)
Inspiring literature:
EU Science Hub (2022). The twin green & digital transition: How sustainable digital technologies could enable a carbon-neutral EU by 2050
Sevaldson, B. (2011). GIGA-Mapping: Visualisation for complexity and systems thinking in design. Nordes, 0(4). http://www.nordes.org/opj/index.php/n13/article/view/104
Sustainability Lab (2022). Mapping the twin transition—Sustainabilitylab. Mapping the Twin Transition. https://www.sustainabilitylab.uio.no/projects/circular-energy/projects/mapping--twin--transition.html
