Embrace The World In A Small Fjord - 25 years of UWC Red Cross Nordic

Embracing the World in a small fjord

years of UWC Red Cross

- 978-82-303-5557-2

UWC Røde kors Fjaler

nr. 971 277 645

Mette Karlsvik

Edition, 2021, Copyright © UWCRøde kors Nordisk

and print: Sturla Bang, Nordisk Trykk post@nordisktrykk.no

author

Part 2

1

child of my heart - for 25 years

Karlsvik

Part 3

Peace College

Nobel Story

Peace Motive

life at the Red Cross Nordic in 2019 and in 1995

past behind us, the future ahead of us

support

started of with cabins and barracks at Haugland

Foreign Service at sea to RCN

Seeing the World

Tere is more in you than you think

to Make each other Good

in Means, Rich in Ends the Eco Philosophy

Hamper

Part 5

Creative forces 147 Te school is still taking shape

Is it Possible to run a Peace College in China? 160 Sustainability on Multiple Levels 174 Te canteen at the heart of the campus

With and against Nature’s Laws

Part 5 217 Social democracy in practice 217 Te Nordic Region and its role Globally 217 –Are you really the Mayor of the UWC-municipality?!

Te Nordic Region in the World

Rebuilding the country with art and culture

UWC as an education for life

Part 6

A school for a changing world

Everyday life even in 265 states of emergency

–A Test for the World, a Test for the UWC-values

Eit utval kjelder

THE CHILD OF MY HEART - FOR 25 YEARS

Who would not be at peace here? A quiet autumn morning 2013.

Surrounded by splendid nature in Western Nor way, UWC Red Cross Nordic is like an oasis of peace, international cooperation and youthful energy. Tis is what you should wish the rest of the world was like:

Young persons come together from all parts of the world - with their openness to get to know and learn from each other, with an underlying wish to make the world a better place for all, and with a closeness to nature that inspires them all to take care of it. A mag nificent environment that captures both the mind and the heart, which affects how you take part in the learning process and interaction with those who are around you. No wonder that UWC Red Cross Nordic

has been a child of my heart for 25 years - and even longer.

I had the privilege to follow the work for the estab lishment of a United World College in Fjaler closely. This started during the period when I was the Dep uty President of the Norwegian Red Cross. At that time there was competition between different parts of the Nordic Countries to become the host for a new UWC College. Fjaler had several clear advantages. One of these was the establishment of the Red Cross Rehabilitation Centre.

One of the most distinguishing features with the UWC, is that so much of the learning comes from interaction in the community and local surroundings

that goes beyond school time, beyond the curric ulum. In this way one has created the basis for a holistic education in Fjaler. The Nordic Countries, with support from the government in each separate nation, together decided that a Nordic UWC should be established here. It should be based on Nordic values and heritage, with its humanism and model for organising society.

I have had the opportunity to see the College take shape - to follow it from being a distant dream to becoming a reality. Several good helpers have joined in, both practically and financially. Not the least Nor wegian alumni from the first UWC, Atlantic College in Wales.

We have come to realise that we are part of a global family. A family with strong ties, committed to fun damental principles that we see as essential for creat ing a better world together. The opening periode for the College was undertaken with much enthusiasm

Suddenly the whole world had joined together in this small fjord in Western Norway.

As the patron of the college since the start in 1995, I have had ample opportunity for close follow up on how it operates. I have had the pleasure of visiting nearly every single generation of students. There has been one exception, in 2010, when the ash clouds from the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyafall jökull prevented our plane from taking the journey to the west coast. This was somewhat ironic for a col lege that focuses on close contact and co-operation between the Nordic countries!

Since the start, several rektors have served for the college and made a mark in their own way. It has been exciting to follow the development, both with regard to the culture, the teaching and learning methods as well as the expansions that have tak en place over several eras. But the most important thing for me has always been to meet the students

face to face. With its 200 students, the college is small enough to leave a personal impression. 2400 of them have by now graduated as ambassadors for the UWC, the Red Cross, for the Nordic region, Norway and Fjaler. Some of these I have followed on their journey ahead. It was a great pleasure for us, when Mak Wang, the only student I have been personally involved in selecting, received the King and me at his own UWC college in China, during the Norwegian state visit in 2018. The new college is twice the size of his alma mater and is set to be a force for change within Chinese education. This is a shining example of how this value based education works, with new buds that multiply its impact.

May the fresh spirit that has been the epitome of the college for these 25 year be passed on for the years to come, also after an anniversary year where isola tion has been a necessity for so many. The situation created by Covid-19 reminds us of how the UWC and

the Red Cross are more relevant than ever before in its pursuit to find international solutions for global challenges.

UWC educates the whole human being, built on re spect for knowledge in all its form, with equal weight on the heart as on the mind. The world needs youth who can see the complexity in the challenges that we are facing, with an urge and knowledge to actively do something about it - and to seek solutions together. We need people with the ability to listen openly to what others have to say. Yes, a world like this is some thing we could wish for, a world where decisions are made based on a foundation of values, like we can see in Fjaler.

I congratulate the child of my heart, UWC Red Cross Nordic with its 25th anniversary - and send my best wishes for the important work ahead.

MAGIC?

But how does one get the funding to build the college? By magic?

May 1st 2015. It has become a recent tradition to walk to the top of the Jarstadheia mountain on this day.

It is the early nineties- politicians and organizers from all over the Nordic region stand on the piers at Haugland. Tey are on a guided tour, admiring the landscape with its fords, mountains, and forests.

Magne Bjergene and Tom Gresvig are gesturing enthusiastically, vividly painting a picture of how a Nordic United World College might end up looking here, and where to situate the boarding houses, the school buildings, and the activity centre. Their motivation is clear: the Nordic Foundation Committee wants the governing powers to join their team. And they seem impressed as they look over the plot’s sur face area and at the spectacular nature near the fjord.

population growing. Nonetheless, this is the place where they want students from all over the world to live while making ends meet - year after year? Sure. That is their endeavor, and this is the story about why these brave hearts chose to do it - and how it all came to be.

But how does one get the funding to build the college? By magic?

Chief of Department Erik Ib Schmidt spreads his arms wide. There are plenty of good reasons for the Danish politician to be skeptical. They are standing deep into the fjords, in rural Norway, in a munic ipality and a county that is struggling to keep the

A decade prior to this meeting at the pier, the Or ganizer-in-Chief for RCN, Ivar Lund-Mathiesen, was teaching at UWC Atlantic College (AC). Back home in Norway, AC-alumnus and lawyer Tom Gresvig was deeply involved in UWC-work. At the same time, the church and education committee from the Norwegian Parliament were planning a field trip to London. Gresvig found out their itinerary and what days they were to be free from their obligations. On that date, he arranged for Lund-Mathiesen to invite the representatives of the Parliament to AC. One of these representatives was a member of the Christian Democratic Party, also known as the “radio doctor “, a school enthusiast called Hans Olav Tungesvik. Tungesvik was instantly interested in AC and the

UWC. Back home in Norway, Gresvig wrote a proposi tion for the changing of the private school laws. LundMathiesen and Gresvig were called in for a hearing, and in 1985 they effectively pulled through with the change. This would come to be one of the many steps leading to a Nordic UWC:

At the time, Norway’s private school laws made it prac tically impossible to establish a UWC there. But now the laws have opened up. In this new light, they could now conceive the founding of a boarding school here, says Lund-Mathiesen, 35 years later. There and then, no one knew that changing the private school laws would be among the minor challenges on the road to a Nordic UWC. Fortunately, Lund-Mathiesen was unaware of what he had signed up for when he took the job as Organizer -in-Chief. There were just so many odds against the establishment of the college. Did they really need magic to make it happen?

Long story short UWC Red Cross Nordic is an educational institution that offers an intensive two-year program at high-school level for 200 students from over 90 different countries. The students are all selected for a scholarship by a committee in their respective home countries, based on their com petence and potential. Together, they are supposed to

Not much tarmac on the campus roads on the summer of 1995.

Haugland Campus.

25 years of UWC Red Cross Nordic

represent a deliberate diversity. The school is one of 18 UWC-Colleges worldwide. The UWC movement uses education as a uniting force to unite people, na tions, and cultures for peace and sustainable development. The education at UWC Red Cross Nor dic therefore focuses mainly on humanitarian work, environmental protection, and Nordic culture.

A completed education leads to a diploma for the International Baccalaureate (IB), - the international student exam- that opens for studies at universities all over the world. Students live in the student residences at Haugland in Fjaler municipality. The school has its own sister company, UWC Connect, that offers accommodation for groups visiting campus, through the camp school, Red Cross summer camps and others.

RKN is located beside and works together with the Red Cross Haugland Rehabilitation Centre.

The school is a foundation, with the following founders: The Foundation Nordic United World College, The Norwegian Red Cross, Sogn and Fjor dane County Municipality, Fjaler municipality, Sogn & Fjordane Red Cross and Eckbo’s Legater. The aim of the foundation is to promote peace, international understanding, sustainable development and ecolog ical knowledge through education, research, courses, and other initiatives. As a foundation, the school’s top governing body is the Board. Members of the Board are chosen for a 3-year period by the school’s Council.

15

The school was inaugurated in 1995 by HM Queen Sonja, who is the Royal Patron of the college.

UWC has a holistic view on education. Studying the various academic faculties for an IB, programs for “Creative, Active, Service” and the life at the boarding school are equally important in the combined devel opment of the individual student. All students also work towards a diploma that promotes knowledge and skills related to the Red Cross.

The residences accommodate students in rooms of five. An overarching goal for the school’s activity is to bring together people across borders and divides. The diversity among the student body is perceived as a resource for learning and personal growth together.

The aim of this book is to present some of the scope in the school’s history. It will not be an exhaustive history book. The intricate history of the school is too vast and complex to be captured between two cov ers. A student belonging to the first generation was chosen to lead us through the story, making use of personal experiences to help illustrate what the school has become and offering a richer and wider perspec tive. It is still a relatively new institution that has been changing year after year, thanks to the new genera tions that join in.

For more formal information about the school, visit http:// uwcrcn.no//

Te school was inaugurated in 1995 by HM Queen Sonja, who is the Royal Patron of the college.

NOBEL

Te founding meeting for the Nordic UWC Foundation took place at the Nobel institute in Oslo 1986. As a result, since the inauguration in 1995, fve students and one teacher have par ticipated at the annual peace prize ceremony in the city-hall. Taking part in the Nobel Prize award ceremony marks the highlight of an education that in many ways serves peace.

It is a Tuesday, nine o’clock in the morning, Decem ber 2019 in frostbitten Oslo. Some of the teenagers from UWC RKN are nevertheless dressed in thin, silky, and shimmering stockings. Tey are now seated at a café, diagonally across from the Parliament, Edda in her traditional Norwegian costume, bunad, Leanne in her Malaysian silk dress, Manuel in an Italian suit and Ghulam and Elin in their fnest clothes. Tey are this year’s representatives of UWC RKN at the Nobel peace prize award ceremony. It will take place inside the city hall in fve hours.

and shimmering stockings. They are now seated at a café, diagonally across from the Parliament, Edda in her traditional Norwegian costume, bunad, Leanne in her Malaysian silk dress, Manuel in an Italian suit and Ghulam and Elin in their finest clothes. They are this year’s representatives of UWC RKN at the Nobel peace prize award ceremony. It will take place inside the city hall in five hours.

It is a Tuesday, nine o’clock in the morning, December 2019 in frostbitten Oslo. Some of the teenagers from UWC RKN are nevertheless dressed in thin, silky,

– We have learnt about the relationship between Ethiopia and Eritrea at school. We are well acquainted with the problems that have been going on there for nearly three decades, starts Manuel, and he contin ues: – But we are expecting to learn more about what the prize-winner did for the relations. What was his approach? I already know that I will be using the impressions from this visit in future school essays.

1. No shortage of breathtaking shows. 2. Her Majesty the Queen in conversation with students in Iceland House during her visit in 2014. 3 New employees have arrived:

Barbara Anu-Dabu, Heike Katzenheimer, Anna Garner, Marina Willemoes and little Dubie Toa-Kwapong.

Experiences with war, visions of peace

Next to Manuel sits Ghulam. He has Afghani parents and calls himself Afghani but was born and raised in Pakistan. The war is to be blamed for that. Ghulam’s dad was a soldier in the Afghan army when they were defeated by the Taliban. His father had no choice but to flee with his wife and nine children. Ghulam has few memories from his fatherland. He remembers once returning to get his passport. He feels very much at home in Karachi, Pakistan’s multicultural capital, his birthplace.

– I come from a war-torn country and am curious to know what brings about peace. I imagine peace as living in a place where one might find love, knowl edge through togetherness, where one has hope and few fears. I had hardly experienced anything like this, before coming to Flekke. But I did know about the Nobel peace prize since Malala is from Pakistan.

Malala was the youngest prize-winner ever, only sixteen years old when she received it in 2014, for the work she did for girls’ rights to education. And as the most iconic of all prize winners, it is only natural

to mention Nelson Mandela, for his work to abolish apartheid. Until the day he died, Mandela was the Honorary President of the UWC movement. Today, the prize goes to Dr Ably Ahmed Ali, prime minister of Ethiopia for his efforts to reduce conflicts in the region. Since becoming prime minister of Ethiopia in April 2018, he was dedicated to putting in place a peace treaty with Eritrea, after many years of conflict.

RCN has a mandate to educate for peace. Therefore five students get to take part in the award ceremony every year. This illustrates how the host nation

Norway and the UWC are tied together. The idea being that it is possible to increase understanding and tolerance across religions, cultures, and nations. In the context of UWC, this idea can be traced all the way back to its founding father Kurt Hahn.

UWCs and the history of peace Kurt Hahn was born in Berlin in 1886. He stud ied philosophy at Oxford but was also educated in psychology, pedagogy, art history and social econ omy. After World War I, Hahn worked as personal secretary for Prince Max von Baden, the last Reich

1 Much of the information in this section comes from Knoll, Michael: School Reform rough «Experiential erapy» Kurt Hahn: An E cacious Educator (2014)

Te idea being that it is possible to increase understanding and tolerance across religions, cultures, and nations.

Our delegation to the Nobel Peace Prize Award in 2018. The auditorium has always been an important meeting place, herer from a college meeting in 2018.

Jordanella Maluka Chagiye Mpoyo is interviewed by Al Jazeera in the Oslo City Hall, following the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018.

The Pioneers have arrived.

His father had no choice but to fee with his wife and nine children.

chancellor of the German Empire. Von Baden was also a peace worker in Versailles. At Prince Max’s family castle Salem in Bavaria, Hahn helped open a boarding school in 1920. The unifying idea there was influenced by his steadfast humanistic-liberal philos ophy. The pedagogical program was aimed at chal lenging pupils and inciting them to have experiences and make experiments in a manner that befitted their age. To learn by doing active social work was, and still is, one of the important principles at Salem-school. Hahn encouraged character-building through phys ical education, self-discipline, personal initiative, innovation, memory, and imagination. Hahn favored non-competitive physical activities and democratic forms of collaboration instead of what was the norm in similar schools throughout Germany. Every day, students were to go for a silent walk with the aim of experiencing nature and developing their ability to reflect. The school actively sought out pupils from underprivileged homes. Hahn ran the school for ten years before stepping down and dedicating himself to political writing. As National Socialism was gaining ground in Germany, he became increasingly worried. He is said to have been part of an attempt to stop Hitler from coming to power. Hahn was imprisoned in 1933 after pub licly criticising the Nazis’ politics of violence, but

was released with help from the previous British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. Hahn fled to England in June 1933 and established a new school that followed the same principles as Salem-schools in Germany. The Gordonstoun School in Scotland contributed to him being called one of the creators of the international school reform. Hahn’s philosophy was a reference for many, also beyond the field of education. In his book civilisation’s eight deadly sins, the Nobel Prize winner Konrad Lorenz wrote that one can achieve lasting influence on one’s character when given the chance to meet and overcome adversity. 1

Lorenz had beenstudying the development in Eng lish schools and had noticed a change when Hahn founded Gordonstoun. Lorenz writes:” Kurt Hahn has produced tremendous therapeutic results by putting jaded youths who’d lost all interest in everything, to work as lifeguards by the coast. In these situations where they were put to the test and their personality’s deeper layers were immediately accessible, many of them found real healing.”

Kurt Hahn was written into the history of pedagogy as a representative for indirect upbringing and and can be seen in light with pedagogues like Maria Mon tessori. As is the case with Montessori, Hahn’s peda gogical ideas were, in part, about building trust and

2 Lorenz, Konrad: Civilized Man’s Eight Deadly Sins - Utgivar Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (1974)

3 Myhre, Reidar: Oppdragelse i helhetspedagogisk perspektiv (1994)

Te basic idea he had already brought from the military school in Paris: To enable (ex-) enemies from diferent countries to join forces and work towards a common goal

character through independence and relationships. In the schools that preceded UWC (Salem and Gordon stoun), youths learned to take responsibility through rescue work in the mountains and at sea.

In 1941 Hahn was part of establishing the educational program Outward Bound, where the fundamental idea was that people, especially the young, developed best when being put to the test against the forces of nature. By exposing oneself to challenges, one can make self discoveries and use one’s full potential.

In the 1950’s Hahn visited the NATO’s military school in Paris and met Air Marshal Sir Lawrence Darvall. Hahn noticed how Darvall would let young officers from Germany and England collaborate, and was undoubtedly inspired to see education and exchange happening across what were thought to be unbridge able gaps of nationality, politics, and culture. Hahn really began taking the idea for an “Atlantic College” seriously and got Sir Darvall to join him and support the work involved in founding the school. The basic idea he had already brought from the military school in Paris: To enable (ex-) enemies from different coun tries to join forces and work towards a common goal.

Amongst the audience in that room was the direc tor of the NATO school. These two men were to

subsequently work together and set up Atlantic Col lege; a Peace College created during the Cold War.

One might say that the Cold War had reached a turn ing point by the time these devotees actively began working for a Nordic UWC. Tom Gresvig, a former student at Atlantic College, helped create the Founda tion, a Nordic United World College at the Nobel In stitute in Oslo. Sitting in the Foundation’s board were the Principal of Berg high school Otto Kaltenborn, MP Hans Olav Tungesvik, director of the Nobel Insti tute Jacob Sverdrup, the CEO of Freia Knut Hjortdal, former Secretary of State Karin Stoltenberg, Professor Ingrid Eide, cultural editor for Aftenposten Finn Jor, former Ministers Helge Seip and Sven Stray, as well as former High Court Judge Einar Løchen.

This was Norway before the Oslo Accords, before the country really established its role as a Nation of Peace. Today, the peace motive runs like a red thread through the Haugland campus; from the former art teacher Simon James’ wooden sculpture of recon ciliation by the administration building, via class rooms and the activity center, the pan-cultural Silent House, and the Boarding House where the students live, sleep, and share experiences together daily. All of it is made in a modest style that reflects the local traditions.

4 Stetson, Charles P: An essay on Kurt Hahn, founder of Outwards bound (1941)

Flekke - in the middle of the world.

THE PEACE MOTIVE

Whether studying at UWC Atlantic College (AC), at UWC

Pearson College in Canada or one of the 13 other UWCs in Tanzania, Armenia, Costa Rica or Singapore, the core values remain the same. Central to UWC’s modus operandi is that adolescents from all over the world already at the early age of sixteen, meet each other to live together to study and to exchange experiences. Beyond that, each school has its respective profle. Waterford Kamhlaba in Swaziland has been an important voice of opposition during the Apartheid era while UWC Adriatic College in renowned for its solid music program. AC has many extracurricular activities taking place outdoors and at sea. Tis has to do with Kurt Hahn’s idea that adoles cents can also save a person in distress. For UWC RCN the distinctive humanistic tradition ties in with the Red Cross. On a purely academic note, the humanities play a signifcant role at the College. Philosophy, history, language, and literature are among the subjects ofered at higher level. Te subject known today as Global Politics, started out as a special school-based syllabus in human rights at RKN. Te College is involved with international projects that are initiated either by students or teachers. Tat is how the school started their year-long engagement in Western Sahara. Trough the student’s organiza tions LEAF (an ecological organization), DROP (Do remember other people) and SaFuGe, (Save the Future Generations) students at RKN work together on small, site-specifc developmental projects in their homelands and other places around the globe. SaFuGe has to date, followed through with over 50 diferent projects in thirty countries, on three continents.

1. Alumni Impact. Susanne Gabrielsenb returned to the College in 2015 for interviews, as part of her PhD research on the multicultural dimension of UWC, for the University of Minnesota.

2. Model United Nations is an annual event a the college. On a few occasions we also send delegates to other schools for similar events. Here fom 2016.

3. Tony Macoun outside the Bekker House.

When the perennial secretary of the Nobel institute, Geir Lundestad retired, he came to UWC RCN to give what has become the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture at the College. In the spirit of the many oth ers who have contributed voluntarily to the College’s peace-work, he has been inspired by meetings with younger generations who ask the big questions and are joined in a common effort to find answers.

After the initial peace ceremony, students have in recent years been invited to ask questions to Nobel prize winners via, for example Al Jazeera’s TV cover age of the event. Students were able to meet and talk face to face with prize winners like Terumi Tanaka and Toshiki Fuimori (2017)and Abdesattar Ben Moussa(2015).

– I come from this country that has been in a war, Elin begins: – but it is rarely spoken of. At RCN I meet people who give me more detailed accounts of what war and peace might mean. We learn about it at school, but in many ways it stays on a theoretical level. Today, Germany is peaceful and democratic. What about the right-wing extremists in Germany?

Peace- in Teory and Practice

Many students at UWC have themselves experienced war or conflict, in one form or another. But not Edda, the one dressed in her traditional costume, the bunad, who is from Norway. There has not been a war in the country since the German occupation in 1940-1945. In her Extended Essay she wrote about Malala. Edda’s awareness of conflicts and challenges in society has increased after starting here.

– Right-wingers in Germany feed off hate. If I be longed to a minority group, I would certainly feel more threatened by them. But right-wing extremism in Germany has disguised itself. Their rhetoric makes them difficult to criticize. They will admit to being far right politically, but no more. And they present themselves as patriots. Discussions about this must be seen in conjunction with Germany’s history. One must keep a clear head and discern what has been from what is. All in all, I would say that Germany is a peaceful country with little organized violence or crime. Ghulam had to personally experience the conse quences of extremism.

– I grew up on the dividing line between South Asia and the Middle East, where radicalism is tied to reli gion and the extremist fundamentalists.

Iceland House - the last student residence hall to be completed.

They keep finding new ways and methods that are tricky to figure out. Once their main objective was converting Afghanistan into an Islamic state. Now it seems that their objective is the continuation of the conflicts themselves, says Ghulam. After many years of conflict in the Indian-ruled region Kashmir, the prime minister of Pakistan compared the Indian government with the Nazi regime in a tweet: “ They are attempting to change the demography of Kashmir through ethnic cleansing .” Ghulam’s story has Leanne, who is half German, half Malay, nodding in recogni tion with regards to what she has experienced.

– Malaysia is also an Islamic country where two laws coexist- the civil law alongside the Sharia laws. This has led to many problems in recent years. There was the case of a man who was tried before the civil law for raping a child. He was able to appeal to the Sharia law and get permission to marry that child, recounts Leanne.

– Peace is an ideal to strive for, adds Manuel. I have

experienced that countries who see themselves as most democratic and tolerant, really do not fully put these ideals into practice. I came to Italy from my homeland in Uruguay at the age of twelve. Since then, it has been an issue in my family that we were brown in a country of white Italians. Multicultural Europe faces many challenges. There are many marginalized groups who suffer social and economic inequality.

And Italy is seeing a rise of right-wing extremism, homophobia and so on. And at home in Latin Ameri ca, we face a lot of challenges. The indigenous people are discriminated against, they are not allowed to speak their native tongue or even practice in their own cultural practices. Also from a societal perspec tive, they suffer. But at UWC, this small, living utopia exists. With regards to the rest of the world, surely, we must strive to come as close to peace as possible, Manuel says and adds: – Not everyone can be Malala. But we can all make small changes. Peace is attained through actions. Not everyone can be Malala. But we can all make small changes.

Gradually, our contributions can make the world a better place. At the same time, one must be realistic.

I can see how Uruguay and Brazil are trying to get rid of their more progressive laws. They are trying to ban abortion and homosexual marriage. This means a step back for democracy. And then there is the issue of nature preservation. Take the Amazonas, for example. At RCN we have a framework that keep questions related to this issue in focus. Then we have hands-on projects where we can join in and create positive change around the world. Talking about the concept of peace is easier when it also includes con crete examples, says Manuel.

Edda from Norway adds from her own experiences:

– UWC RCN is like a bubble and a world of its own.

But for me, coming here was also sort of like coming out of a bubble. Here, I learned of and did research on conflicts that I would not have elsewhere. West ern Sahara is one such example. Now I have a bet ter understanding of how the Nobel Prize can help

the relations between Ethiopia and its neighboring countries.

The prize ceremony marks the highpoint of an Oslo trip that goes over several days. The UWC students have visited the Parliament and been introduced to the Norwegian form of government. They were at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), SOS Children’s Village, the national team for Nor wegian youth organizations and the Norwegian Red Cross. The director of TV 2, Olav Terjeson Sandnes, used to study at AC. He put aside more than an hour for a meeting to talk to them. Now they have partici pated at the peace ceremony in the city hall and take a debriefing with me.

What are your lasting impressions?

– I was impressed that the winner of the prize revealed some of his personal background, admits Elin:

– He told us about being a soldier and what ghting in a war was like. That gave us a deeper understanding of peace .”

Summer has come to campus.

6 e con ict between the Ethiopian, central leadership and the regional party Tigray Peoples Front (TPLF) escalated toward the end of 2020. e president Ahmed was at that point already under a lot of critique and was now also accused of not being a worthy Nobel Prize winner. At the moment of writing this it seems di cult to draw any conclusions about the critiques. e author chooses to include this part of the story to show some of the complexities involved in trying to contribute towards peace.

UWC Red Cross

EVERYDAY LIFE AT THE RED CROSS NORDIC IN 2019 - AND IN 1995

The dispatched RCN-students return from the peace ceremony in Oslo to Haugland. At school it is back to everyday life- although it might not make sense to talk of routines and normality in the context of such a vivid community.

They wake up in the student residences and walk the two hundred meters to the heart of campus. Between the residences, the administration building and the classrooms, lies an assembly building with a canteen, auditorium, library and study room. The distance is short from the breakfast table - where Ghulam, Edda and all the others are now eating - to rooms that are designed for the exchange of information. While the canteen is wide with big windows looking out onto the fjords, the auditorium appears deep, with rows of seats ascending steeply from the stage. It matches the steep mountainsides surrounding the building. At present, there is still only daylight filling the hall. The room has an air of solemnity, despite the modest materials from which it is built.

Slowly, the students arrive, one after the other, from the breakfast table to the auditorium where they take their seats. I, who wrote this book, visited the school with a new pair of eyes that I am using to find a seat that nobody has claimed yet. I am reminded of my student days and how visible outsiders used to look. Apart from the College’s employees and students, three are not many dwellers in this community. Still, Haugland Rehabilitation has at any given moment around a hundred and fifty patients and employees, and a lot of them pass by the school on their way back and forth to the center in this little stretch of fjord. The landscape has not changed in the 25 years since my student days. Neither has the general dram aturgy changed substantially. The Rektor welcomes everyone and proceeds to introduce a guest who will hold a presentation for the plenary. Today it is the Chair of the Council, Pär Stenbäck. He stands there without a manuscript and speaks non-stop for three quarters of an hour. The theme is democracy and the lack of it:

1. The first generation of teachers.

3. Most of the time the dress code is informal, but there are also times for dressing up.

2 Elin, Edda, Ghulam, Leanna and Manuel in the Oslo City Hall.

– I have heard powerful people call democracy the worst of all systems, says Stenbäck who in Finland may be an equivalent of what Thorvald Stoltenberg is in Norway: a former Minister in various fields but most famous for being the Minister of Foreign Af fairs. Stenbäck also worked as General Secretary for the Nordic Council of Ministers at the International Red Cross (IFRC). He is the author of several books on democracy and related topics.

– Throughout history, attempts have been made to destroy the legitimacy of democracy or simply to discredit it. Does democracy hand out rights and benefits to the people? This seems to be what some people expect from democracy, Stenbäck continues:

– People start doubting democracy. They witness growing inequality. In many countries participation in elections goes down. In African countries most leaders call themselves democratic. But conservative forces are at work in the underground to prevent change. Look at Sudan. It took twenty years to over throw a dictator. China proves that it is possible to have a successful economy without democracy. It is a handy model to use for those who want to undermine the idea of democracy. Will democracy survive or

Troughout history, attempts have been made to destroy the legitimacy of democracy or simply to discredit it.

not? Can democracy exist without political parties?

Stenbäck asks and gives a tentative answer: “No. One needs institutions that support democracy by build ing bridges between the governing powers and the people.”

Stenbäck has much experience with Finnish politics and Nordic organizations. In the north we are raised to give our opinion in any kind of discussion. Not everyone sitting in the auditorium this morning was used to raising a hand on all occasions. Some grew up in societies where they had to be diplomatic, discreet, or silent.

After the presentation there are nonetheless many raised hands.

– Do you believe sixteen-year-olds should have the right to vote?

Why do so few cast their vote during elections?

The keyword in Stenbäck’s answers is patience. You must first get to grips with one thing before

for UWC!

approaching the next. Besides, political processes are quite resistant to change, says Stenbäck.

20 Years earlier

The questions that the students are asking the Finn ish Honorary Minister seem to reflect both curiosity and a critical mindset. As an alumnus I conclude that much - and nothing - has changed here at RCN since it opened. The high temperature - as well as the feel ing of great seriousness that pervades the Auditorium now - was the same in 1995-1997.

While the pioneering students were at RCN, there was a civil war underway in Yugoslavia: In 1991 Slovenia was fighting for its independence from Yugoslavia. The people’s army intervened, and a civil war broke out. When RCN opened in 1995 there were students from each ethnic group in the federation represented. One of them was Bosnian Elma Daut. Only one month before coming to Flekke, she had lost her mother in the Srebrenica-massacre. Naturally, this had had a terrible impact on her. At the same time there were students belonging to the same ethnic background as the perpetrators of the massacres. Srdjan Djurovic from Serbia was one of those students. In 1996, Jelena Vojnic also came to the school. She was from Montenegro and we became roommates. Jelena and Srdjan became friends. Srdjan

would constantly come to our room, and discussions were loud. They would switch languages from Eng lish to Serbian as tempers flared. It was emotional and complex. At times it is even hard to distinguish a discussion from an aggressive argument for some one like me to whom their language was foreign. But Srdjan always returned. And Jelena and he stuck together. Like all the others, they lived, ate, and studied together. We were fellow human beings who felt that we needed to address certain issues because we lived together here on campus. Personally, I could feel it on my body from the very first day what it does to you to be part of a group of adolescents who together make up a “deliberate diverse” student body.

As a part of a TV program on the channel NRK broadcasted in 1999, a student from Bosnia, Lana Kecman, was asked if she still harbored any hope for peace. «Certainly! », Lana replied. She made no attempt to hide her conflicting emotions about en joying peace while war raged on at home:” All of the Balkans is like a stranger. The situation saddens me. I think about those at home all the time.

Born in Exile feeling at Home. Also, in 2019 the conflicts around the world shape the everyday routines at school. Some examples are the migration crisis, the tensions between religions

the fire on the Haugland Iceland, 2015.

and secular norms around the world, unrest in the Middle East and in Sahel, and the possibility of a major conflict between USA and China. There is an American president who pulls his country out of international collaborations, and there have also been reports of a contagious new coronavirus from Wuhan, China. Yet another virus that makes humans sick and reminds us that we live on a fragile planet. But for Pär Stenbäck the most urgent issue is the threat to democracy. One of the main points in his lecture is that everyone must join in and help build a new democracy through active participation.

For dinner, we gathered in the canteen again. I meet Jonathan who is from Sweden, queuing up in front of me. He hands me a soup bowl. He has read the sign above the bubbling cauldron. Soup, he tells me. When it is my turn, I recognise Lapskaus, which I was always taught to call a stew and not a soup. But why not eat lapskaus from a soup bowl the way Jona than does it? The dish is a version of Goulash after all.

We take a seat at a round table. Sitting at this table reminds me of a friend. Kristian was a student here from 1996 to 98. He did some of his medical studies in China and has since then taught me a thing or two about Chinese culture and language. One of his

lessons was that circular tables mean good fortune for meals and conversations. Everyone can take part and talk to each other across the table.

But why not eat lapskaus from a soup bowl the way Jonathan does it? Te dish is a version of Goulash after all.

– The food’s been improving every year, says the young man beside me who knows that I am an alum nus. Then suddenly somebody chimes on a glass with a spoon. A group of students standing by the salad bar are holding up a picture of a little boy. They start telling us that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was born to day on the 25th of April in 1989. At the young age of 6 he was declared the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the reincarnation of the preceding 10th Lama. He was captured and accused of fraud. He has been in Chinese captivity ever since. The boys encourage everyone to sign Gedhun’s birth day card that is laid out on a provisional stand by the notice board.

On a bench the next day, I am sitting beside one of the students responsible for this special birthday card. She was so articulate when she told the story of

that captive man. Equally clear in her speech, she now tells me her own story:

–I usually start off the story about myself by saying that I am Tibetan and feel Tibetan without ever having been there, says Tenzin, who is about to conclude her first year at RCN.

– I come from a Tibetan community in India and am a third generation Tibetan. We are refugees without being recognised as such. All this motivated me to become a patriot, an attitude that grew more pronounced here at school: Here I can talk with people who will listen. When I talk about myself, it often involves a lengthy introduction. People want to know how I can feel Ti betan without ever having visited Tibet. We have this Tibetan community - in India, is what I usually answer. There is a Tibetan parliament in India. I have a yellow, Tibetan ID card but no passport. Traveling is always very time-consuming for us. I could apply for an Indian passport, but that never felt natural.

But now, as a student at UWC you lead an international life. Will you maybe travel home this summer?

– Yes, this summer I will travel home to India, Tenzin confirms.

School landscape.

Te need to work harder

UWC offers Tenzin an extra option with regards to identity. Here, she is ‘permitted’ to be wholly Tibetan, not just a Tibetan-in-exile. In a sense all UWCers could be seen as being in exile, since they all live away from home. When I question Tenzin about the future, what she would like to study, and what her chances are for attaining those goals, she explains that exiled Tibetans in India must work harder and prove themselves more to secure their places in schools and at universities:

– Grades are very important, especially for Tibetans. We follow an Indian education system where everything is assessed: behavior, grades, English skills and of course, the test results. It was a long and tough application process at UWC. We were interviewed by four Tibetan military men. They questioned me about my relationship to Tibetan history and politics and about global relations.

Then you came here and can now compare yourself with people from all over the world. Has the hard training from India’s school’s primed you in any way, do you think?

– Yes, I believe so. I feel comfortable and in control of the faculties. Math, Physics, Chemistry, biology. I want to go on to study medicine after UWC.

– How do you feel about living, working, playing sports, and doing other activities together with your fellow students from China?

– The Chinese and I get along. We try talking to each other even if our ways of thinking about most things do not align. We try listening to each other. But our countries tell very different versions of history. In my version, our common history begins in 1949 when the Chinese were officially allowed into our country.

In the beginning we believed they had come to help and protect us. The turning point was 1959 when they stole our land. In their version of history, Tibet has always belonged to China. The situation has left Tibetans disillusioned. They suffer from being accepted neither here nor there. One of my goals in this life is to change the troublesome feelings related to this.

I manage to ask a final question about Tenzin’s every day life at RKN before she runs along to her next lesson. And my question is not all that unrelated to where I started this text: that meat-heavy lapskaus stew. Tenzin has always been a Buddhist. I want to know how she can practice her religion at school.

– There are vegan alternatives for every meal, Tenzin tells me and adds:

– I can practice my religion in the Silent House on

There has been a gradual expansion of the campus. Here the new centre for visitors under construction in 2014.

campus. There are others who use it with me, espe cially in the morning. It feels nice sitting there hearing the others, a couple of praying Muslims for example, beside me. That is a special way to start my day off, one of the things that makes me feel at home here.

The school endeavors to make youths whose fam ilies reside on the other side of the world, feel at home. How did all this happen? RCN’s history would probably look a lot different depending on who tells

the story. That is why I will tune in to other voices in the following chapters. It is an attempt to paint a picture of the processes that created the school, from top to bottom, east to west, from an architectural perspective, with regards to politics and adminis tration, economy and budget, or else with the focus on the UWC’s core values. We will meet people who, each in their own manner, left a mark on the College, throughout these 25 years.

PART 2. THE PAST BEHIND US, THE FUTURE AHEAD OF US

On antagonists and helpers, and about the festive dinner during which HM Queen Sonja swapped table cavaliers to have a decisive talk with a Danish minister.

Te world already existed in Fjaler

When Municipal Presidency Secretary, sheep farmer and entrepreneur Magne Bjergene received the Royal Medal of Merit in 2002, the Høegh center on campus was filled with his friends and other acquaintances. They all sang his praises as the center of attention that night. The list of what he had achieved at Fjaler was a long one. He had speed and flexibility. When he really wanted to achieve something, Bjergene was willing to stray from the trodden path.

“Unique”, was how Kjell Kvalheim from the Sogn & Fjordane 7 Red Cross described him in a word.

Teacher Jelena Belamaric remembers how Bjergene, on a sailing trip to the Faroese Islands, practically ‘conjured’ a large, social gathering that included

food, drink and good conversation. Chief plan ner Ivar Lund-Mathiesen and the first Chair of the Board Bjorn Rønneberg are among the many voices who claim that there would be no UWC Red Cross Nordic without him. Bjergene had a background as an agronomist and liked to say about himself that he possessed a knack for holding precarious situations together. This would show in his unusual ability to combine different sectors. The basic idea behind establishing two big institutions at Haugland was precisely because education and health are two sides of the same coin. He was not easy – Magne 8 was not easy, one of the neighbors up here said.

7 e jubilee book, Sogn and Fjordane Red Cross (1946-1996)

8 In the following paragraphs the author uses the rst names Kjellaug and Magne and not the surname. is is to avoid confusion regarding which of the two one is hearing about.

just before the opening.

Cross

Kjellaug Bjergene looks back at her life with Magne. Their friendship began in 1959, when she came to Dale to enroll at the Falch’s Boarding and High School. Magne actually lived in Dale. But he soon moved to Halsnøy to study at high school there.

By saying that he was not easy, they probably meant that he had many projects and that everything he undertook was done to perfection. Everything should be improved.

Magne was the Chairman’s Secretary in the munici pality. But it stopped being “quiet” the day he found a special letter on the kitchen table.

Spectacle

– Magne8 was not easy, one of the neighbors up here said.

Sure. Both Kjellaug and Magne are children of pro gressive optimism from the postwar era. But Magne clearly was an even more typical representative of that trend. After some years spent in Bergen and in southern Norway, he got a contract in Madagascar through NORAD. His family lived on a farm there for three years. In 1978-79 the family was to return to Dale and their home farm. It was supposed to be a nice and quiet period, building up the farm and hav ing a steady job as well. Kjellaug got a job as teacher;

– I remember clearly as though it happened yester day, even if it was only a simple letter bearing the logo of the Sogn & Fjordane Red Cross. It stated that Magne had been elected for the Property Committee of the Red Cross. That was surprising. We had never before had any business with the Red Cross. As time passed by, the name Christian Bekker 9 was men tioned, and there was talk about voluntary work out at Haugland. Magne and I headed out there to help with some cleaning. We sat outside the house after having found all kinds of stuff. We looked out over the area. There was something holy about the atmos phere, as though something big was in the making.

– Why was it that precisely you and Magne ended up out there?

– When we came back to Dale in 1979, the Munici pal Director Arvid Follevåg got the idea that Magne should come to the home for the elderly for a talk with Becker. Follevåg knew that Becker was a native

1. Anna Macoun and Tom Gresvig as hosts for Queen Noor and Queen Sonja at the opening in 1995.

2. A joyful meeting between the Queen and the students.

3. The Baking House under construction.

9 Christian Bekker (1877 -1980) was born in Madagascar, lived in Bergen and owned Haugland in Fjaler. He was a lawyer and Supreme Court Attorney. Before passing away at 103 years old, he wrote in his will that the farm in Haugland was to go to Sogn & Fjordane Red Cross.

fortid bak seg, framtida foran seg ■ 46

years of UWC Red Cross Nordic ■ 47

from Madagascar. So Magne brought him a selection of things we had bought there: large conches and shells. The old man, who lived to the age of 103, had created a precious office for himself. And then his will followed shortly after. “More or less deprived children” were to benefit from Becker’s resources. That is when Magne had to help define what “more or less deprived children” are. In 1983 Haugland was the location of a national camp for the Red Cross Youth. It was raining buckets. There were still only a few houses there at that time. But it was expanding. Still, dreams and ambitions were high and there was constantly something to inaugurate. At the same time, money was always short. At times, Magne felt it was all in vain.

– And then the Foundation for a Nordic UWC appeared in Fjaler, and had a talk with him… – Yes, a lot started happening then. Many inter views for the newspapers and inspections. There was also some opposition by the locals which made it far from easy.

No, the development of Haugland was by no

Looking into the Haugland Bay.

Part 2 Ei fortid bak seg, framtida foran seg ■ 48

years of UWC Red Cross Nordic ■ 49

means easy. But many of those who worked hard for the school’s existence point to Magne Bjergeneas well as Tom Gresvig, Bjorn Rønneberg and Ivar Lund-Mathiesen- as the school’s founding father. The property’s Secretary seemed to be going far beyond his mandate to make the school a reality. Due to his extensive involvement in all aspects of the story, it is needless to say that it was hard work, both day and night. So hard indeed, that it seemed like one needed a special kind of inspired motivation to pull it through.

– Yes, Mange’s heart was beating for creation. He was always, always like that.

Te good helpers

The work on the Haugland area began in the late 70’s. It was the Sogn & Fjordane Red Cross who made the plans for the region. But they lacked the government and municipality’s committed decisions to build the Health and Sports Center. Magne Bjergene took up the case with the Fjaler Lions, the organization he had been part of since the early 80’s. More specifi cally he suggested that the Lions should sponsor the swimming pool at the Health Sports Center. This

was the beginning of a process that ended with a deal during the national Red Feather campaign in 1986. This initiative gathered 19 million NOK for the health sports part of the Haugland area. When Magne was asked in an interview about the events, he mentioned Astrid Marie Nistad as crucial to the enterprise.

The Haugland area was used as a center for asylum seekers in the eighties. But then the foundation took over, via Magne. In 1987 he put forth a proposition to the Red Cross leader, Børre Jacobsen. For the Red Cross’ jubilee book, Jacobsen made the following statement: “I remember it well; the heavy snow fall ing that day in January 1987 when a delegation from Nordic United World College visited us. At the time I had never heard of the UWC. There were a lot of dis cussions about what to do with Haugland then. We agreed that UWC and the health sports part could become a joint venture. This enabled the govern ment to make an exception for Haugland which was important for our progress.”

If the connection between the Red Cross and UWC might seem obvious today, back then it wasn’t quite

1. Zoe and Naza know how to enjoy Flekke rain, from 2015.

2. A happy boy - was a gift from the Lorentzen family in memory of Knut E. Lorentzen. Students were involved in making it, under the leadership of Ove Losnegård.

3. Anna Garner was central in creating the College programme for many years. In 2001 she became the first acting Rektor at a UWC.

natural to think along those lines. The Red Cross and UWC sharing the same leading ideas and therefore being primed to work together, was allegedly Magne’s original idea. And it was based on his broad concep tion of peace. “The concept of peace in this context means more than just absence of war. It is an ongo ing process to uphold democracy, cooperation and cross-cultural exchange of knowledge and insight for and by one another”, Bjergene said to the Sogn & Fjordane Red Cross in 1996.

After starting the school in 1995, Bjergene was given relatively free reign as the Director of Development. He broadened his field of action by starting his Re search and Development Company for UWC RCN; Haugland Rehabilitation Centre and Fjaler munici pality. Magne wanted to proceed and was rarely moti vated by maintenance work. When RCN-alumnus Mark Wang got the idea to start a UWC in China, Bjergene supported him wholeheartedly. Thanks to him, the Chinese UWC’s planning was underway, consolidated largely by the cooperation agreement that Bjergene arranged between the Sogn & Fjordane county and the Ningxia region. Not too long after,

the construction was made possible with funding from the Norwegian Department of Foreign Affairs.

The Peace Corps Project in Western Sahara and Ningxia is another example of work initiated by Bjergene, in conjunction with Haugland Internation al Research-and Development Center (HIFUS).

Bjergene was close to establishing a fish farm for the school and wanted to showcase it for the world as ‘best practice’ management from Norway. Together with Firda SeaFood and 0la Braanaas, he secured a concession for running a fish farm for educational purposes and at the same time, also secured a law that made such concessions possible. The fish farm was close to being realized when it was stopped due to a disagreement about the financing and the distri bution of responsibilities between the school and its external partners.

As day turns to dusk

Bjergene had a habit of donning a beret when making his entrance into one of the Nordic capitals in the name of the good cause. Something told him that Chinese politicians would appreciate a recital of

The bay by the Høegh Centre as a starting point for fjord activities.

seg,

foran seg

Jakob Sande in a festive company. When cancer hit him for the second time, he held up in his robust manner as usual. He was convinced of becoming a part of that tiny percentage of people who make it through the medical treatment he was receiving during his last days. It was not meant to be. Bjergene lost the battle against cancer in 2009. The architect Olav Hovland visited him daily during his last days. Founder and organizer Tom Gresvig and Ivar LundMathiesen came on several visits from Oslo. The present-day Director of Development Arne Osland recounts how Bjergene, all the way up to his last day, continued thinking actively about the future of the Haugland businesses. During his last days he often engaged in conversation with his good helpers. And they were plentiful -in Sunnfjord and the world over. One person put it this way: Bjergene was a true fairy tale character who could “look back at the kingdom he had created on the other side of the hill”. It is this leg acy that his followers at Haugland gratefully carry on.

GARNERING

Before becoming the Planner-in-Charge for a Nordic UWC, Ivar Lund-Mathisen worked to improve the condition for UWC-students.

– It was common practice when establishing UWC Colleges to plan the construction of the buildings first and consider the costs later.

The retired IB-teacher Ivar Lund-Mathiesen looks back to the time when he worked more than full time as Organizing Leader for the Nordic UWC. The year was 1987 and both he and his wife, Jane LundMathiesen, moved from Atlantic College to Norway to fulfill the assignment:

– We started off with the running costs. We had glimpsed a possibility to get institutions with capital as well as certain individuals to contribute with a one-off amount to build the facilities. In that way a project can end up with all buildings yet lacking the funds to operate. That is why I gathered key fig ures from Atlantic College and Pearson College and so on, tallying the costs for each student, teacher,

maintenance, administration, and other operations. Ini tially, we set up a model with 200 students whom we had agreed upon, alongside 25 lecturers, and ended up with a sum for the scholarships. The next step was to try to cover the costs. At first, we turned to the Nordic coun tries. We traveled around with our pitch.

Te Nordic Region, actually – Thus, we got a promising letter from Sweden, says Lund-Mathiesen with a laugh. “We should frame this letter and put it up on the wall.”

But then the team suffered a hard blow when Finlandafter the fall of the Soviet Union- was forced due to a failing economy to pull back their government support for RCN. To get Denmark on board was a story in and of itself too. Having met the Danish politicians, LundMathiesen got the impression that they were slow to act. The letters from the project group got stuck in the bureaucracy. Governments came and went. How long was the project group expected to nag and whine about their letters?

– At times it felt like a Sisyphus-job, says LundMathiesen. It almost led to them dropping the whole common Nordic idea and to instead, adopt it as a Nor wegian-Swedish project.

Rektor John Lawrenson and his wife Nicky on a journey across the mountains.

Utgreiingsleiar Ivar Lund-Mathiesen

– But then we got wind of the Royal Couple’s planned visit to Denmark. At this point the then Crown Prin cess was well informed about the project. We were asked if there was anything she could help us with. That’s when I explained that we had sent a request to Denmark and were hoping for a positive reply. The Crown Princess then traveled to Denmark and got to sit with the Minister of Education at one of the arrangements. She told him about her commitment to this project. A few days later, we received a letter from Denmark. The Danish support was a done deal; the school had once again been saved.

A catch in Åland

During the years 1987-1988 Lund-Mathiesen coor dinated his work from his office in Oslo while at the same time traveling to Sogn & Fjordane to organize the location and contents of the college. Parallel to this, he tried to establish a contact group in what they had defined as the eight Nordic countries. In addition to Norway, the school now had Denmark and Sweden’s support. In Finland, the support came from the big cultural funds. But what of the smaller Nordic countries and self-governing bodies? LundMathiesen looked up somebody with contacts in

In Iceland it was the then-president, Vigdis Finnbogadottir who was a great help

Åland. He found one of his earlier students from Finland who gave him several people from Åland, the daughter of a politician. And that is how LundMathiesen contacted the wise Land Counsellor Gunnevi Nordmann. that the, both he and Ferdinand Otto Kaltenborn traveled to Åland and were wel comed by Nordmann and other important politi cians. It ended with the Landscape Board promising scholarship funds for the students from Åland – a promise they have kept to this day. – They appreciated being included on the same terms as the other Nordic countries.

Second try: Greenland and Iceland

The next region was Greenland: who could put them in contact with the Greenlanders? Lund-Mathiesen

remembered a Norwegian AC-student with a Dan ish father. He met up with the father who was busy encoding the Greenlandic law and working with integrating the Inuit laws with the Danish law. The man was tracked down and asked to help getting into contact with a powerful person on Greenland. That is how they contacted Ingmar Egede, who had worked as Rektor at the Greenlandic College for Teacher Training, but now lived in Denmark. Egede

The academic buildings facing the fjord.

joined them on a trip across the ocean. In a DC-10 aircraft they flew to Søndre Strømfjord, with Green land’s largest runway. Here the group got stuck for some days due to the weather and then traveled on to Nuuk. Once he arrived in the capital LundMathiesen got a half hour meeting with the Minister and was promised a stipend from Greenland and, as a bonus, an annual Greenland stipend to Lester B. Pearson College in Canada.

In Iceland it was the then-president, Vigdis Finn bogadottir who was a great help. Ferdinand Otto Kaltenborn had a contact who knew Vigdis. With the assistance of Professor Edvard, who had helped educate most of Iceland’s special needs’ teachers - the fund established a Support Committee in Iceland.

At this point there was broad support across the board from all Nordic countries. But in 1990 the one government that was first to promise support, namely Norway, had fallen silent. Late in autumn that year the project group sat in the government quarters waiting for an appointment with the Chief of Agency, who was preparing the case for Minister of Education Einar Steensnæs’. 10

– Then a lady with a trolley pass us and disappear

further down the hallway. We see a yellow post-it fall to the floor. We pick it up. It reads: “Lahnstein called yesterday. The government will fall on Thursday”. This was referring to the government of Jan P. Syse, which stepped down in November 1990 before Gro Harlem Brundtland’s third government took over. Maybe the right time for working with change was after the governmental crisis?

The married couple Lund-Mathiesen worked hard in Oslo, in the Nordic region and of course locally in Fjaler. And there in Fjaler, Magne Bjergene offered his help.

– We opened our homes for each other. There fol lowed long evening talks. Magne would not relent, despite bureaucratic and political hurdles. There were personal challenges too. Jane and I never knew if we would have a paid job next January. The state budget was granted during the last days before Christmas.An unexpected bill of six million

In Haugland work was underway to create a West-Norwegian Health Sports Center which lat er became the Red Cross Haugland Rehabilitation Center. The Haugland Center needed supporters too. The synergy effect caused by placing a UWC at

The Haugland bay seen from above.

10 Einar Steensnæs was the Minister of Education for the Bondevik government. He would hold that position for two periods as a director for the bard of UWC RKN.

Haugland, had huge potential. As a team, splitting the costs, they could both raise their standards. The foundation made some propositions for things that would be for common usage, a shooting gallery in the basement at the center and a swimming pool. But what should the pool look like?

Lund- Mathiesen was checking out the Nordic stand ards. It wasn’t just about getting a water slide and those kinds of extras. The size of the pool mattered as well.

– Eventually two hundred students were to arrive, so they decided to make a decent 25-meter pool.

– Initially it was not intended for the foundation to pay for that part of the Haugland building. How much did you have left over to spend on it?

that the financial situation would sort itself out. As the fierce struggle to secure the benefits was going on, the architect Olav Hovland kept working along side others, with the physical manifestation of the project: the drawing, the digging, and the building.

It started of with cabins and barracks at Haugland

Big freedom, big responsibility. The Haugland- area turns into the life work of architect Olav Hovland.

It is April 2019, and there is a gathering in front of the administration building at UWC. Architect Olav Hovland, Director of Development Arne Osland, member of the RCN Board and Council, together with Operational Leader Vidar Jensen are all looking out over the Haugland area. We will let Hovland tell the story about the facilities.

Zero crowns.

Lund-Mathiesen and Magne Bjergene were together at the financing negotiations. The whole project was in danger of being terminated. Lund-Mathiesen and the core group were then called in for a meeting with the Mayor and Municipal Director, which was to have important consequences. They agreed to secure the continued construction of the pool at Haugland and by this, the development of the entire area. All the while, the municipality and the foundation believed

– I have a picture of myself walking out here on the plot in 1982, on the 6th of January in minus 26 degrees and a lot of snow. Back then, there were 9-10 people living in the neighborhood, begins Hovland. We look around and see some students going from the boarding school towards the canteen, and employees and users from the Haugland Center walk ing around on the path. The winter has been mild and wet. But today it is clear skies and calm.

Ivar Lund-Mathiesen who is also part of the tour,

2. Full action in the pool.

3. Feeling groovy - music activities in the Boat House, generously donated by the Høegh Foundation.

1. Maika Te Amo and Shikma Bar-On from the first generation.

gives an introduction by laying out some large blue print drawings from 1987 onto the tarmac outside the administration building. The plans show the bay and landscape from the fjord up through the farmland to the mountains. The area seems to be divided into lev els with the buildings spreading out over the leveled landscape.

– Farm?!

An observing participant has taken a closer look at the drawings. “Yes, to run a farm as a part of the College was also one of the early ideas. The idea came after a student trip to Atlantic College”, Hovland tells us since he is the one, broadly speaking, designed the Haugland Rehab Center and RCN. The area had in fact been farmland for generations. Christian Bekker was the last proprietor of the grand villa located at the top, overlooking the area - the Bekker house. Bekker had only a few farmer neighbors and no children. In 1976 he wrote in his will that the 1200 acres of land were to go to Sogn & Fjordane Red Cross. The unmarried lawyer was a hundred years old when he wrote his will. The gift came with a whole list of con ditions. The plot and house in Haugland were written over in 1980 to the Red Cross from the municipality in accordance with Bekker’s wishes. Red Cross then began elaborating the plans for how to use the area.

From zero to everything Just to recap: from 1982 to 2018, 52 buildings were erected here, both large and small. In addition to Olav Hovland, the architect group CUBUS played an important role. Architects from ARKI were part of the final step of the construction at the Haugland Center. Statsbygg were the contractors throughout the process. In total the buildings cover a surface area of 18000 m2, approximately 9000 m2 each at RCN and the Haugland Center. The first construction was the road from the Bekker house to the property below. In 1982 the Bekker house was refurbished and the plans for the area were made. In 1983 there were five finished cabins (in the style of “Ålhytte”). In 1984 the boat houses underneath were fixed up, before the work began on what was called the Holiday, leisureand activity center. By 1986 they had added the bar racks for asylum seekers, and in 1992 they completed the Health Sports’ Center. Only at this stage was the road leading from the present school area to the Health Sports Center, paved. RCN was built between 1994 and 1995. First the classrooms, residences, canteen, and auditorium and also the Rektor and Teachers Houses. After that came the Høegh Center and new storage houses, before the library came in 2002. The Silent House was raised in 2006, the opera tion and maintenance house, the Barn, came in 2008,

before the Thor Heyerdahl and Henri Dunant houses were inaugurated in 2014.

– So, the work to create a daycare center here began even before the plumbing was in place?

– There was a lot going on here before the water pipes were laid, and it was Magne Bjergene who set the wheels in motion. He had already been in the picture in early 1981 as the municipality’s Chairman Secretary. And prior to his coming here there was only the Bekker house and the farmhouses over here.

For a long period, the water was pulled from the well which is not unusual. But there turned out to be salt in it. I remember how the milk curdled when I added it to my coffee.

about the architectural expression.

The 15th of August that year, on the same day as the College’s completion, my parents and I got in the car in Nordmøre and drove to Haugland. I was to become part of the very first generation -or pioneers as Rektor Tony Macoun liked to call us. Upon our arrival, we felt the sparkling newness of the area. It was as though I could feel the tarmac’s softness when we got out of the car to register by the administration building. That could not be true I thought. But was it, in fact?

– Sure, it was, given that the final touch was made right up until the opening, says Hovland.

Have you all turned into megalomaniacs?

Unshakeable faith

Once the Norwegian government support was in or der, the architect group CUBUS and Hovland started making sketches. Detailed sketches with measure ments and calculations were completed in 1994. The first projections took place in February and the con struction drawings were ready in May, the same year. The construction began in July 1994 and was com pleted on the 15th of August 1995. It was a particu larly intense planning and building period without any margins for error. Many of those involved were former AC students. There were heated discussions

Each new phase of the project demanded a great deal of strength at all levels, will-power and an urge to discover. Ingolfur Arnarson, Iceland’s first Viking settler, set sail here from Dalsfjord. Was it the spirit akin to this that helped the municipality decide to go for this?

As Fjaler municipality had made their decision, the Aftenposten newspaper came to Fjaler and inter viewed the spokesman, Mayor Magnar Vagstad: The ripples, the spokesman remarks and lights a new cigarette. – Try to think of the ripple effect as the creation of new employment as well as increased

business and tourism. Additionally, we would get a school that will enrich us both culturally and intellectually.

– Fjaler has a population of around 3000 and has invested a total of seven million NOK for this pro ject-have you turned into megalomaniacs?

– In our municipality we have never had to deal with a case with such big consequences. The money is granted for a five-year period, and we will get it in return many times over, observes the Labor-spokesperson.

The municipality’s decision received support from Hovland and the CUBUS plan, as estimates needed to be made about the expansion and its synergies. The groundwork started with basics such as sun and wind conditions, the view, land scape, and vegetation.

Lund- Mathiesen writes in his report that the plot is only exposed to westerly wind. Otherwise, the plot has a total coastline of six kilometers which will prove important for the area’s disposition from the architects. Hovland thought of the area as four zones. From the Bekker house towards the west, was zone one, which comprised the

existing buildings of the Haugland center. Zone two was the subsequent addition to the Haugland center. The third zone was the administration, education, and study buildings for UWC RCN, and zone four was the student residences and the Teachers’ houses.

– We considered different ways of allocating the buildings here, Hovland explains during the his torical tour of the campus. He turns towards the face of the mountain behind the College, points at the steep, almost overhanging wall: “We sus pected the mountain would be a source of danger.

We had the situation checked out and got con firmation that rock-fall was indeed a real danger. That is why part of the area is regulated as unfit for building purposes.

Today the top road above Haugland is closed after large recent rock falls, with further danger confirmed. Hovland shows us the area stretching from the auditorium/canteen to the student residences and the old road by the mountainside behind the campus. In his plans from 1998 there were eight boarding houses with rooms for 25 students in

each one. There was to be a room for house parents in each of the eight student residences. They were to be grouped in three smallholdings, and most of the houses would have turf on the roof with skylight coming in. Every house was to have a guest toilet, a sports and wood shelter, a living room with a tea kitchen and an oven, and mezzanine. Every room was meant to accommodate four students.

interdependence of the two buildings became visible.

The Director of the Haugland Center, Inger Johanne Osland, shares an insight to a problem that they liter ally dug up during the construction of this building: “UWC had a tight budget but a deep well of ideas.”

But as Lund-Mathiesen was saying, they were think ing big. Also, when conceiving the swimming pool.

From bath house to swimming pool

Among all the facilities proposed by the architects, was a ‘bathhouse” with an outdoor shower and changing room for summers. For the sake of preser vation, the coastline remained untouched, except for the Study building in zone three.

The architects got their inspiration from the Nor dic tradition of democratic principles and harmony between nature and building style. When the guided tour progresses towards the Haugland Center we get to see a concrete example of nature meeting architec ture. The slanted, grass-covered roof serves as a kind of second face for the house and has, throughout the years, had goats grazing on it.

The planning of RCN happened while the Haug land center was being built. Soon enough the

Eventually the size turned out to be the smallest of problems. As the architect of the building, Hovland created a project group with Advisory Consultants for the construction, water, sanitation, and electrici ty. During a meeting they found out that the ground needed to be checked by a specialist consultant. This was done, and as a result they discovered a compli cated soil containing silt and clay.

– There was of course, rock at the bottom, archi tect Hovland adds: “But to build the pool, one had to place pillars that went through the clay down to the rock. So now the house rests on fifteen-twenty meters long pillars. The pool is too heavy to stand right on clay. In addition, one had to secure flexible transitions between the rocks, the pillars, and the

For the sake of preservation, the coastline remained untouched, except for the Study building in zone three.

Vidar Jensen was in charge of all phases for building the Nordic Yard.

swimming pool, to avoid movement that would make it crack.

The project group was well prepared for cracks in the budget. But the building of Haugland suffered a setback due to problems with the pool.

– How much more expensive was the new solution?

– The concrete and pillar work cost around eight mil lion of the total cost for the Health Sports’ building that ran up to around 44 million 11 The cost for the work with the pillars was relatively high in compari son to what it would be with normal fundament. Add to that sewage and drain-related costs. It was during this phase that one also established the bio - cleans ing facilities with a drain to the fjord. This led to some serious talks with people from Fjaler municipality. On top of that there were further compli cations when the bill arrived. It was more expensive than one had thought- and there were uncertainties about who could cover the costs. Accounts had been made in two distinct ways, with and without VAT.

If RCN were to pay, there would be no money left to build the College. The Red Cross on their side, had already built their training facilities with suffi cient capacity to accommodate RCN. The Haugland Center was in danger of going down the drain if there were to be no RCN after all. This interdependence

was perceived by Magne Bjergene who was able to capitalize on it during the negotiations between both groups. Magne considered the big picture and gam bled on everything turning out well. And that is how things went after all, thanks to the participation and influence of strong characters. It would not have been possible today.

– Why not?

– Political processes now happen in accordance with tighter restrictions and rules. Back then there was a way of speeding up decision- making that there is less room for today.

Tight budget, ambitious environmental profle Hovland wrote in his first report on RCN’s architec ture: “One might also say that Nordic architecture is deeply rooted in social realities.” It is a tradition that combines the healthy ‘farmer mentality’ with poetry. Modern Nordic architecture is in that sense a direct ennobling of the timeless farm and fisherman tradi tion. The fusion of the rational and the imaginary, the universal and the specific, but also the collective and the individual, must be borne in mind as the construction of Haugland continues. A cosmopolitan village of this kind is something unique in our corner of the country, which in itself constitutes a great challenge.

But already back in the eighties, Hovland was thinking about the environmental aspects: about the building’s intervention in the landscape but also the possibilities inherent in building facilities from the ground up to enable sustainable usage for the future.

– Sewage cleaning was installed. But otherwise, it was not easy to pull through with the environmental initiatives.

The cleaning station was built under the pool at the Haugland Center. The school hooked itself up to this.

In total, our budget became much tighter than we had expected. The planners had to start saving for the school to be built.

Environment and sustainability were the top priori ties when he started planning RCN. Part of the plan was to make use of fjord heat, but the project was constantly in saving modus. That is why the planners and builders had to opt for solutions that seemed cost-efficient at the time, but proved more expensive for both budget and nature, in the long run. One ex ample is that the heating became mostly electric. The dream of a more wholesome, recycling-based campus had to be discarded.

– To what degree did you as the architect have to state the grounds for your choices in the reports that came from the foundation’s planners and organizers and to

what extent could you think freely?

– Only to a small extent we were bound to the re ports. Nonetheless it was a complicated and frag mented process. Collaborations with the architect group CUBUS led me to work alternately in Bergen and Dale. Sitting in Oslo. were Tom Gresvig, Ivar Lund-Mathiesen and Otto Kaltenborn. In Fjaler, we had Magne Bjergene and his office.

– What other effects did the changing economy have?

– We had an absolute maximum threshold of 70 mil lion NOK. Then we figured out that the solution with least consequences would be to get rid of a couple of student lodgings and have five- person rooms instead of four.

– Each student residence had a Mentor house con nected to it. l. Did fewer boarding houses mean fewer houses for the house mentors too?

– It did in fact. And yet we were forced to cut more costs. We discarded the original library.

– Oh dear, that seems like a radical initiative for an institution of education offering IB- exams!

– Yes, you can say that. But this was considered as the first step. The construction was to proceed when the first generation had completed their first year. When the new students arrived in the fall of 1996,

at Haugland.

we needed an extra Boarding house namely Iceland House where chemistry teacher Marina Willemoes became the first House Mentor. There were still more struggles for funds and support, right up to the very end. And this struggle for the financing became a voluntary operation involving everybody, including the architects. They made illustrations, models, and materials for presentations, consequence extrapola tions, meetings, seminars and more.

– At one point, Prince Charles was to visit as the representative of UWC International to promote the project. But then during a game of polo he was playing in front of Diana, he fell off his horse and broke his arm. After some back and forth it was de cided against his coming over. But HM Queen Sonja replaced him. So consequently, a presentation of the area became necessary. The same thing happened for the Nobel Institute’s and then the Minister’s visit.

RKN has this peculiar paradox about it: tied up in the grand scheme of things while at the same time being located in a small fjord bay in little Fjaler.

location for voluntary work. Students were trained to give swimming lessons for patients at the Haugland Center, and free diving for students at the Camps School. Integration was a key word in this work.

Site specific analyses were also important, the quality of nature, culture, and fresh air. What should one continue building on? There were talks about inte grating groups of different users like clients at Rehab, pupils at the Camp School and students. Practical solutions to both academic and social life within this enclosed area where needed. Was any of this possible architecturally? What about the sources of inspira tion such as the existing UWC-schools like Atlantic College, Pearson College, and maybe even Norwegian village smallholdings? Maybe the differences between these various societal forms were not so big after all?

Collaboration

The pool was soon put to daily use by the RCN students for recreational purposes, exercise or as a

– The architect group CUBUS and I spent a long time working on the architecture, especially the student residences. Basically, the RCN buildings and facilities are shaped like a village with a visual language that closely resembles a Norwegian cluster smallholding, says Hovland, who also describes the efforts to the work site specifically:

– Where there once had been a source of water- the

Oh dear, that seems like a radical initiative for an institution of education ofering IB- exams!

well- we placed the laundry. The building where the natural sciences are taught was named after the Eck bo foundation and is located by the fjord. As at UWC Pearson, the students here can go directly from their lab out to the fjord to do their observations. The new bakery is situated on houses that one believes had open fires.

For many years, the students now have participated

in local crafts activities by traveling out to the village.

Olav Hovland’s wife Thora opened her door and taught them among other things, the baking of ‘lefse’, a kind of potato pancake. Jan Haugen is another local craftsman who was active in what was then called Nordic Studies. Haugen taught wood carving and folk dance. Students would go with Magne Bjergene to his farm and experience the slaughter of sheep and

more. Surprisingly enough, it was traditional folk dance that turned out to be the most popular activity for the international students.

Built to last?

Why did they build so close to the fjord? Hovland explains that the Red Cross initially prohibited construction along the beach - out of respect for the landscape.

– But then there followed reports of rock-fall. This meant additional restrictions, and one had to build along the fjord to have enough space. There is also a psychological factor when building concrete houses that are threatened by rock-fall. So, we were asked to reconsider. First Statsbygg wanted to organize a whole new architect competition. But both Magne and the Red Cross thought - and said - that there was no time for that. That is how we got permission to put forth a new project.

The project was to make greater use of the beach line.

– What characterizes the landscape here are the steep cliffs on the east side of the fjord. They cre ate a kind of lagoon marking a strong and distinct frame around the buildings. The mass of buildings has northern and southern parts that are connected by the road. A main idea has been to integrate the

college buildings with the Haugland center. So, the architects not only integrated the landscape but also nature, climate, and pre existing buildings, namely the Rehab Center that is built in a heavier style than the college. The administration building at RCN is designed to create a smoother transition to the heavi er building in the north. The buildings’ positioning is meant to enhance the bay’s coherent totality. That is why the little island is so important. From there one can also see the landscape with its mountains, those parts easily overlooked when gazing at the fjord. I built a bridge going over there early on, possibly as early as 1986, Hovland says: – The pathway over on the island is built from materials used for the build ing of train tracks in Flåm. The actual bridge is a floating bridge, so for that we used different kinds of material.

– Recycling after all. So, you realized that sustainabili ty -vision of yours in some areas?

– Yes, and this project also had a fortunate positive economic effect. We were able to complete it using employment funds.

Hovland has tried to facilitate more meeting points at other places on campus with zones including benches and such. But at this school where there is so much to be done; there is hardly time to just “hang out”.

With 200 students at the College and more than 100 patients and visitors to Haugland, it is often lively out on the fjord.

– It is not enough having a meeting place when the goal is to collaborate, the architect observes:

– It is best to have a task to solve together with oth ers. This is also true for Hovland, who has experi enced it in his own life. Even as a private person he has contributed to the cultural exchange between school and village.

– The host family program has been of great im portance, says Hovland, who has been hosting a couple of students from the very first generation and onwards. He and his family opened their homes on weekends and during holidays for three students from the pioneering generation: Mastoura from Afghanistan, Diwakar from Nepal, and Dipo from Nigeria. Also, in the following fifteen years they con tinued as a host family.

And for simply sitting outside, one ideally wants the weather conditions to be better than normal Haug land-weather. Today it is clear and quiet, yet too cold for sitting still. We keep wandering over the island towards the pier. From here we look over the entire facilities, from the Leif Høegh building to the main building, with the auditorium, canteen and library, via the Boarding houses and classrooms and up to the Haugland center. The island offers a view from

the fjord to the mountain, and right now the build ings and mountains are mirrored in the fjord. From here it is apparent how close to the fjord the Sci ence-building is.

– With UWC Pearson College as an inspiration for the Science-buildings, the students could change clothes in the hall and go directly out to the beach to take samples. The Eckbo foundation contributed 7-10 million NOK to the building. In the same way, Lions’ donated 20 of the 44 million it cost to construct the Haugland center.

– But there were never enough funds to run the farm…

– To do that, one would need a common understand ing of what good horse riding is, for example. The term ecology when working with pets or agriculture is interpreted very differently from one culture to the next. But there were in fact animals at the Haugland Center in the early years.

– There was near unlimited potential in the begin ning, given the great amount of freedom and trust you received. Was this a big project do you think?

– The school and Haugland Center are my biggest projects to date. And I am unbelievably grateful for

having had the chance to be a part of its formation. My family and I take great pleasure in the swimming poolwhich we still often visit – as well as many events at the school.

FROM FOREIGN SERVICE AT SEA TO RCN

Driftsleiar Vidar Jensen

Who molded the ‘child’ once the architects had handed it over? Among others Vidar Jensen, who was the Operational Manager at the Haugland Center at the beginning of 1992 and was later given the responsibility for both facilities at Haugland and eventually the specifc task at RCN.

Frå utanriksteneste på sjøen, til RKN

– I have never had a boring day at work. But there were days when I wished I did not have to be there, says Jensen with a little smile. In the beginning he bore the responsibility for all twenty buildings and the entire outdoor area of the school, alone. All maintenance, security and safety, fire protection and cleaning were his responsibility.

– I have always been fond of the students that I have had to deal with. But at that age they often leave a mess after

But there were days when I wished I did not have to be there

themselves. So, we had two hundred messy adoles cents and only two people to clear up after them, laughs Jensen.

– This was definitely not routine work. I never knew what I would encounter when I started. It always re mained exciting. My idea was to be a kind of invisible caretaker. So, I did not interact much with the stu dents. They would see something had been put back in order and fixed, but never saw who had done it or when. At some point I got the impulse to change this. I was, amongst other things, able to get involved in Project week and brought students up the mountains to fish and spend the night in a cabin.

– Do you too have a history as an outdoorsman?

– Yes indeed, I came straight to Haugland after 15 years working at sea in foreign countries. I got chil dren whom I wanted to see more regularly, and then I heard that the Red Cross was going to create a camp at Haugland. So, I applied for the job as Operational Manager and was lucky to get it.

Secrets Vidar Jensen is well acquainted with the buildings.

– The houses are pretty to look at from the outside, and it is a treat walking around here. But on a tech nical and practical level, I believe things could have been done differently.

– For example, everything here was ready for the heating of houses using energy from the fjords. But then it was suddenly too expensive, and electricity was used instead. That proved to be less cost-efficient in the long run.

– What is your favorite house in the area?

– It must be the barn; I mean that maintenance house with its workshop and room for cleaners. I had wished for it for a long while. I made drawings and was finally given a workshop and a room for the equipment.

– What did they do before the barn was built?

– Back then there was no storage space, no workshop of our own, and no cleaning central. The cleaning personnel stored their equipment in an old handicap

1. Johnny Lidal has made food for many generation.

2. Mostak Rahman together with friends of the College, Zoya Taylor and Harald Møller during “An Evening With Meaning”, Aker Brygge 2019.

3. My name is - and chrome from… but now live in Iceland House.

toilet. My tools were spread all over. It was an impos sible situation. But on the bright side, we always find a solution when we are under pressure.

Sure, one often finds solutions. But a more lasting headache was caused by bed bugs. The problem was mainly confined to Finland House. But in that house, it proved to be an especially burdensome situation to overcome. What did Jensen do to fight the pests?

– The interior of many rooms was knocked out. The pine alcoves have now been replaced by an arrange ment that makes maintenance easier. After many a year with battles, it seems like the school has eradi cated that plague.

One of the prettiest places on planet earth

So, Jensen had traveled around the world by boat and seen a great deal of this planet. Nonetheless he likes

to call RKN one of the prettiest places on earth.

– I get excited every day when I go out for a walk and look around. The Fjord, the mountains…

– So, you do return now and then?

– I thought that when my kids turned eighteen, I would let go of them. But that is where I was wrong, you see. I feel the same way about RCN. This entire, area which we now may say is 25 years old, is still slowly but surely developing. The parkland especial ly has a lot of good things going for it. And I enjoy coming here just to see what is happening.

The group that set out from the administration building has now reached the very top of the island in the fjord. We now turn back, crossing the island and the bridge over to the boathouse. An old ship stands there like a little room in the landscape by the pier. This is where Thor Heyerdahl stood to give his speech on the opening day of school. The day after there was a big article in the local paper Firda, quot ing Heyerdahl:

Our civilization is now on the way towards unknown heights. For the first time we talk about a global culture. But if it crumbles, there will be no culture in reserve that can take over, after us. UWC works by the

principle that peace is best assured by building bridges between countries, not by building walls between them.

If we are to build bridges, we must respect the peculiar ity of the individual.

But even poetic things like bridges and residential schools for teenagers need something as prosaic as money. And how did one finally gather enough funds to complete RKN towards the very end of the pro ject? With magic?

Tom Gresvig

Vidar Jensen receives a medal for long and faithful service.

PRACTICING SEEING THE WORLD

Marianne Andresen

Queen Sonja took UWC Red Cross under her wing and helped rescue the school out of sev eral complications. Tis is a well-known fact to many. But how did the Queen frst fnd out about the school? Tanks to another one of the most ardent protectors and supporters of the school.

E-18 between Oslo and Sandvika, is the road with the most heavy traffic in Norway. Nonetheless there is a walkway there. I cycle, turn off to Bygdøy, and right after, I turn off again through a gate and up a hill. Just a mighty stone’s throw from the E-18, but still the white noise from the cars turns into a far-off hush. I wander into alleys covered in leaves flanked by flowerbeds, purposely planted in patterns of red and white. The house is the work of architect Arnstein Arneberg. It was in this garden that thenCrown Princess Sonja sat listening to the planning of a Nordic UWC for the first time. The reception was organized by Marianne Ebba Therese Andersen. Andresen welcomes me at the main door. She takes my hand and says: – Oh, how cold your hands are, come on in!

The short story of how important Andresen was for UWC RKN is that she was able to collect the seven million NOK that were necessary to save the school project in 1991. Another story of how important sheand her husband Johan- were, places the emphasis on their donation made at the very beginning of the project. Their one million NOK donation was smaller than the others that came later. But the timing was priceless. Without this “seed money”, Tom Gresvig, Bjørn Rønneberg and the rest of the Foundation Committee would not have been able to gain mo mentum at all.

Later on, she has laid the foundations for what she considers the little extra on campus- by no means any minor additions: The Silence House and the Bakery. These have enabled students to gather around the es sentials: tending to their souls through prayer, reflec tion and pause. Baking bread, providing themselves and others nutrition, love, and energy. These were spaces to collectively create and to exchange culture.

– Bread is baked in every country. Indian naan, Dan ish rye bread and so on, says Andresen and recounts the background for this initiative:

– The old homestead became a gathering house with baking at its center. All of it originates from Magne Bjergene’s idea of creating a traditional Nordic

smallholding on this part of the campus, at Hestene set. Here lay the tufts of a farmer’s place abandoned in the 1920’s.

– The first building constructed here was the Silent house. It started off by me making an inquiry into what the students wished for. There were few places for them to retreat to when they wanted to be on their own. There are many reasons to feel a need for a quiet place: a letter from home, a wish to pray. Or even when it is just raining outside. That is why I wanted to provide the youth with a Silent house. I got talking to architect Olav Hovland underway, and it turned into a house without religious motives, but keeping with a traditional build, simple furnishing, and a very special light. As soon as the house was up, I understood that it would be put to frequent use. Once I met an atheist boy who had experienced a revelation of a pre-existing entity that could not be seen in the world. That helped him respect those he was sharing a room with. Now I hear that other UWC’s are interested in creating a similar place. I, myself, am a catholic and appreciate a place for con templation. Everybody should have the freedom to practice their religion.

We will learn more about Marianne Andresen. But first, back to 1990, to the antechamber where she and

Once I met an atheist boy who had experienced a revelation of a pre-existing entity that could not be seen in the world

I now sit. Andresen tells me that it was here Queen Sonja and ninety other guests first heard of the initia tive to start a UWC s in the Nordic region. It was the private contributions, economical and moral support, that were secured here in the nineties. Andresen took the initiative to organize a reception, and to give the first millions in private sponsorship. But why?

Paust, Mountbatten and Nils

– It started with Dagfinn Paust 12 contacting my husband, Johan Henrik. General Lord Mountbatten was in Oslo, and Paust wished for my husband to meet him. Mountbatten was scheduled to lecture on the Second World War at the University. I remember joining the dinner at the palace and how remarka ble it was. We learned much about the IB and about Atlantic College and realized that this school would be perfect for our third child, Nils. He attended the College from 1985 to 1987 and enjoyed it there. There, he was able to channel his interest into sports and was at sea and up on the cliffs with the Coastguard service. He gained a great interest in interna tional affairs, which carried on into his adult years.

Dag nn Paust was a Norwegian ship owner, and UWC- enthusiast. Pant contributed both nancially and in other ways to Atlantic college.

Nils brought fellow students back home here during Christmas holidays. They were students who could not pay for their trip back to their homeland. While sitting there, Nils might say, totally out of the blue, “Peer Gynt is really interesting, because so and so “. Thanks to the AC he developed an interest in books that he earlier on would not have cared for. We met a lot of his friends from around the world here and felt that he now traveled with the goal of studying, and eventually working. You could say that the UWC’s fire was ignited in me.

–I got involved in the Norwegian national commit tee 13 and had the idea to start informative meetings for parents. I had myself experienced what it was like to send my child out into the unknown. There were already informative meetings for students out in a cabin in the woods, but the parents had nothing. So, I figured out how to tell them about what it entailed. You can imagine the many questions ranging from climate to AIDS and foreign relations. Many were nervous and I said: They will have to realize that their children will not return to the same as they left. They come back full of knowledge that the parents do not necessarily possess. Their young ones will have a totally fabulous experience.

–Now the question was being raised about a new school in the Nordic region. After some time, it was settled that it should be tied to the Red Cross. But how should it be financed? As you know, the gov ernment promised a certain sum. But then there was money to be collected from private investors, too.

I arranged two receptions, the first in 1990 and the second in 1993. There were ninety people in attend ance here, and the Queen was one of them. LundMathiesen and many of the others told her about the IB and UWC. The idea was that people could connect. Oh yes, then a date was chosen and then a deadline to collect the agreed sum. I was sitting in the committee then. We needed seven million. The stakes were high. The government would not promise any money without those seven million. So, I approached my husband who was sitting up here, working.” We either give this up, or else we go all in and contribute!”, I said. And so, he contributed- his immediate response was that we would make it hap pen. So, he went straight to his network, the bosses in the business world. He would donate a certain sum if they promised to follow suit. It was exciting! On my side, I was able to recruit the Høegh family for a contribution. It turned out that Ove Høegh called me

13 UWC national committees are found in almost all countries that send students to UWC’ s across 160 committees in total and is comprised of alum ni. In Norway, the National Committee is the same people leading in UWC Norway, and they work voluntarily to nominate students, to market UWC and organize arrangements for alumni.

1. Tom Grevig’s son Håkon gets married to alumna Zhe Wang. 2. Marianne Andresen was accompanied by many family members for the grand opening of the baking house. 3. Tom visiting the College in 2016.

right in the middle of our campaign. I was standing there in the kitchen, oblivious. Høegh would travel to Waterford in Swaziland. I had been there and was able to tell him about it. It ended with him donating too. It worked out, we succeeded and there we stood some years later and took part in the opening. The Andresen house was up and the Høegh foundation eventually donated a house a little later-in 1998. –This sounds like a cause that you were burning for. How did that come about?

–Yes, I was passionate about the school. I, myself, had been to schools abroad and knew the importance of good education. I also cared for the school’s stand ard. The students had to feel that they were appre ciated; when Alistair Robertson told me that there were many events at the College, I decided to donate a grand piano. Some of the attending students are especially talented. And one day, after putting the piano in place, I heard somebody say: the window was open. And out of it came music. Marianne has lived what she herself refers to as the life of a recluse up until 2017, when her big exhibition happened with a book publication and an interview. The money made from sales went straight to UWC RKN. Five of her pieces were bought by Queen Sonja.

In a portrait interview from 2017 with Aftenposten, Andresen asked what she most enjoyed listening to, with the reply: bird songs. Nonetheless, there is a grand piano standing here in the salon. And the peo ple I have spoken to have told me about Andresen’s taste for quality in music. But it was the silent art form that became her specialty. Her obvious talents in the visual arts were highly rated by experts. That is why her heart has been beating a bit harder for the faculty of arts.

–To draw is an exercise in seeing the world. I think everybody can enjoy and discover themselves through drawing. Music, literature, and painting en rich people. I have myself recently held an hour-long art lesson with the students at UWC RKN. We spoke about what art might mean to them. If it did not turn into a job for them, then it would still remain a portal to a good life. One acquires a new appreciation of the world.

Now she is 85 years old, and still in the lady of Arns berg’s beautiful house. She met me there with warmth and care.

Get some gloves, says Andresen, before closing the door behind me. I walk into the un- Norwegian park landscape, created by a Swedish artist.

Lied, Nchome and Jordy enjoying the winter sun.

years of UWC Red Cross

Tor Heyerdahl sails into the Flekke ford with Queen Noor circling above in a helicopter.

e College is taking shape. e opening ceremony is something no one will forget, not sta , students nor locals. I am among those who remembers that day and the days leading up to it; our choir rehearsals, the Ukrainian dance troupe already having a perfor mance to show, and Majka, the Maori’s continuous Haka-dance rehearsals. We didn’t seem bored; we had an important task, and I was nervous about the stains on the house’s common ironing board I’d made while ironing my bunad (national costume) short. e 30th of September was blessed by all weather gods and fortunately, even the god of thunder or. As or Heyerdahl and other prominent guests were on their way in a boat from Bergen to the pier below the Col lege, Queen Noor of Jordan ew in by helicopter, and Queen Sonja came via Førde airport Bringeland. “Hardly a agpole stood naked as Sonja drove in her car from Førde airport shortly before one o’clock.”, wrote Bergens Tidende the following Monday and pointed out that it had only been thirteen months since the construction work had begun, and that Rektor Macoun had organized a sponsored “Queen’s lunch”: canapé with seventeen sh dishes. My bunad shirt was stainless, nor was there any stain

on the many newly ironed national dresses from all over the world. We stood in a warm and friendly living patchwork made from all the world’s colors and lined up with ags at the port when Heyerdahl and the others sailed into the ord. It must have looked like an almost unreal picture. e bay at Haugland is a fairytale postcard. Add to it, us standing there young, handsome, fresh, and enthusiastic with the autumn forest behind us and the pier. It was lush and dense with leaves, red, yellow, green, burgundy, and orange. e high-point for us students was a conversation with or Heyerdahl.” Here you shall learn what my crew and I learned aboard “Ra”: that we are but one family on earth, namely Homo sapiens. But also, it is our responsibility to take care of all other lifeforms.”

Rektor Tony Macoun keeps his composure. Smiling, composed, calm, steady – giving no signs of doubt that this youth and his carefully selected crew will handle a half - nished school. Personally, I recall how the Norwegian national committee asked me during my early introductory interview if I, even if I did not apply for it, might choose RKC. ey mentioned how unique it would be to be a pioneer and the extra responsibilities and tasks one might get then.

My parents and I had driven to Haugland a month earlier, at the end of August. ere was already one

student in Denmark house: Hoa from Vietnam. She was sitting on her bed in our room when I arrived. Why was she sitting there so quietly when there was so much to discover? I understood the reason why a er our rst attempt at conversation. She spoke no English. “Yes “and “no” was all she knew. e Eng lish-speaking world was locked behind a door. I was good at English. But I was in no way prepared to help Hoa. Haugland seemed big and was beckoning us. All the time new minibusses kept arriving with new groups from the airport near Forde. “Hello, I am Mette, from Norway.” Constantly new faces, new rooms, new possibilities, equipment, menus, bedlinen, desks, views of the ord.

Already here in room 201, there was plenty for Hoa to discover. How to use one of those toilets. I came in and demonstrated the use of the water closet. In the evenings, we’d lie awake listening to each other’s nervous waking breath or the equally nervous sleep breathing. at is how intimate we were. At the same time our language kept us apart. Parallel to Hoa’s im pressive speed-learning of a whole new alphabet and language, I learned something about being a fellow human being.

If it had existed then, Hoa might have done a

preparatory year at RCN to improve her English before starting her studies of the IB-diploma. Hoa had to learn the hard way. And for the ai farmer’s daughter it worked as a kind of tough love. Hoa had a steep learning curve, and soon became one of the most smiling and satis ed students on campus, and she eventually went on to study at her dream Universi ty in the USA.

In the coming years, the opening of the school year would continue to be something special. For each student coming to Haugland for the rst time, the arrival feels like an opening. e beginning of a new life. e two years at UWC is a transformative expe rience. A tradition of intense activity resonates in the walls, and there are countless social, sportive, creative, and academic possibilities on o er. e day of arrival for a rst-year student has since 1996, been marked by their meeting a culture developed by the second-year students.

A young man from Greenland describes his shock when he discovered how small Haugland was and how this lled his rst days here with regret. Soon he found out that it was the best thing to happen to him. Maja from Norway has submitted an unedited page from her diary marked 21.8.18, and it captures some

For each student coming to Haugland for the frst time, the arrival feels like an opening.

of the magic happenings in a board ing school life with an international environment:

Ahh yes, here I am! It is 15:46 and I have been here for 4,5 hours. I have done silly Yoga with Margret, Maud, Ingeborg, Sunniva, Helene and a Swed ish boy whose name I forgot. at was the rst thing I did a er stowing away my bags in room 702 at Norway House. (...) I went to drink tea in Sweden House, room 102. Oh mine, how nice they were. ose who were there were so interesting and grounded. Among the rst-year students was a boy from Costa Rica, me, Helene, Jacob who came a er a while, and a Japanese girl (she was sweet!) who lived in that room. e second-year students were Florina, from Belarus with blue hair (she was extremely sweet and played 16 instru ments including the piano in the can teen during dinner. She played “Harry Potter”, and played it well.), Florina and the rest of the roommates whose names

“Snikkarbua” at Haugland was for many years a popular location for student cafés.

I cannot remember now.

It is 00:40, and so much has happened. Otto, Jacinto, and I walked over to Finland house to visit people. Met some cool people, JP from the USA was especially cool to talk to. ere was Ar ran and a guy from Canada and Yahya whom I ate dinner with. en we went on a trip with the Norwegian rst-year students over to the island. Lots of peo ple. Just as I was going to bed, I walked past the dayroom. ere was a birthday party going on, for a Dutch girl called Isabel, so I joined in. We counted down to midnight, and then celebrated, cheer ing. But then more happened. People got up, held Isabel’s hand, and led her out of Norway House. And there, four boys grabbed her and li ed her up. All the other second- year students seemed to know what was going on, while me and other rst-year students watched, bewildered. ey stopped on the pier and swung her three times before toss ing her into the water, clothes and all.

Proud to represent your country.

– THERE IS MORE IN YOU THAN YOU THINK

– About the boy from West Sahara who sleeps in snow caves on the Sogn Mountain, and the one who lost his arms and eyesight in a landmine accident but who seven years later, completed the 20 Km long Ridder rennet ski race. And a little bit about the grownup mentors who provide assistance.

Hari Bahadur was on his way to work as a child laborer at a hotel in Nepal when his bus hit a road bomb. He found himself close to the center of an explosion, fre, splinters, injured and dead bodies. At the same time as Hari lay in hospital fghting for his life, Jonatan Ullholm began at school in Stockholm and could already read and write-in three languages. Tree years later they are best friends and roommates.

Deliberate Diversity

Hari was seven, one of twelve siblings, and was sent from home to work. Every day the seven-year-old travels a long bus ride to clean at a hotel. With every one in the family making an effort, they manage to survive.

Then on that fateful day, he is suddenly flung into the midst of an explosion. Hari suffers deep burns and sees agony all around him. 53 people died in

the accident, 71 survived. Hari knows he is one of the lucky ones to be alive. After the accident he was treated for several months at the hospital. He hears of other survivors who have been forced to beg on the street and one who committed suicide. Hari is too wounded to go back to work but eventually gets per mission to return to his school desk. But then another heavy blow hits him. His mother dies. This forces him to quit school and help his father.

In 2004 Joseph Kaifala started up SAFUGe, an activity that has been recreated evry year since, for projects in the student’s home countries.

The sky›s the limit for Zito, Arnold and many other UWC students, from 2014. Børge Brende, the man who gave the idea to start up Survivors of Conflict, on a later visit to the College in 2017. Daily life in the room from 2015.

At the same time Jonatan is growing up in Stockholm. His mother is from Bohemia. His father is a Swede who traveled around Europe looking for the world’s best dessert when he ran into his wife. There is an inside joke in the family that Jonatan is the result of a quest for the world’s best dessert. An authentic child of the dessert generation: those who are born into the well-off society from the seventies and onwards. His mother had experienced what being a refugee is like and is now strongly committed to the refugees’ plight. She opens their doors for them. Here they talk of global problems, about growing nationalism and about the refugee crisis. They speak Hungarian, Swedish and English. As a teenager Jonatan begins on an academic path with an international perspective.

When Hari is a teenager, he comes across a publica tion that a relative by chance has brought to a family gathering. Hari goes to the internet- café where he finds out more about the UWC organization. He prints out an application form and fills it in. The chances of getting a place are slim. The Nepalese national committee will choose a single candidate from a population of over 31 million. But Hari has

survived a car bomb. So maybe this makes him es pecially brave. He applies for the competition along with fifteen hundred others. By chance, someone has been looking out for candidates for the Survivors of Conflict program. The program, unique to the RCN, aims at providing education to young persons who have been injured because of war or conflict. After a long entrance process Hari is admitted as a UWC RCN student as a participant in this program. He now embarks on his life’s journey with all the practical planning and change it entails.

The visa application is long-winded. On arrival in Norway, he finds all the other students already in place. He cannot afford to lag behind, due to poor English and an insufficient educational background. Hari is admitted into the so-called ‘foundation year’, with a bespoke program for him to prepare for the IB diploma program the next year. Will this help him get ready for full immersion in his study program?

Under the school’s fag – In the beginning, I could only do the most basic things and was often crying in the bathroom. It was so demanding. I was close to giving up, Hari recalls.

fjord?

Now he is eighteen years old and speaks both openly and appreciatively about the seven-year-old trauma tized boy and about him who only two years ago said: “being on the other side of the world far away from his parents, in a cold, wet and dark country. Around him, everyone spoke English, which he hardly under stood a word of. To Hari it felt impossible. But there is most likely a profound truth in UWC founder Kurt Hahn’s statement: “there is more in you than you think.”

Today Hari and Jonatan are in Oslo as representatives of the current students. They will participate at a charity dinner, give a talk about the everyday life they share, as equal students, roommates, and best mates.

Two and a half years earlier, the differences between them were immense. In the blank space under the heading ‘language skills’ on Jonatan’s application form, he wrote that he speaks and writes Swedish, English and Hungarian fluently. The resourceful Swedish adolescent had no idea how much he would learn about his fellow human beings when he was accepted into UWC.

When Jonatan arrived on campus, Hari came to pick him up.” Hari lifted me up and hugged me, without

having ever met me. I liked that”, recalls Jonatan.

Two years earlier that kind of physical contact had been unthinkable for Hari.

– I tried ‘Namaste’ 14 but people said, ‘Hi Hari’ and gave me a hug. In my culture we do not show our bodies to each other. Roommates do that all the time.

It was uncomfortable at first. Now we are more like brothers.

– Moving to Flekke was a culture shock for me too. The biggest surprise was the private life. You have your own corner but that is about it. It was amazing how well it went.

– We probably have the best rooms at school, adds Hari. – We have different circles of friends, but we get along well. If we disagree and there has been a row, we write each other messages on bits of paper and put a cookie or a chocolate beside it. If we are nervous about something, we talk about it. We might lie down beside each other. It is not homosexuality, simply respect. It feels good letting things out instead of hiding everything inside. When things get tough, I tell Jonatan about it.

– We have a lot to give each other. We might have

14 “NAMASTE” is Sanskrit, the ancient Indian language. It means “I bow before the divine in you”. But as a daily greeting one puts both palms together over the heart and bows for the other.

1. Bob Okello together with Arne Osland and basketballer Marco Elsafadi during the annual meetings at the Bergen Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2014.

2. SOC participants in 2016: Mohammed, Edwin, Melvin, Yerson and Yeison.

3. Alumnus Saya Maye Cole on a visit together with Vibeke L’Orca Mortensen in 2014.

feelings for a special girl from a different culture, and then there is always somebody to ask for advice. Why did the girl react in that way? Did I say something wrong? It is about culture and religion, and we learn more about the background. I believe we have reached the right age for this.

After having completed his Foundation Year, Hari chose to study biology, English B, chemistry, math ematics, and Nepalese (self-taught). On his activity program there is the Thursday dance in the local vil lages. And now he is one of the organizers of the folkdance activities. He goes skiing and kayaking with the group that is preparing for the Ridderrennet race. The leadership team has chosen him to be representing the College at the Future Talks’ Arctic Expedition. This is a prestigious expedition to Svalbard where Hari got the chance to work with hundreds of youths and professionals from different sectors. They were all hand- picked according to one criterion: they might change the world.

term refers to the mutual benefits that students from different backgrounds enjoy when sharing experi ences together. This is how the UWC-movement uses education as a unifying force for peace. Therefore, the school puts diversity at the center for all parts of the daily school routines, in the residences, in classrooms and extra academic activities. I, who am writing this, shared a room for a two-year period in Flekke with girls from Bosnia, Canada, Denmark, Ghana, Iceland, Netherlands, Russia, and Vietnam. They were atheists, Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims and had their professional specializations in science, language, art, or history. At that time Europe was being torn apart by the war in Yugoslavia.

Diversity in Daily life for all  “Deliberate diversity” is a term used to coin some thing distinct in RCN’s pedagogical profile. The

But there were initiatives, aspirations, consolidations, and a belief that one could make a change. I am re minded of this when looking at Hari and Jonatan. The two boys have hopes and dreams for the future. Hari wants to study information technology and economy and has received several offers from universities in the USA. Eventually, he would like to travel back to Nepal and be a part of the inner transformation there.

–In Nepal there are millions of people starving

“To the Top” -with the Norwegian Red Cross to Galdhøpiggen.

because of poor political leadership, I have been given this opportunity. My goal with this work is to create opportunities for many others. His childhood gave him no basis to believe in a future that held anything other than hard work under poor conditions. His prospects were an exhausting everyday life spent to gether with other children in a corrupt country with poor leadership. “One needs some good ones at the top of the government leadership,” Hari claims. The disempowerment of the poor disheartens him – If you do not have the means, you will not get a higher edu cation. And without a higher education, you will not attain a pivotal position from which you can change your own and other people’s lives. Hari describes a Nepal with discrimination between the social classes: – If you were from the upper class and I touched your cup-like we do here- you would refuse to drink any more from it.

So was there anything special about Hari or his circumstances that enabled him to break the vicious cycle? I imagine it was his personal attributes and consider this unusually curious boy with his trust ing character. Maybe it was the many coincidences like the fact that he met somebody who gave him the

UWC publication. And then let us not forget that he deserved it purely on the strength of character he displayed when taking the chance. This is a trait he shares with many other schoolmates. The boys tell me about Chat from Cambodia who uses a special bike to travel distances. Jonatan and his friends have turned Chat’s setbacks with slush and snow into a project. They designed a vehicle that gets him there in any kind of weather. Jonatan has experience with met allurgy from previous workshops. He can draw and work with tools. He sits with both pen and paper and works in the metal workshop that they have access to at the high school in Dale.

If you were from the upper class and I touched your cup-like we do here- you would refuse to drink any more from it.

steering my career toward engineering. Now I im agine that I might do that in the shape of something useful like manufacturing prostheses. UWC helps you focus on your goals in life. And that is what makes having a big salary less important.

We take leave. Jonatan and Hari go towards Aker Brygge to a UWC-event where they will be telling about their life together at UWC. They will return

there tomorrow, to all the academic and extracur ricular activities. Hari has organized transport for the next evening to the local folk dance activity and will make sure the information gets posted on social media. Jonatan gets ready for a mock exam and will finish building the vehicle for his friend. It strikes me when I leave these boys that each one in his own way, changes the world while being a student, not later.

– Getting the permission to work with this sort of problem changes your perception of others. I had very specific goals before coming out here. But meeting these people transformed me. Despite their challeng es they personify resilience. I had always envisioned

Faculty Frolics Mark, Arne, Alistair and Chris take their task seriously. Edwin Cornejo as camp school instructor.

Part 3 There is more in you than you think ■ 98 25 years of UWC Red Cross Nordic ■ 99

On Solli plass in Oslo, the stately brick building that today houses the National Library was once the University’s library. In 1994 there was a Ghanaian sitting in the reception there. Daniel Toa-Kwa pong’s job was to develop a security system at the University’s library. Tere he sat now, reading in a Norwegian advertisement publication. By chance he stumbled onto an ad.” Red Cross United World College is hiring!”.

Only weeks later, Rektor Tony Macoun came to interview Toa-Kwapong in Oslo. They spoke long and well about their common subject – geographyand the position of the social sciences. “The world is controlled by people with a background in social

sciences who remind each other. This contributes to Toa-Kwapong’s decision to come to Haugland and work with a subject called Development studies. He had a single condition: that his wife Barbara would be convinced to join.

– I realized that working for RCN would be a joint venture for Barbara and me.

Soon enough they arrived at Teacher’s hill with their two small children. Daniel sets up the subject De velopment Studies in collaboration with geographer Tony Macoun.

– I have become increasingly aware of the benefits that this subject could get through impulses from the local environment. We have the largest lab of

1. Hari on the voyage to Svalbard with Future Talks.

2- Barbara together with Kadiatou Momoh and Haja Ba in 2016.

3. Summer Course for new students in 2014.

I realized that working for RCN would be a joint venture for Barbara and me.

all. Everything around here is a geographer’s lab. I am excited about the new situation with our county merging into the new Vestland County. I believe in a tighter bond between the College, the county, and the entire Nordic Region. I am happy that one of the conditions I gave myself for being a student in Oslo was to learn the Norwegian language and history. I believe the students will benefit from learning more about, for example, the oil sector in this country. What is it that makes Norway so especially smart with regards to oil riches compared to other coun tries who have been extracting just as much oil?

When the college opened the population went up to almost three thousand. Since then, the number has stabilized around 2800 inhabitants. One feature of Fjaler differs from most other municipalities’ demo graphic development: immigrant statistics. In 1990

the municipality counted a total of 17 immigrants, 11 from Europe and the rest from North America.

By 2000, the number of immigrants had escalated to nearly three hundred, with 149 from Europe, 53 from Asia, 28 from Africa and 38 from all over America.

Te geography in it all.

RCN was built on an approximately 300 acres large area of land near the Flekke fjord in Sunnfjord in what used to be Sogn & Fjordane, today a part of Vestland county. Haugland is located ten minutes’ drive from the municipality’s center Dale, forty minutes’ drive from Førde airport and three hours from Bergen. It takes twenty minutes to drive to the nearest ski center. One reaches the archipelago by the coast in just under an hour with a boat from Haugland.

All of these did not necessarily come as a conse quence of RCN. Some l immigrants were recruited by the Nordic Artist’s center in Dale. But overall, the typical RKC-people are persons born abroad to par ents born abroad or else Norwegian-born with im migrant parents. There were always more men than women, despite health and social services employing most of them. Teaching is the second most popular employment. Fjaler has a long tradition of education.

– Yesterday I asked my students if it was the social scientist or the natural scientist who had the most to contribute. They answered natural scientists. I had to object.” Natural scientists are dedicated to gathering

1. In 2013 Maja Siu received honour from the Fondo de la Mariposa in Nicaragua, handed over by rocker Åge Aleksandersen.

2. Art classes have always been a hub for personal development and learning. Here with teacher Nikki de Marko in 2020.

3. Melvin Gonzales representing his home country El Salvador and the College during Ridderrennet in 2015.

4. Lights during the dark season.

empirical data for the lab,” I pointed out how impor tant social sciences are when it comes to tackling the changes we face in the world. It helps us understand how different countries and cultures think and do research. What we in the West call a weed is called a plant in China. The Chinese do not seem to use the world problem the same way as we do in the West. When our child is particularly active, I will not therefore call it a nervous or problem child. I buy the child a football or tennis racket. In China the ‘weed’ has laid the foundation for scientific discipline called plant medicine.

time. The technological tools were meant to create safety, but I believe that they also become a stress factor. Dealing with the countless possibilities that technology offers, can create more work and will in fact, rob adolescents of their time. In the beginning of the school’s history, the only internet activity was printing out emails and distributing them into letter boxes.

– I can remember how important regular mail was. There were daily mail hand-outs at lunchtime. That was the one moment for contact with the outside world. Now students spend time on the net and social media in addition to all the other demands that were there from before.

But by and large, I believe the technological development of the internet has been a burden.

Teamwork in a changing world

Barbara has a background as a social scientist, and when asked how school life has changed over the years, she answers:

– I can see how students feel the changes in our

– But they do not have to take a long trip to the bank in Dale to sort out their finances?

– Yes, you are right there. But by and large, I believe the technological development of the internet has been a burden. We are always available unless we switch our phones off. We do not do that though. So, the big challenge here at RCN is how to administer our attention in time, says Barbara. Daniel is only partially agreeing. He points out that it could be seen

3 There is more in you than you think

106

as a new possibility instead of a problem, and ex plains how he can use mobile phones actively during his classes:

– We might need to know the exact population of China. It is only a click away. That is very convenient. But I am strict regarding my student’s attention. For example, I let my students know that I would never check my emails if we were together. They under stood that they were expected to be present both physically and mentally, and that that is how things go. One of the positives with the new times is the willingness to see the whole person for admission to university.

– We rarely use expressions like the student did not pass. But even if somebody has low grades for the IB-exam 15, they can still get accepted at an American university, says Barbara. They have shown a willing ness to perceive the whole person. Nordic Univer sities do not take any extracurricular activities into account when assessing students for entry. It is all strictly grade based. This is unfortunate because it is the extracurricular activities that build personality. Nonetheless, students will still need decent grades to get accepted. I believe some of our students get

a bit confused by this, says Daniel, and adds: Many here start at a level five English. When the highest level is set at seven, they are already close to being fluent. Other students begin close to zero and have an extremely steep learning curve. They will require a full year to get going, then blossom and succeed as well as the others. We have many positive examples of this.

– It has a lot to do with culture, says Barbara: We see that the people who come from ambitious back grounds have this idea that they need top grades to get into their field of choice. We are less focused on grades and rather see the student as a full human being. Representatives from North American uni versities come here to recruit young talents with focus on their potential. Daniel remembers a student who failed to get a full IB-diploma but still got into university. She had an average of 3,5 the first term, but a year later the average rose to five. Now she has a great responsibility working for a lawyer’s office in Quebec, explains Daniel. Barbara nods and says: “I remember an Italian boy. He was’ streetwise’ and be lieved that he was not meant for an academic career. He managed really well and is today an outstanding

Daniel in 2016 - say no more!

entrepreneur who works with motivating and helping the youth.

Daniel likes to tell his students about the pioneer class. How did they make such an impression on him? They felt an ownership for the school. They took initiatives. Daniel tells the story about the garbage cans over here. Today, the bins are in the shelter from the house. When the school started, there was no house there. But the wind blew just as hard- the bins toppled, and the trash went flying. When the teachers came down from Teach ers Hill for the lessons, they found their students picking up trash.

– The students quite simply possessed natural leader qualities. They took initiatives and took the reins, says Daniel, and adds: -Tony Macoun quoted Kurt Hahn: One should not tell a student that she must be part of something. But rather, that she is needed.

– That is why there were a minimum of rules in Tony’s time. There was guidance, Barbara remembers.

Now the married couple is gathering their belongings and will head up to Teacher’s Hill. I noticed Daniels’ red and black Arsenal bag, with a Toa-Kwapong em broidered on it. That was a personal gift he got from a

years of UWC Red Cross Nordic

3.

2.

student from the first-generation. Nathan- that was the student’s name-brought it to a reunion. He had fond memories of Toa-Kwapong’s living room in the mid-nineties. They would sit there and watch foot ball on TV. They supported the same team, Arsenal. Barbara and Daniel play on the same team at home as well as at work - even though she sympathizes with a different team in red. The aim is to play to make the other good.

Te Survivors Realizing your Potential.

When Edwin Gonzales was fourteen, he lost both arms and injured his eye, face, and head. After seven yearsfour spent in Norway- he has a bachelor’s degree in pedagogy and works as a teacher in his homeland Nicaragua.

– Edwin, he reaches out an arm that stops just before the elbow joint. It is sufficient for a handshake - or an arm shake. He turns his arms around and takes his jacket off. A magnetic card showing his name and the logo of his seminar falls to the floor. Gonzales points, and explains simply and pedagogically how to put it on again. “You are a good instructor!”, I say. Gonzalez corrects:” I am a teacher.”

One day Edwin was fourteen and home alone. The door to the apartment was half open, and there he saw something new and shiny. What was it? Edwin went over and picked up something that looked like a can of shoe polish. When he lifted it up, he got a sneaking feeling. He put the thing back, took a step back - and then it exploded. Shortly after Edwin regained consciousness and noticed somebody’s presence. He was aware that he was being carried over into a car. He was driven from the little village where he lived with his mother, to the hospital in the capital. There, they saved his life. But he had lost one eye. His arms from the elbow joint down were gone and he sustained serious fractures to his skull. It was only on the 20th day at hospital that Edwin himself realized his arms were gone. A year later his sight returned to the damaged eye. Six years later he would ski 20 km at the Ridderrennet race and be a snorke ling instructor for camp school students. At eighteen, he finds out that he has been chosen for a stipend to study IB at UWC RCN in Norway.

He put the thing back, took a step back - and then it exploded.

This evening Gonzales is among the international representatives of Red Cross-organizations that will participate in a panel debate against landmines. He is there as a witness, one to tell how he survived and came back to life after the bomb explosion.

– The best I can do on these occasions is to show, not just tell.

– How do you give thanks by doing?

– I have been told - and have experienced - that one learns best by teaching others. I came to RCN with very poor English. At best, I could say ten words, “fine thank you’ and was able to introduce myself. Everything else was laborious and frustrating. At the same time, it helped me understand that dwelling on fear would help no one. If I do not challenge myself, I will continue being scared. My fear was mostly of meeting people. For a while I would not go out but rather hide. I was afraid of doing such and such a

mistake, to not get my jacket on, that everything would go wrong. But slowly and surely the language came. I had satisfactory answers for the questions people asked me. Every evening I checked my status: how was I feeling? I gave myself specific tasks like go ing to the common room. I made sure to never speak Spanish, not even to the other Spanish speakers. I was so eager to learn English. I knew well who I wasa Latino. But I did not learn the language to hide my identity, but rather to be understood. Language lifted me out of my isolation.

But I did not learn the language to hide my identity, but rather to be understood.

– My first challenge was to talk about my physical condition. I had to accept myself and needed accept ance from those around me as well. I had to learn to say: I cannot do this. Can you help me get the jacket on? Dr. Eirik Fismen and others at the Haug land Center taught me a great deal. Because while I – along with all the others – need to teach myself how to discern the limits for what I can do, there is good reason to celebrate all the things that we in fact are able to do. It is often more important to focus on resources. I learned to tell myself that I can do any thing - even building a house.

Aya Bahij tests the snow during “friluftsveka” in 2015.

When actions speak louder than words Gonzalez makes a gesture. Even with his arms’ stubs, his body seems unusually eloquent.

– Because learning English was so important to me, I wanted to help others learn English, back home in Nicaragua. He has recently explained something to me in his pedagogical way; how I could help him with the fallen nametag.

– I believe that my interest in teaching started with Angie, my English teacher. She believed in my talents - and all I could achieve despite my injuries. She taught me English first and then gave me some tools to teach English. First it was more like conversation al training than a lesson. But after a while I took on more ambitious tasks. I took them very seriously. I was no longer a student who could go crazy and do all those student things.

– So, you stayed in Flekke when your fellow students left?

– In total I spent four years in Norway. One year to prepare and learn English. Followed by two years for the IB. Then I stayed on, first a term at the Univer sity College in Sogn og Fjordane, before getting an engagement as an assistant teacher at RCN.

– Then you went to Nicaragua to teach English. Why?

– Life put me in this situation that made it possi ble to teach English to Nicaraguan children. So, I started collaborating with many organizations, but for various reasons this proved difficult. I worked among others with blind children. Like many others I depend on the help of others’, like for opening doors. And now I talk figuratively. I have no problem with actual door handles. I went straight to individual people.” I speak and write English. Do you want to learn?”, I’d enquire. For about two years I worked like that, for very little pay. It is tricky surviving in a country with so few possibilities. But if you tell your self that it is going to stay hard the rest of life, you will not get far. I still work to improve the structure of my lectures, so I can reach out to more.

–Life put me in this situation that made it possible to teach English to Nicaraguan children.

– You are in Norway to talk at a landmine conference hosted by the Foreign Ministry representing the Red Cross and the school. Is this a common job for you?

1. From the summer course in 2014. Peter Wilson has been key to building up this preparatory course for students with limited English proficiency.

2. IN 2008 student Carl Oscar Teien took the initiative for the Gulatinget Youth Parliament. Here he shows the letter addressed to prime minister Jens Stoltenberg with Kai Grieg from the UN Association.

3. Kayaking on a summer day.

– No, and it is my first time back in Norway since leaving in 2015. I am very happy to get the chance to be an ambassador right here.

Gonzales was the first participant in the Survivors of Conflict- program at RKN. Did he have to endure teething problems in the early stages of the program?

Was he able, as a pioneer, to mold it?

– I might be able to access my own resources more directly now, says Gonzales - four years after his RCN-experience:

– I learned how to influence and overcome physical challenges. And I now see how much my time at Haugland benefitted me. My message is: Open the doors! Let even more students from marginalized backgrounds in! But watch out- do not underestimate these students! Remember to expect just as much of them as of the others. Expectations are to be stated in concrete, shared exercises that the students can mas ter. Surely, we all enjoy mastering our task at hand.

will take them further in life, is one of the most re warding tasks we have as an educational institution.

Arne Osland is clearing glasses from a table in the lobby at the Hub Hotel. This unpretentious Director of Development at RKN finds his own way to fit in with the ornamented lounge. Osland is seemingly laid back, yet constantly on the alert. The formal pro gram of the global hub conference The Oslo Review

Tis unpretentious Director of Development at RKN fnds his own way to ft in with the ornamented lounge.

Giving Tanks

– Enabling survivors of war and conflict and at the same time providing them with an education that

Conference on a Mine -Free World is wrapped up for the day. But when the rows of chairs in the lecture room have been cleared out and the speakers have left the podium, Osland’s work begins. He repre sents the schools here. And he is also the one who organized Edwin Gonzales’ visit to Oslo, and later to RCN. Gonzales is mingling with the crowd of people. Osland says he just saw Gonzales talking to a new group of friends.

Osland and RCN, started working with landmine

Teachers and employees from all over the world come to work and live at the College. Here Gudmundur Hegner Jonsson has just arrived as new Rektor, together with his family in 2018.

victims in 2009. Børge Brende was the General Secre tary for the Norwegian Red Cross Norway and came to Haugland to visit both institutions there. Brende was shown the rehab center and the College, and their collaboration. Then the idea popped up to give scholarship places for victims of war to Haugland, to give them rehabilitation according to need and an international education.

– Supporting victims of landmines was a strategic priority for Norway as a nation and for the Norwe gian Red Cross. In that sense, we went in for a pro gram that the Red Cross was already heavily involved with, says Arne Osland. Together we made sure that the project was supported by the Foreign Ministry.

With the school’s ties to the Red Cross, the princi ple of equality is paramount. This is not only about

culture, religion, and nationality, but also physical ability. This might also be called a Nordic core value.

–When starting with Survivors of Conflicts, initially there was some resistance from nervous employees. This was partly expressed as a concern for people’s rights. They should be entitled to the right level of support. Did we manage to? The doctor at the Haug land Center Erik Fismen made an appeal to us in a staff meeting. The students were able to perform a lot of their daily routines without personal assistance. But at the same time, one must not underestimate the dynamic of living five persons together in a room. Therefore, it is necessary for those living there to control their urine. Over the years we have gathered knowledge about who will benefit from a place here and we inform the national committees that the candidates must be functionally independent to come to us.

– What hope do they leave RCN with?

– Firstly, we must consider how we do not give aid and assistance to our students where they cannot expect it later. In Norway we enjoy the support that the Assistance Central can give us and are excited when amputee students return with improved foot

–When starting with Survivors of Conficts, initially there was some resistance from nervous employees.

prostheses that give them a much-improved function. But still, we always have to ask what is the optimal use of aids in the long run.

Expanded Criteria

The program known today as Survivors of Conflict, started out as a project for landmine victims. Our focus on survivors of landmine accidents remains even if the criteria for inclusion have been expanded.

Today it applies to all students who in one way or other, have been seriously affected by war or con flict in their homeland. The first generation for the project came in 2011, and it was Edwin Gonzalez from Nicaragua and Tesfahunegn Hailu Sina (Tesfa) from Ethiopia. Both were recommended to us by the ICR Special Fund for Disabled headquarters in their respective regions of Latin America and Africa. Was it such that RCN had to trust the assessments made by those who identified these boys as candidates for the program?

– Yes, to some extent, ICRC Special Fund for the

Nothing wrong with the technique. On the way to Galdhøpiggen with the Norwegian Red Cross in 2018.

1. Cooperation is essential to avoid a mess.

2. Sara Al Hussainat, from Iraq, the first female participant in th eSoc Programme, in 2017.

3. Skiing - always a source for joy!

Disabled had through its network been able to single out these two as the best candidates, answers Osland:

– In Testa’s case, it was a lucky coincidence: I had traveled to UWC’s regional conference in Africa hosted in his hometown, Addis Ababa that year. I got to interview Testa there, together with representatives from UWC Ethiopia. In Gonzalez’ case his contacts emphasized the active voluntary work he’d done for the organization for the blind and partially sighted. The main goal with SOC is to make the young ones be active participants in their societies. Then Gon zales arrived at RKN with his many talents. When he got the task of joining the diving instructors for camp school, we saw that he had his own way with kids. Edwin could not swim when he joined us, and there he stood as a self-confident instructor with flippers and a snorkel. After the exams he got a place at the University College in Sogn & Fjordane where he studied to become an English teacher. But there were problems with his student loan, and he then came back to RKN as a volunteer for half a year.

– RCN gives a lot of support to the participants while they live in Norway. But what happens afterwards? Do

you have the means to follow up?

– We have regular contact with Edwin. He got his bachelor’s degree in English and is now following up with pedagogy and in his work life. Edwin’s is a suc cess story and a source of inspiration.

Pioneer

What did RKN learn about itself from the two first Survivors of Conflict students?

– It became even clearer to us that we had to create a better academic foundation those of our students who have gaps in their educational background, says Osland:

– We saw this need in other students as well, for example some of those who came from refugee backgrounds or those who grew up in SOS Children’s villages. With the foundation year, we transform the first year into a preparatory period for those who need it. This is essential in my opinion if we contin ue recruiting students from refugee backgrounds. Here we do what UWC does best, which is bringing together and developing young persons who togeth er constitute a deliberate diversity. This helps watch

and of us to grow. For the students themselves it is important to experience mastery in everyday life in the residences, in the extra academic program and in the classroom. And consider how it affects the other students who can share their experiences with the ones who have had such a tough start in life. This is ‘deliberate diversity’ at its best.

– Yes and no. In Magne Bjergene’s spirit, RCN

endeavors to be involved across all sectors. I often

take part in conferences that are far from my field of expertise. Most people here work full-time with damage limitation for war and conflict. RCN has always had the courage to get involved in work that is relevant for our humanitarian, Nordic and environ mental mandate.

As we continue talking, the hotel lobby is getting busy. There are lots of people walking by with the landmine conference tag on their lapel. Over nine hundred people have come from all over the world to represent different organizations. United World College has only two representatives: Osland and Gonzales. I ask him whether this kind of conference is typical for his life as the Director of Development at RCN.

– The conference endeavors to limit the destruction created by the garbage of war.

When the troops pull out of conflict zones, they leave landmines behind. Thousands of civilians are injured or die as a consequence. Edwin is one of those who got back on his feet again. Next week he will be back in Nicaragua at his demanding task of teaching and completing his master’s degree.

A view to Alden during Project Week in 2016.

When

SIMPLE IN MEANS, RICH IN ENDS

the Eco Philosophy

Not since Alistair Robertson ed dwelled near

a colony of vultures, has he felt so close to nature as he does at UWC RKN.

Alistair Robertson comes in from the rain. February 2020 has been unusually wet and dreary on the west coast. Robertson recounts how he took his students up to the Gaular Mountain yesterday to make a snow cave. There was little snow, a lot of wind and very wet. The cave was nearly collapsing. But the group spent a couple of hours supporting the construction. After the somewhat miserable start, we eventually sat around the warmth of the snow. Under a roof of ice, a boy from Western Sahara brewed a tea. Surrounded by snow, he holds a ceremony like the one he made many times in the desert.

–When one meets challenges like this as a team, there are no concerns about skin color, social or financial status or even gender. One relates to the other as a fellow human being, and what counts is being able to perform the tasks together.

– And working together was no problem for these students?

– Absolutely none. I was especially moved when we were struggling to make our way with the luggage through a vicious, raging, and torturous west-coast hail and wind. On her own initiative, a girl removed all the bindings off the skis and packed them togeth er in orderly fashion. This shows that the common spirit is internalized.

From Segregation to Togetherness

Alistair Robertson grew up in South Africa during the Apartheid years and has a strong dislike for this societal separation. But he completed his role as a seventeen-year-old before going to university. At nineteen he was called in for more obligatory service in the military. Robertson concluded that he did not want to go back and refused to fight for a regime that stood for racial segregation. Refusing was punisha ble by law. He had the choice of going to prison or leaving the country after his studies. He traveled to Canada for ten months and after a while, got wind of a vacancy at the United World College Waterford in Swaziland (now Eswatini).

Waterford was just what I had wished for. The school worked towards ending apartheid. It was sort of a new education for me, even as a teacher who taught all the time.

Robertson taught at Waterford for four years, before a decade alternating between teaching at University of British Columbia and working on a doctorate in ecology. He and his wife Lesley were hoping for an eventual return to the UWC-movement. Robertson applied to RKN in 1998.

– I was attracted to the UWC principles and their holistic education. In all honesty, it never crossed my mind to travel to Norway. It was a cold and dark faroff country where people spoke in a weird way. But Leslie and I enjoy wild places. Personally, I liked the idea of being outdoors with my students: climbing, canoeing, and doing other activities together. Rob ertson came to Haugland in 1998 and has been living here ever since. He was hired as a biology teacher and house mentor. In 2002 he became IB-Coordi nator and worked on the curriculum for 16 years.

When Anna Garner left the College, he took over as Assistant Rektor. Many students will still remember Robertson for his outdoor activities.

Deep Ecology and Socializing What you are fond of, you must care for. But feelings might not seem much help when faced with the prob lem of solving something as complicated as the hu man exploitation of nature. Sustainable development can only be the result of an embodied understanding and self-recognition. That is some of philosopher Arne Nass’s background theory on deep ecology: When we feel a fundamental contact with nature, we identify with it.

RCN motivates students to experience the outdoors. One can go skiing, hiking, paddling in a kayak or ca noe, dive and spend the night under the open sky, in a tent, lavvo or snow cave. The food can be prepared as a group, by the open fire or over a primus stove.

The location facilitates a rich outdoor life. Right next to the school there is a fjord, forests, and mountains. Within the radius of a few hours, one can reach the sea, glaciers, and high mountains. The activities hap pening in these environments are related to sports. They are contemplative activities that focus on being consciously present. “Simple in means and rich in ends” is an expression that is used about experiences such as sharing a cup of warm coffee under a tree af ter going for a hike through wet and cold conditions.

– Robertson has a great gift of climbing, which has been a lifelong interest of his. But he has also in structed in kayaking, skiing and more. And every year he brings the students up the mountain to build and spend the night in a snow cave. This year’s hike was particularly challenging - and therefore so espe cially rewarding:

«Perfectly bad»

The weather report on the 16th of February 2020 promised rain and wind. It was to be moderately cold. But up on the mountain, the rainfall and wind would make the temperature feel like way below minus. But unfortunately, the wind does not turn rain to snow. The conditions were, in other words, far from optimal for the construction of snow caves. Still, Alistair Robertson chose to take his students out on their annual snow cave hike, undertaken in memory of a former student who unfortunately died at a young age, Neil Davis. There were students from Sweden, Norway, West- Sahara and Eswatini.

– Despite the particularly bad conditions, we hiked up. We managed to construct a cave with the snow and ice available. But the night ended dramatically when the snow cave sank and began caving in. We chose to evacuate and found a new shelter just out side the cave. From there we saw it partially collapse. It happened at four in the morning. The rest of the Te location facilitates a rich outdoor life. Right next to the school there is a ford, forests, and mountains.

Part

There is more

night went well. Most of us were warm and dry.

– What was the general mood like?

– The mood was especially jolly that morning, when we each were laying in our sleeping bags, drinking tea and just talking. We came to appreciate things we had thought of as insignificant: the small, caring gestures for each other. We shared all our belongings, both food and equipment and just forgot about time. We followed thoughts I believe were especially free and wholesome because we were far from normal so cial and professional demands. We focused more on the collective rather than individual needs and could enjoy such things as listening to rain dripping on the tarpaulin.

But you choose to hike back a day early?

– Yes, because the weather report was ‘perfectly bad’. It is alright hiking in bad weather if it is cold enough. We never go to areas in danger of rock-fall. So, the worst-case scenario is not being able to sleep in the snow cave. One is guaranteed warmth when one can live in a snow cave. The science behind building snow caves is based on warm air rising. The entry

to the cave is therefore low. We sleep lower than the entrance where the heat gathers. One can stand outside in minus degrees and then experience the cozy sensation inside of the cave. It is especially good when there is a strong wind outside. The snow cave is always quiet and calm.

Diversity on many Levels

Robertson sees a clear correlation between meeting problems out in the field and learning something on a deep human level.

– Never before have I experienced such a degree of reflection as the one during this hike. We worked hard together and had important talks underway. The students experienced something authentic and essential together and mastered it as a team.

– Is it keeping in the spirit of Kurt Hahn’s ideas?

– Yes, Hahn did say something about how students grow by taking responsibility

–Do the teachers give the students more responsibility than they might be comfortable with?

– Yes, I remember reading that this responsibility

might involve a sinking boat. My first years, at Atlan tic College, the students performed their Coast Guard duties without direct adult supervision. When I pad dle or climb with students, we do it as a team. I am the teacher, the responsible grown-up; these experi ences become especially important when shared. The

sharing of common interests or joys creates strong bonds. When I give a student the responsibility to hold my body weight during climbing, in a way, my life is in his hands, and it is done without reservation.

I have already accepted this student as part of the climbing crew. That is when trust in the situation is total. I feel great pleasure doing these activities with students, helping them take responsibility in a caring and mature way. They need to know what they are doing and how to do it while keeping in mind the negative consequences that can result from unde sired behavior. When paddling out into the fjord, we become individuals who meet challenges as a team. Anything that might divide us is of little importance.

– You say that you have a debriefing afterwards. Do you contextualize these hikes for the students? Do you mention Hahn and his philosophy, to give them tools to reflect on their experiences?

– Yes, that is common practice at UWC. Reflecting on experiences made during the activities is also a part of the IB program. And I believe that students enjoy reflecting on the activities. It was not a contest, not a reality show. We wanted to experience a hike togeth er in winter and see how we tackled the conditions without the comfortable facilities one usually can access. There is certainly a fine line between safety and the feeling of being challenged.

– Do you, at times, feel too much responsibility?

– I have become a certified climbing instructor in the Norwegian system. I lived with a colony of vultures for two years as a part of my master studies in ecolo gy, and I have much experience as a rock climber and outdoors enthusiast. I feel quite self-confident with regards to surviving in trying conditions.

When I give a student the responsibility to hold my body weight during climbing, in a way, my life is in his hands, and it is done without reservation.

Vultures

Robertson’s experiences with vultures are in short, that he lived in a tent on a plateau far from the near est settlement, for a period of more than three years.

– In hindsight I am surprised that I lived like that for so long. But I am glad to have done it. I got to feel ecology as a more knowledge-based, deep and

embodied connection with nature. During these years I saw how closely tied animals and man are.

Ten years later I came across Arne Næss’ concept of cross-species identification. This clarified the core values: deeper care for man, expanded care for na ture, both the living and non-living part of it.

– You put Arne Næss’ theories into practice?

– You could say that. I got the chance to invite him to RCN for a conference we had on man in nature. Næss spoke, among other things, about the concept of” being rich”. When living out in nature, in a pact with it, when one is cold and has worked hard with a team and finally gets to sit down: What more does one need then? How much material goods are nec essary to have a good life? A warm cup of tea at that moment can be all one needs and can give a feeling of fulfillment.

Ecology and environment are important parts of the planning report that Jane and Ivar Lund-Mathiesen together with Edvard Befring set up in 1987-88. One might call them far-sighted seeing how ecology would become such an important theme in the fu ture. But maybe it was not so obvious that somebody would come and take such great responsibility for this side of the school’s program?

– I believe we can do it even better by integrating

clarifed the

more of the outdoors into the subjects and everyday life at school. We can o er even more possibilities for outdoor re ection and discussion! What does nature mean to me?’ How do I experience myself when I meet other lifeforms and systems? We arranged boat trips as a part of eory of knowledge16 for many years. All students were given the chance to spend a night in a tent on a little island. We shed and ate a simple meal. Slept under the stars and spoke about being part of something more than human. Næss among others, has written beautifully based on re ections of this sort. It is more meaningful to have discussions like that out in nature rather than in a classroom. In the future we can look at ways of formalizing such outdoor activities and creating structure around it.

A Less Materialistic Life

Was it primarily the beautiful environment and the abundance of outdoor activities that made Robertson choose RCN?

values: deeper care for man,

nature, both the living and non-living part of it.

care

16 eory of knowledge is a mandatory subject for all B- exam takers. e subject is a philosophy subject that teaches everything from history, via analytic tools and rhetoric, to source criticism.

– That was a part of it. Neither I nor Lesley wanted to live in a city. We had a four-year- old son. When I was young, I had many ‘non-white’ climbing mates.

As long as I was with them, we could not be seen to gether. It was against the law to be with ‘non-whites! I could no longer actively support a law that split humans.

– Now Apartheid is gone. You are still here.

– Even if Apartheid was abolished, there is still a divided society in South Africa with huge social differences. Unfortunately, there are still great dif ferences in the treatment of races in many societies in the world, especially in parts of Europe and North America.

– Are you saying that you experience Norway and RCN as a place with less materialistic focus?

– RCN became the most diverse UWC-College in terms of socioeconomic backgrounds. There are so many students on stipends here that they do not stand out. As the Vice Rektor I helped develop the financial student support system aimed at those who came from less affluent backgrounds. This felt

especially meaningful. Another aspect that I am proud of, is our work against unnecessary waste ful consumption. This combined with the school’s remote location makes RCN a unique setting for ecological, social and political education. Is there any other educational institution at a high-school level that uses so much of its operating budget to support students who come from poor backgrounds?

– You experienced Waterford. What was that like?

– When I first arrived there during the eighties, our attitude was to demand no more than sufficient facil ities. If there were any surplus funds, they were used to strengthen the support program that would enable students from all backgrounds to come to our school. We had, quite simply, a form of social democracy. RCN is situated in social democratic Norway. This combined with the engagement and support from the Red Cross, in turn, enables RKC to cultivate and maintain its socio-economic diversity.

– The College makes great efforts to directly sup port individual students. Does that mean others get deprioritized?

– It means that we are unable to sponsor exciting trips around the world. But this prioritizing contrib utes in a way to a materialistic minimalism at RKN. I really hope this tradition continues.

– And what of the deep involvement with nature?

– We are right in the middle of nature, totally undis turbed with the fjord, coast, forest, and high moun tains within walking distance. We try to sensitize the students’ feelings of being directly connected to this wonderful, more-than-human environment.

Before Robertson takes leave of me, he opens a little photo collage on his mobile. It is a picture of Arne Næss in a canoe wearing a white anorak and a lifejacket. He might be paddling in this fjord here.

Over the picture, a quote from Næss: There is nothing in Eco philosophy or in any other work that I would regard as established. On the contrary, I feel that all I have published has been ‘on the way’. With greater talent, the works should have been better rounded off, but more basically. I think humans are something essentially ‘on the way’; destination unknown, and that they are justified in expressing themselves, talented or not, when moving along.

but basically. I think humans are something essentially «on the way», destination unknown

Asort of random conversation at Atlantic Col lege resulted in UWC RCN acquiring a College nurse from the opening in 1995.

– Are you the school nurse? What to do as a school nurse with a hundred healthy, beaming teenagers?

Hilary Hamper had just been hired as a College nurse at RCN when she was asked that question. The inquiring local woman might have meant it as a compliment to the RCN students, who had to get through a tough competition before getting in. And the comment did not pass by Hamper unnoticed. For a little while, she had doubts about her importance: Was it important to have a nurse for such a small school? Even if it was only a half-time job? It was shortly after starting work, that Hamper knew that a

United World College needed at least one nurse. And 25 years on, she believes that it sums up why some here work that much harder:

– In many ways the students at UWC are resource ful, strong, and healthy. But leaving their homeland to come to UWC implies quite a bit of adjustment and stress. One is at a vulnerable age. Some students come from conflict zones bringing trauma from either family or war. Many have experienced violent acts or actual violence. Some are orphans. Many need to adapt to the new climate. It can be a culture shock, and many of those coming to Norway find it hard liv ing in such a small place when they were used to the big city. So there are many good reasons for having a College nurse at RKN.

HILARY HAMPER about Self-Care and the feeling of Mastery before and now

Sarah Nsamba getting ready for the fjord in 2018.

Part 3 There is more in you than you think ■ 134

years of UWC Red Cross Nordic

In her job for promotion of health, Hilary Hamper knows how to make the knowledge come alive. Here from a biology class about giving birth.

One thing in Common

My own time at RCN from late summer 1995 to pre summer 1997 was rich, challenging, busy, warm, sleepless, social, and unpredictable every day. It was exciting and to a certain degree, up to each individual to create their personal framework. Because overall, Haugland is a safe environment. There are no locked doors after ten, no in-or outside time. I could always improve on something. There was always a task or a report waiting to be done or improved upon. That is what it was always like, regardless of if I was complet ing a task or improving the former.

– There is one thing most students at UWC have in common: they are used to performing well- social ly, academically or with sports y. That is why I take some time to gather myself and talk about being generous with myself and accepting my mistakes. I also work on that particular theme sometimes with my students.’ Do not take on more than you need.’, I say. But no matter how much we might talk about it, the competitive instinct remains. It is not just the

students’ own ambitions. Their parents might have ambitions on their behalf, and they get transferred, Hamper says and retells an episode from last night:

A group had arranged a combined movie and shar ing-circle evening. The leader of the group asked Hamper for a selection of healthy snacks for the movie. She prepared the food and went down to the room. What she saw there was a group in full swing, practicing first aid.

They had a course the next day and felt they needed to prepare. It is a typical situation. The Rektor had announced the day off several times. The day-off was to give the students a break to take a rest. It is usual for the notice board to then get littered with papers calling in to group meetings and activities.

– During the nineties there were constantly things going on. Even without social media, we always knew about what went on where and who was there. The notice board was a living organism with notices, posters, lists to sign up to. I felt I had to be in the place where things were happening.

– FOMO (fear of missing out) is a phenomenon that is very much alive here. That is why we regularly

But no matter how much we might talk about it, the competitive instinct remains. It is not just the students’ own ambitions.

make a theme of it. But from my experience, it hardly matters what we adults say.

Ski Week Accident and Fear of HIV

Hamper had a decade-long pause from her work as a college nurse. For a decade she worked with health care in the neighboring municipality. Now, she has come back to a college that has changed a lot. Before taking a break from work, she cared for three chil dren and at the same time, went door to door, every day, to register for sick list and to take care of those not feeling well. The sick list is now kept digitally. Hilary had a little office in one of the student houses. But back then, the school nurse was still mobile.

From the very beginning, RCN focused on outdoor activities like snow cave hikes, free diving, climbing and ski tours for people who had never worn skis in their life. I ask if Hamper has been busy repairing injuries.

– Ski week is a period with some small injuries. But

it has rarely been anything serious. But this job has always been busy. Later, I asked my kids if it made them sad when I had to leave home to help students, if they felt left behind. But all my children said they were very fond of growing up here and not least of all their exotic babysitters.

– What about simple things like common colds result ing from the climate change in our environment?

– The school has done well to equip people from warmer countries with proper clothing and the right equipment. But there is always something interest ing happening when five people from very different backgrounds share a dorm. This, for example, stim ulates ongoing discussions around the question of sleeping with a closed or open window.

– What about infectious diseases and the challenges inherent in living closely to one another in a residen tial setting?

– When the College was being planned, there was a lot of focus on HIV, also in Norway. There was a lot of fear of HIV, and some locals were afraid RCN would bring the disease to Fjaler. That is of course, not how things went.

In November 1994, when construction of the college had just started, the local paper Firda published an article headlined,’ we want a youth awareness cam paign about sex and abuse of substances”. There, the communication leader at the Fjaler health associa tion, Gerd Vårdal, gets on the microphone. As the only voice in this case, she expresses her uneasiness concerning the new and unknown arrivals in Fjal er: “the youth organizations need to prepare for the UWC-arrivals. We have less than a year and we need to speed up the spreading of information, especially on drugs and sex,” she says to Firda and makes no effort to conceal her concerns about the teenager’s’ ability to meet the challenges. Many are uneasy and fear that alcohol and other drugs, sex and more can result in real shock.” The article ends with: “one of the goals at Haugland is to fight racism and promote peace and acceptance across the borders. If we do not brace ourselves well enough, the opposite might happen, says Vårdal.”

– Were they prepared?

– We have students with entirely different vaccine programs than Norway. It is important to have clear routines for that. We do pique-tests, MMR’s and

Mean Pring at Ridderdagene, a recent summer equivalent of Ridderrennet.

monitor tetanus. Every student from a high-risk country is given a voluntary HIV-test. Most students gratefully accept that.

Coincidental?

RCN’s very first Rektor, Tony Macoun came with his wife and then Assistant Rektor Ann Macoun to

Atlantic College to meet Hilary’s husband Chris. This was after Chris had been offered the job as physics

teacher. The Macoun’s lived at Hilary and Chris’ home at AC, while the Hampers were’ house parents’ there. Macoun also met Hilary and found out she was a midwife. To hire Hilary as a College nurse on the spot was Tony Macoun’s idea. “Could you take responsibility for that part of the school?”, asked Ma coun. The job was not even included in the budget yet. But a far-sighted Macoun created a part-time job for Hilary.

When they came to the College during the summer of 1995, Hilary noticed the college did not have a room for the health personnel. It had gone unnoticed to the planning group, architects, everyone. The first years Hamper worked from a sleeping quarters in Sweden House.

– The school has always had ties to external psy chologists who came on a visit once or twice, weekly.

We have also sent students to local experts in Førde for examinations. In those cases, we use ordinary healthcare support from the public system. Once a psychologist tested the mental health of students at RCN. She found that health was no worse than aver age. I believe that the conclusion made its mark and contributed to there never having been any perma nent psychologists on campus. Hamper’s job title is now Head of Well-being. She is assisted by a nurse. Hamper got the job in 2019, after a decade working in the local community. How did she like working with healthcare locally?

– Yes, after fourteen years working as a nurse here, I applied for a job in the Gaular municipality. I was the nurse in charge and had to quickly improve my Norwegian. This was a nice way to integrate with

the local community. But it was challenging too. I would be writing reports for Childcare that might be read out in court. Had I written in my own language, English, it would have been a cake walk. But I had to clamp down and spend hours on a report like that, looking up words in the dictionary and so on.

– Is it good being back at RCN?

– Yes, it feels like a homecoming. And the new job is rewarding and exciting. I have among other responsi bilities, the task of moderating a ‘peer listener group’, a conversation group, and ‘safeguarding’ which essen tially means building a safety net. Both initiatives are meant to create safety and pro mote health and wellbeing.

Making an Efort

When the Hamper couple found out that UWC was opening a College in Norway, they traveled to Haug land to make up their minds.

Once a psychologist tested the mental health of students at RCN. She found that health was no worse than average.

Rescue fight?

– Back then there were no buildings here. Tony had his office in Dale, but otherwise it did not look like a school would open here in a year. We spoke to locals, asking if the school would in fact open here soon. People would say: “Well, we’ve heard talks about it. But we’ll see!”

When the Hamper’s returned to AC until RCNl opened, the buildings were constructed at re cord-breaking speed. They have not considered moving back to AC or Great Britain since.

– We had three children going to school here, and we have friends here. Chris loves climbing and outdoor life.

Nowadays it is the Hampers together with Jelena Be lamaric and Barbara and Daniel Toa- Kwa pong who are the only original employees left who were hired by Tony Macoun in 1995, as well as Heidi Myklebust in the kitchen. Hilary appreciates some of her col leagues still being around.

– There is something very special about the early days, she says:

We had three children going to school here, and we have friends here. Chris loves climbing and outdoor life.

– Tony was motivated to make the school a good establishment for both employees and students. We, the workers, were given clear instructions to make ourselves available in all kinds of ways. Tony was a fantastic motivator. We were always ready to go the extra mile. He gave the College a good start.

I meet Hamper at home, a house that the family had designed and built just north of the Bekker house. The most noticeable thing about the home is how the light gets in. Where we sit in the living room, it comes in from three angles and three floors. Hamper always knew of the importance of access to light. Its increased importance when living in a valley tucked in between high mountains. Few students are pre pared for the winter darkness of Haugland. Neverthe less, their mental health scores are relatively good.

– Is there less unrest and depression among the body of students now that the School is more established?

the

– No, if I were to point out a change, it would be the students’ increased unrest. And I feel this applies to adolescents in general, not just at RCN.

– Why do you think that it is so?

– The demands have stayed the same. But in the last 20 years, adolescents have fortunately been better at opening about their mental health. I believe the Col lege community was more united in the early years. Because of Tony’s insistence on us adults being visible and available, the students might have experienced a greater degree of safety and inclusion. It is important to take note of the new rules and routines that have been put in place to create safety-nets for students. Early on, this kind of support was less formal, in as far as us being visible and responsible. Or- what was your experience?

From my experience it was just like Hamper described it: I remember the feeling of having ‘bonus parents’. The doors were open. I felt the effect of what Hamper describes, but what I was then unaware of was that the teachers were going the extra mile

and making a conscious effort to be visible and to stay connected with us. It was as though we had our personally tagged ‘mentors’. Although maybe we just felt the caring attitude. Not only among students and adults, but also among fellow students: in 1995 we didn’t use the internet, and social media didn’t exist. We were 100 % present on campus as a unit.

– What consequences for the campus have the massive increase of internet usage and social media had?

– I believe social media has become an extra burden on our students. Not only do they feel FOMO (fear of missing out) related to things happening on campus, but often even things happening in the places they left behind.

– What does the adolescent aged from fifteen to eight een need from a place like this to thrive?

– When Chris and I were house parents at Atlan tic College, the whole campus had to be inside by quarter past ten at night. The doors were locked, and one had to be at home in the student residence. There we had meetings in the living room as house

parents. It seemed like a framework that the students appreciated.

– Was it safe?

– It was safe enough. It also set a limit for how long activities would go on for after school. In recent years we have arranged role calls in the evening. The teachers divide their students into groups and make sure that each and one is seen. During our first years, there was no such safety net for the late hours. In theory the students might have wandered off into the forest and disappeared.

– Did it happen?

– No, luckily it never happened.

–What is otherwise in your opinion, the difference between AC and RKN?

– There is a purity and authenticity about the stu dents here. They trigger my need to protect. At AC, there were students walking about in expensive leath er shoes, or dressed dapper like ‘city students. Here it is more rain jackets and hiking boots. But at times I miss the things I had taken for granted in the UK.

When the AC-choir held a visiting concert in Dale, the director came up towards the end, with a gift for the hosts. It was a bottle of fine whiskey. People in Dale still talk about it, since it was not wrapped in.

– Apropos wrapping: do you believe mental health is a result of being open and not repressing difficulties?

– Yes, that’s part of it.

In theory the students might have wandered of into the forest and disappeared.

Chess under the open sky.

4

SKAPANDE

– om nokre av menneska som har forma RKN, og dei som går ut frå RKN og bidreg til å endre verda.

Te madness, the magic and the machinery: In the wake of Christmas, during the winter of 2020, two legendary RKN-members Rectors met up and remem bered their respective periods as heads of college at Haugland.

A year prior to RKN opening, Tony Macoun phoned Tom Gresvig. This somewhat random phone call might well have played a crucial part in shaping RKN during its early, formative years.

– Initially my wife Ann and I had been offered a position in Hong Kong. Ann asked me what hap pened to the UWC-plans in Norway? So that’s when I gave Tom a tinkle, says RKN´s first Rector, Tony

Macoun. He’s on screen laughing in his unmistak able, gentle manner. It’s been almost 25 years since I last saw him yet he still looks like himself, only slightly more spruced up than my memory’s version.

On this occasion Macoun is seated beside yet another former Rector. Richard (Larry) Lamont is the Rector at Shawnigan Lake School, Canada’s largest boarding school.

– And then you came to Flekke?

– Then we had an interview in Oslo with the founda tion’s committee before coming to Fjaler. That’s when we were convinced. We loved Fjaler, Dale, Haugland and the people there, says Macoun.

The picture Jelena found in the Lufthansa Magazine.

THE SCHOOL IS STILL TAKING SHAPE, two Rectors look back

Two chairs and a typewriter

– My involvement with RKN started thanks to Tom Gresvig, who was an unusually active and strong alumnus. He would travel around UWCs as a mem ber of the Council, paying for his trips, doing re search for the Nordic college. The first time I heard him mention it was in 1987. But then in 1994, I called Tom and found out that the government in Norway had promised to fund the project. I un derstood that this was becoming a reality. I knew that RKN had powerful leadership and that the strong Norwegian alumni community had done solid groundwork. Soon enough we became close to

Bjergene who was a uniquely engaging person with a lot of good contacts at the Red Cross. We love adven tures, and so we gratefully accepted the offer to start the Nordic College.

– Because this was an adventure?

– This was going to take a great deal of work. I would be juggling responsibilities and freedom.

Tere were voices claiming that we were not fnished by summer 1995 and that we should therefore postpone the opening.

Tom and his wife, Ingrid. We stayed at their house when we came to Oslo for our interview. Ann and I had never before been to Scandinavia and we were delighted to find such commitment. We met Magne

– We understood early on that the school would not be fully completed in time for the opening. The school’s construction would carry on for many, possibly all of its years. There were voices claiming that we were not finished by summer 1995 and that we should therefore postpone the opening. But those involved prided themselves in keeping the promise they would make to the students. One can easily run a school without having all the houses as long as there is money to run it. Unfortunately our prime minister, Mrs Brundtland had stepped down and this made us dependent on funding from other Nordic countries. So we traveled around to the different capitals seeking Government support. Luckily we had ties to the Red Cross who offered help.

– Thank goodness I was able to hire Ann as an ad ministrator during that period. She kept things work ing in Fjaler while I made my way around the north.

– Only weeks before, there was gravel on the drive way. But by the opening there was asphalt. When Ann and I first arrived one year earlier it was mostly all meadows.

New structures, global and local The periode Gresvig and the others began planning for RCN and Macoun appointed as Rector, coin cided with major change globally. The wall dividing east and west had fallen and so had the Soviet Union.

A war had broken out in Yugoslavia. Gresvig´s and Lund-Mathiesen´s vision of recruiting students en masse from the Balkans had to be revised.

– When Ann and I arrived we were naturally drawn to the English-speakers in Fjaler. At the municipal ity we found especially engaging people like Magne Bjergene, Mayor Rasmus Felde and chief of office and head of staff Cecilie Wilhelmsen. They were - by and large - also working as our advisors. This was neither our home nor our country. And yes, it was exciting to see if we would be able to get ready before the students arrived.

– How quickly were the houses, walls and infrastruc tures actually erected, toward the end?

– Yes - as pioneers it felt like we played an active part in creating the school.

– During my very first meeting with students I asked them to help me – “to show me the way”. This is the preferred approach at UWCs, since we have all these young people from widely different backgrounds. It works as a collective project where we find solutions together, says Tony.

A match

RRichard Lamont came to RKN together with his spouse Kathini in 2012 and they stayed until 2018.

– I was right in the middle of my Master’s degree course at the University of Oxford, as well as work ing a full-time job at Marlborough College when the phone rang. I was asked if I’d be interested in working at RKN. Neither Kathini´s pregnancy nor my unfinished Master’s degree would deter me from accepting the offer.

– What were their reasons for wanting precisely you in your opinion?

– I worked at UWC in Swaziland. My mother is South African. To top it off I am well acquainted with boarding schools; this typically British, American and Australian phenomenon with all its magic and madness.

– Did you have any idea what you’d signed up for when you took the job?

– RKN is by all means, unique. And for me personal ly, Fjaler just ticked all the boxes. I love the outdoors, especially fly-fishing and skiing. I was passionately engaged with the Red Cross and cultivated all possi ble collaborations with them. I loved learning about the nuances in politics and culture that are tied to the Nordic region and found the work terribly stimulat ing. My predecessor John Lawrenson was generous and supportive in the transition.

From the early days on Lamont saw it as his task to further develop the Survivors of Conflict and Foun dation Year programs. What else had he intended to leave as his legacy?

– I hope to have breathed a little imagination into the school. My relationship to the Red Cross began while working at the school. Here we began using a respected, 150 year old brand name that had up to that point only been implemented a fraction. Sven Mollekleiv at the Red Cross became a good and supportive ally. And not least, I loved every oppor tunity I got to be on a team with the students. Add to that the fact that UWC´s humanitarian ideologies are truly practiced to such a great degree at RKN.

The contact with the Rehabilitation Centre, Survivors of Conflict and SOS-barnebyer… No other UWCschool can boast that kind of hands-on, solid practice of these humanitarian ideals. No other UWC-school has RKN´s diversity, either.

–What makes the kind of multiculturalism at RKN so special?

–We have the same kind of multicultural environ ment that all UWC-schools have. But on top of that there is that special group of students whom RKN goes extra lengths to offer a place at school: those with injuries from conflict and post-conflict zones or

No other UWC-school can boast that kind of hands-on, solid practice of these humanitarian ideals. No other UWC-school has RKN´s diversity, either.

students from places that other UWCs do not admit, like Western Sahara.

It all began with Pearson Rector Macoun traveled more or less straight from Pearson College to Fjaler in 1994. Yet his plan was to let the school find its own shape, reluctant as he was, to turn it into “a Pearson”.

Each and every rektor was involved in the molding of RKN. Piece by piece, things kept falling into place for 25 years. But the contact to Haugland Center has been there throughout. And Haugland’s geography and landscape remains unchanged, an aspect that Macoun too expresses his fondness for. Both he and Ann expe rienced RKN as being similar to Pearson, in as far as both RKN and PC have campuses relatively isolated in nature, as well as offering the luxury of moving from the classroom straight to the ocean or fjord.

Diving in the fjord, in 1998.

Many of his students were part of an artistic trauma treatment that took place the following year.

Architect Olav Hovland had visited Pearson on a field trip despite the fact that Macoun did not want to recreate another Pearson in Flekke. However, for the early years teachers from Pearson were appointed to help: Sylla Cousinaeu, as well as Eileen and Theo Dombrowsky. Based on the founding principles to have diverse faculties at RKN 17 Macoun formulated a job description that he advertised in English and Norwegian newspapers. For the first time around he published fourteen job advertisements. What surprised Macoun more than the huge amount of applications received was the lack of Norwegian applicants.

– I hired Brita Eide 18, Sunniva af Geijerstam and Odd Standal all from Norway. Other than that, each and every one of our fourteen teachers in the very begin ning were from just as many different countries. But this too changed eventually.

Living up to Macoun Macoun stepped down from his job as rektor after the new millennium and was replaced by the Finnish Erkki Letho, who held the fort for a year. After him Anna Garner stepped up as an interim Rector until John Lawrenson filled the position in 2002. Lawren son held the post for a decade, until Lamont took over in 2012.

So it was Lawrenson who was the incumbent princi pal in 2011, the year when terror was wreaked upon the government buildings and the Utøya island sum mer camps. The principal tells of how he got stuck in a traffic jam near the island Utøya, due to his having been visiting the east that day 22 July 2011. He’d been close to where the actual events occurred. Luckily none of the students from his school had been per sonally hit. Many of his students were part of an artistic trauma treatment that took place the follow ing year. This was a collaboration between UWC and

17 Jane Lund-Mathiesen and others: A Nordic United World College / e school’s content and its program/ a report from the foundation’s professional council (s.11).

18 Pearson alumni who is now an educated social anthropologist.

1. Arne Ophaug has provided food at the table and made sure everything is in order for several years. Here with Gaute Strokkenes in 1999.

2. Prime Minister Erna Solberg is convinced by Chris Hamper.

3. Chris shares his recent knowledge that this is called “svele”.

the Jakob Sande-company, in the summer of 2012. One of the first things Lamont undertook as a princi pal was to join the RKN students in Oslo where they were shown a dramatization at Elvebakken School of the Utøya tragedy.

Collaborating with other institutions was always a priority for Lamont especially concerning the work at and together with the Rehab Center in Haugland.

One time the General Secretary at Red Cross Børg Brende visited and wondered: “How can they com bine the core activities of the Rehab Center with those of the school?”. Director of Development, Arne Osland was able to connect with the right people at the Department of Foreign Affairs who would fi nance a project that started out by involving children who’d survived a landmine explosion. Lamont imme diately eyed potential for further development.

– When we spoke to people at other UWC schools we realized they too were yearning for a kind of authen tic, humanitarian work practice. The Landmine Pro ject which later on became Survivors of Conflict, was the topic of many discussions at school, he recalls:The students who were recruited through the pro gram brought something special to the rooms they

lived in. Had these boys lived normal lives in Norwe gian society, they’d have access to personal assistants. We had to consider this and important discussions with Doctor Eirik Fismen ensued. He was in charge of the rehabilitation program. We accessed resourc es that could help in everyday life and followed the principle that students were to be as functionally independent from assistive technology as possible.

When we spoke to people at other UWC schools we realized they too were yearning for a kind of authentic, humanitarian work practice.

To give access to an electric wheelchair could end up being a disservice. One might become dependent on the help and this can cause problems when that person needs to return to a country that does not of fer such welfare. We eventually asked these students what it was they wished for or needed. They told us that they wanted the descent towards the Science Department building to be secured so that in winter when it got slippery and dangerous, nobody would end up falling into the fjord. The participants mainly just wanted to be independent. So our instincts to

give motherly help and care notwithstanding, we had to bear in mind what these students might be return ing to, says Lamont and adds that injured survivors of conflict often seem especially resourceful.

– They were able to complete the Ridderrennet race, many were good swimmers and some were among the best artists at the school and I often got the

impression that they had a more open mind. The main goal for their years spent here and around us was to participate in every facet of society.

As far from an elite school for the rich as one can be Lamont was himself a visible participant of everyday life at Fjaler. His awareness of living in a municipality with strong ties is apparent in a portrait interview

The Rektors Tony and Larry first met at Pearson College in 2014. Here with Pär Stenbäck.

done with the Financial Times. The interview, recorded in 2016, was a result of Lamont’s earlier en gagement as a head of upper school at the prestigious Marlborough College. Here we see Lamont living life in Fjaler to the max. He describes “koselig” as being a typical Norwegian and yet exotic phenomenon: tallow candles burning during the dark days! Even during office meetings or breakfast gatherings! Par ents of babies pushing their prams outside in minus ten centigrade! Infants wrapped in wool blankets and sheepskin! And one should, by all means, go for a walk even during a downpour that to Lamont seems of “biblical proportions’ ‘. But that this country’s west should be so much darker than Britain, strikes Lamont as a fallacy. Here, the same as there “one goes to work when it is dark and returns home when it is dark again.”

Both Rectors remember their time spent at RKN as particularly good and they agree that the school was a success.

–Queen Sonja was always a real, not just symbolic protector, adds Lamont.

Arne Ness - during a visit.

– Many were anxious when we started the school because of its isolated location, says Tony and adds:

– But as soon as the school got going, the anxiety vanished. In more ways than one RKN is a success story in the context of UWC. This can be attributed to the Norwegian egalitarian leadership and politics. At RKN they will not let you in through the backdoor with bribes or because you’re somebody’s friend. The admission is based 100% on skill and talent, meas ured by a wide range of criteria. It is as far from an elite school for the rich as one can go. The scholar ship situation for those lacking funds is good. That too is why RKN boasts such diversity in terms of socio-economic backgrounds.

–The fact that 30% of students come from the Nordic region and is based on Nordic collaboration, defines the school. One demonstrates what democracy and egalitarianism in practice is. And for our Nordic stu dents at UWC, this precious education can help put their own privileged positions in perspective.

While on the topic of the Norwegian leadership it is natural to talk about the heads of state: the King

and Queen. Her Majesty the Queen has influenced both Lamont and Macoun. They’ve had strong per sonal experiences with Queen Sonja and both men have seen her go over her mandate to protect RKN.

Examples are when the Danish leaders hesitated over financing the Nordic school at its inception; the other is when the Bondevik government -mostly due to sloppiness- almost deleted the school’s financ ing from the state budget. Macoun remembers how Queen Sonja intervened and quite literally, sin gle-handedly secured the support. 19

–Queen Sonja was always a real, not just symbolic protector, adds Lamont.

Queen Sonja has visited the school every other year since the opening. Lamont has observed her sitting with hundreds of papers traveling to the school. She read herself up on the members of council and ad ministration and about every student she was going to meet.

–The queen insisted that she eats her meals in the canteen side by side with the students. She wanted to meet the boarding school students and looked

genuinely interested in hearing their stories and en gaging with them authentically, says Lamont.

– She came to the school to make a difference. Only once has she been unable to come. That was when the ash clouds from Iceland shut down all air-traffic.

Lamont believes that the Queen has had a compel ling influence on the school. He brings up another example which was when she gave Mark Wang a scholarship for RKN. That was after her visit to the state rehab center in Beijing. Wang has since been of enormous importance for the development of UWC in China.

Will the old and new RKN students see the two for mer Rectors at the jubilee celebration that is planned for the fall of 2020? No - they have worked for many years as Rectors at different schools and they return only rarely. They want the new Rectors to do their job without reminders from the past.

Queen Sonja was going to give a Chinese teen ager the chance to study at RCN. Te lucky

one was so fond of the College that he ended up building his own UWC in China. ‘Now I shall never again have to be a graduating student at UWC’, the founder Mark Jiapeng Wang jokingly remarks.

I have always believed that UWC changed my lifetotally.

Mark Wang sits in a Conference room in The House of the Conservative party in Oslo and is telling about what it was like for a twelve-year-old to be in a plane crash. He was one of the lucky survivors. Later, he got special treatment at the China Rehabilitation and Research Center (CRRC).

Dei utfordra meg på snøen i Noreg om vinteren. Korleis skulle eg klare meg med det, med krykker?

– The road to rehabilitation was a long journey. And the only education I got was specialized tutoring. I did not want that. So, I did not go to school for all those years. Still, I had a dream about coming back,

and I gave myself a set of challenges.

In the summer of 96 Wang was sixteen years old and in his fourth year of treatment in Beijing. RCN was preparing for its second year. At the same time a collaboration had been started up with recruitment from physically challenged youth in China. It was in itiated by the combined network of Haugland Center and the Sunnås Hospital. Wang was one of those

interviewed for a scholarship. The interviewers were experienced UWC- people.

– I was asked a lot of personal questions about how flexible I was and if I were willing to adapt. They challenged me about the snow in Norway during winter. How would I manage on crutches? “I have four contact points with the ground,” I said. I meant to say that I would do just fine.

Ideen er at det er mogleg å auke forståing og toleranse på tvers av religionar, kulturar og statar.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO RUN A PEACE COLLEGE IN CHINA?

Saluting Queen Sonja.

Physics class in 2017.

Te Film Crew that Never Lets go

The conference room at the Parliament is getting crowded. Wang’s film crew has arrived. Now there is a man hovering around our table. He films over my shoulder while I write, filming our faces. At the same time Wang is having a conversation. His answers are quick, sharp, clear, and correct, and he is obviously resourceful. He was, after all, chosen from tough competition to come to RCN in Fjaler. He predicted it would change his life. What was it about RCN that made such an impression on him?

– It felt like my life went from black and white to technicolor. The first impression was the nature, coming here and discovering this ravishing fjord that I would be living beside. I had some extra time because I had come early. My English was poor, so I was given an extra opportunity to study English in advance.

Now Wang has mastered the language. His autobiog raphy was published in China when he was twenty and became a bestseller on the world’s largest book market. CCTV made an 18-episode long series based

on the book. And the TV-series went on to be used for a Norwegian-produced musical with Alexander Rybak in one of the main roles. They toured together. Wang is of course on stage too, playing himself in the opera about his life. They have played abroad and at home, among other places in the Concert Hall and Central Park in New York.

1998 Young Mark or Jiapeng, as he calls himself in his own language, flies from China to Oslo to Bringeland and ends up on the first floor in Denmark House. He ar rives late, so he is given a desk without a window. But the campus is big, so there are plenty of rooms for him to do his homework. Wang studies Chinese Self Study, English, Mathematics, Physics, Developmental Studies and Economics.

– Most Chinese students take higher level math. I would have liked to have done that, says Mark, who is otherwise pretty satisfied with his choice. One of the activities he has fond memories of and still appreciates is kayaking. And all this dream space that Flekke offers. Wang does not miss city life with cafes

Gautham, Thea and Hermione in the Bio lab in 2015. Journalist Lizzie Daly is one of many who has provided us with first class insights from her work with the environment.

and pubs. He enjoyed his everyday activities, and so in his spare time he wrote a book. And he did other ‘small things’ like making friends with Ketil Moe and the speed skater Johan Olav Koss. Ketil had the rare disease, cystic fibrosis, and broke all the molds for what was achievable with such a condition. All three of them started the Beijing marathon, two of them as the first disabled participants ever.

– The years at UWC RKN were the best in my life.

– I love this country. I should be here forever!

– What was it like going to a Christian school?

– I sang a lot of psalms. It’s a good way to learn Nor wegian. You might say that the year at the folk high school further opened me up to religion.

Learning Norwegian by Singing Psalms

So, what did Wang do in 1999, after completing his IB-exams, when the usual thing to do is to travel the world? With some help from a long standing friend, Doctor Johan Stanghelle, from Sunnås Hospital,, Wang found his own personal path. He moved to the south coast of Norway to study at a Christian folk high school and continued living in his second ‘homeland’. He wants to learn Norwegian.

Wang went on from the folk high school to study economics at the University in Oslo, before returning to China. That is when he became the role model and spokesperson for 80 million disabled people. He traveled the world while keeping an eye on his investments at home in China. After all, he was a businessman and an entrepreneur. He invested his money in a technology project and was the daily leader for six different companies and watched his riches accumulate.

Tat is when he became the role model and spokesperson for 80 million disabled people.

Mark remembers his old dream about building his own UWC. He mentions Magne Bjergene and Tom Gresvig as the main helpers for the realization of that dream. They worked together for a diverse exchange program between the Fjaler College and the Ningx ia-region in 2001. These two were able to get funding for a feasibility study from the Norwegian Foreign

It will not take long before the fjord has reached the floor level by the academic buildings.

Ministry’s for a UWC in Wang’s home province Ningxia. The planning work was well under way but ended up falling short of its realization. But Wang has built a strong team in China and made contacts in the city of Changshu that will allow a UWC pro ject to go ahead on an inland island. That is when the work of forming a campus begins. He hires archi tects and builders. The team of architects interview Wang on his dreams and visions about how the school should be. Like the buildings at RCN that he remembers so fondly, he wants this school’s building materials to be made of wood. He adds to that a phi losophy that demands a high degree of functionality. But obviously Wang is aware of the importance of his own heritage. The main lines in the building area draw from the traditional Chinese coastal villages. The villages there are seamlessly connected. There is also a fully traditional Chinese building that houses a Center for Design and Innovation.

– The most important influence from the Nordic region is keeping it all at a human scale. We also looked to the Nordic region when we gave shape to

the insides of the buildings. The beds are wooden like at RKN. You could say that I took a lot from there and tried to improve on it. One of things I treasured in Flekke was the view onto the fjord. For my first year I was the last in line to choose my desk and bed.

I got the desk that was turned towards the wall. The following year I got there on time and secured a place with a view onto the fjord. At Changshu we built the rooms in a circular fashion. I have given each student a window.

– They build their houses narrow and tall, right?

– We dispose of ninety thousand square meters of buildings. Six boarding houses. They are relatively small on a foundation level, yet tall. The house men tors live on the ground floor. The students occupy all floors from the second to the fifth, with approximate ly eighty students in each house. There is a generous amount of space for each student.

It took Wang four years from the beginning of the Changshu project until the financing, planning and workers were in place. But then, as soon as the first

spade hit the ground, it was only a year and a half before all buildings and infrastructures were ready.

The College officially opened on the 7th of Novem ber 2015.

– Sounds busy!

– I was under a lot of pressure. We were, after all, transforming a natural park into a school. It was a serious challenge. But our building was sophisticated.

In addition to influence from the Nordic region, I made a great effort to think eco-friendly. 30% of the power comes from green sources, mainly solar ener gy, and heat change from ventilation.

Changshu was the 15th UWC in the world. 129 students from 54 countries were at the school during its first year. For each year, the number of students grows, so that now there are around 540 students spread out into two year groups. The campus is being used to full capacity.

– Two of my students have already told me about their dreams of building their own UWC one day. Jelena doing a dance performance during the very first European Show.

Te following year I got there on time and secured a place with a view onto the ford.

When they tell me this, I feel like I have done some thing right.

–You are known for dreaming big. But what founda tion do you build on when realizing your dreams?

I made a great efort to think eco-friendly. 30% of the power comes from green sources, mainly solar energy, and heat change from ventilation.

of the College, but also for the scholarships. It was one of my main ideas that the students did not have to pay to come here. But the College is still being de veloped. This next decade we will continue strength ening and building the school. Then we will build a better world.

–What is your secret for realizing such a big and am bitious project?

–Funding is a base for everything. It costs many mil lions just getting started with the planning of a big project like UWC Changshu. But I had collaborators like the Mayor of Changshu. He is a strong believer in education. That is how the city ended up giving us the plot of land to build on. We had to finance the rest by ourselves. Together with my colleagues from RCN, we have worked it out. At one point, one rich AC-alumni (1993) gave us his whole art collection which we then auctioned away. There was a lot of money to be collected. Not just for the construction

–I have experience with building projects. I found ed a company like Nordic Catch, which opens up channels between Norwegian and Chinese compa nies. I have my own companies for rehabilitation and electronics. One of my companies manufactures equipment for rehabilitation centers. All these expe riences have helped me realize a UWC in my home land China.

A seat in the People’s Congress

In 2018 Mark Wang was nominated as one of the ten most ‘influential’ persons in the Changshu province located to the east of China, a leading province with

No doubt who is the main attraction at the deer farm.

regards to finance, education, technology, and tour ism. There are over eighty million people living here. And as the first ever candidate from Changshu, Wang was chosen to be a delegate to the People’s Congress in Beijing. The city is proud of him.

Mark has become an influential man – in the world’s most populated country. One example of his achieve ments is that UWC in Changshu enjoys an almost uncensored internet.

–In China, a lot of internet activity gets censored. But I created a direct line from Hong Kong to us. In other words, our school is a unique case in China. We take great pleasure in the school’s independent position. We are our own community; we remain slightly out side of the Chinese box while still abiding by Chinese Law.

Queen Sonja formally handed over Wang’s scholar ship to RKN. She met up with Wang several times lat er. For the big Norwegian state visit to China during

2018, the Queen arranged a meeting with Wang at his new school. She drove in a car from Shanghai to Changshu. The main route connecting the two cities was sealed off for the royal escort for an hour and a half.

The Queen left the College with tears in her eyes.

–What was it that moved her to tears?

–I think it was being with all these motivated, hope ful students. It was seeing that the chance she had given me, made such a difference to all the pres ent-day students in Changshu.

Aker Brygge in China  The College has opened. It is going well. Still Wang has new visions, big plans. He now works on devel oping the coastline on the land over the campus. He wants to build an equivalent of Aker Brygge in China.

–It is meant to be a research and business area in a Nordic style and of very high standard. There are

In 2018 Mark Wang was nominated as one of the ten most ‘infuential’ persons in the Changshu province

to be homes and services here. But it is also an area designed for technological development and research. And I hope it can be a meeting point for Chinese and Norwegian research and technology. I want to call this the “Nordic village”. It will offer free office space to the representatives of Norwe gian companies. I believe we can benefit from Nor wegian technology also with regards to energy and power. China emits 10% of the world’s CO2. That is a frightening figure. We need to focus on that, and we must do something to reduce these numbers.

Mark is interested in global collaborations but also local ones. He is about to build a new College situated in the actual town, not a UWC, yet keep ing with a lot of the same values. Wang calls this giving back to a province that has given so much. He points out how these local initiatives express something global:

–It is just a small part of working locally and thinking globally. The city gave me the best plot of land imaginable. That allows me to give back.

Ola Braanaas, Frida Seafood, who was close to providing a fish farm for the College.

I believe alumni can play a big role in developing my Nordic village. Here at UWC we will dispose of great educational resources from all corners of the planet, including China. I believe a lot of UWCers might choose to stay in the area afterwards if they have these kinds of opportunities. It can become a platform for collecting ideas: office spaces, think tanks and so on.

If Wang ends up realizing this plan, there will be a Chinese-Norwegian meeting place in China’s 5th most populated province. China has been called the greatest growing economy and was predicted to become the world’s leader in even more sectors than today. For the Norwegians this means an opportunity to get on board and learn something from the Chinese.

– I believe that global communication can lead to better health for everybody. It is all about hav ing a common ground where love, peace and of course, the possibility of education exist. There will always be diverging opinions about the menu in the canteen, but one must agree on these values.

When I talk to the students, I tell them that there are 570 leaders in this room. Each one is his or her own company’s boss. The others in the room will help them. They can reach out to one another as they are following their dreams, I like to say. Even though some things might be difficult, they are not impossible.

Then one of Wang’s crew checks the clock. It is time to get a move on. “But photo,” says another one. They want to gather us all by the short wall for a group photo.

Dream and vision

The thing Wang enjoys most of all, is bringing people together.

Students in Sunset - will never become a clichè.

SUSTAINABILITY ON MULTIPLE LEVELS

Haugland and Biology

When extreme weather conditions create spring tides, the biology lab by the Eck bo-pier is in danger of fooding. Te irony of fate: Te same biology lab is the base for researching and helping the ecosystem in Sunnford.

The painting had just about dried when Jelena Belamaric first went down to what was to become the biology lab and her teaching room. The year was 1995 and the date of the College’s opening was approaching. Belamaric was expecting a modern, western lab and was a bit shocked when she entered an empty room. Nonetheless, it was an especially pretty room, with large windows opening in all four cardinal directions and with a view onto the fjord.

Belamaric was simply given total freedom to create the lab she wanted.

– In the previous IB-lab that I had worked at, I had to beg and struggle to get even the most basic materials like paper towels. This was right after the war in Cro atia. So I felt a resistance - well, even shame – when asking Tony as Rektor to finance a quality micro scope. But I had Chris Hamper there to help. He had built labs from scratch at Atlantic College and knew how to do it. He motivated me, and Tony said yes.

When the busloads of students arrived on campus, Belamaric seemed to be in full control even with an only half-ready lab. Among the fancy equipment were microscopes with screens. Two of three still work today, thanks to caring maintenance.

– It took months and years before the lab was 8090% ready. I am still continuously elaborating on it.Byrjinga

Te Beginning

I had to create my subject, develop a program, construct a lab, and also arrange various extracurricular programs and activities.

– It was a war in Croatia. I was a researcher. Twice a year, I would lead an intensive biology course at the Open University in Zagreb. After the war I

Music and Norwegian teacher Kåre Sandvik discovered that he also could be a ski instructor. And there was also a possibility for the rest of the family to come along during ski week.

Above water is also good.

was headhunted to become a teacher of the first IB program in Croatia, Belamaric begins. She explains how the UWC concept still seemed far-fetched to her. Together with a group of other teachers, she traveled to UWC of the Adriatic in Italy’s northeast. They participated at a Theory of Knowledge seminar. Belamaric liked what she found in Duino but had not yet grasped that this school was related to a greater network. Not even when she found a note with in formation of a teacher job at RCN, did she make the connection between the beautiful boarding schools in Italy and Norway.

– All I saw was some exciting job at a school that I thought was in Sweden, and so I filled in an appli cation form in which I mentioned all the things I’d done. Tony was traveling around Eastern Europe interviewing candidates. Zagreb was his last stop. He held a presentation of the UWC at the gymnasium where I worked. Only then did I get truly enthusias tic about the job. He also interviewed Josip Harcet, who was to become a math teacher. A week passed, then my phone rang at home. It was past ten in the evening when they called me with the overwhelming message about the job offer. It felt fantastic.

– In ex-Yugoslavia, a teacher job was the lowest paid despite it requiring many years of education. But I had discovered a love for teaching. Still, I was quite unaware of what I had signed up for.

– I remember well my first days here, how we teach ers got to know each other. It was somewhat of a cul ture shock. I thought I was coming to one of the most advanced schools in the western world. But it was all built there and then, from the ground up. I had to create my subject, develop a program, construct a lab, and also arrange various extracurricular programs and activities. I was the first teacher in charge of the fire brigade. I had absolutely no idea of what I was getting into. But the caretaker, Vidar Jensen, taught me. Still, it was a hassle leading a group of students in something you only just had learnt yourself. But already then, I knew that I would want to continue here.

Today Belamaric is one of five remaining from the original crew selected by Macoun. She has taken leave to do other things for some periods, but she always returns.

– I keep coming back to the conclusion that RCN is

the best and most meaningful place for me to work.

– Even if you don’t see the open sea?

– I am from Zagreb which is inland. My ancestors are from Dalmatia, near the sea. My name can be trans lated to “beautiful sea”. We spent our summers by the Adriatic Sea. They were the most precious months of my life. And I have been researching the ocean ever since. But here in Western Norway, the sea is never far off. I do excursions to the sea once every fort night, alone or with students. Studying the wildlife at Svanøy is a yearly tradition I have kept going.

Svanøy is located fifteen kilometers south-east of Florø and is a lush island with a great density of species. The Svanøy Hovedgard farm is located there, in its time a part of the Royal estates. In the past cen tury, the island was central in the area with its copper mines with more than hundred people employed, as well as being a hub for export and shipping.

– It was Anna Garner who dragged me off campus to show me more of the county. We ended up on sunny Svanøy. It was love at first sight. On a whim, I asked the leader of the Svanøy Foundation, Johan Trygve Solheim, if he would accept a three-day UWC

invasion. Responding to my impulsive request, he agreed. The excursions to Svanøy have since become the culmination of the first-year students’ biology class.

–The students get to research the rich ecosystem that grows in the tides. The most memorable experiences for the students have always been their close encoun ters with wild deer at the Norwegian Deer Center.

Johan Trygve Solheim has created and runs this too.

– What was in it for him opening his doors for the RKN like that?

– We always do some hours of voluntary work in exchange. This happens mostly in the forest. Trygve is one of the most creative and brave persons I have ever met. He taught me a lot about Norwegian nature and its sustainable usage.

Te most memorable experiences for the students have always been their close encounters with wild deer at the Norwegian Deer Center.

Te greatest explorer

Belamaric read Kon Tiki in its Croatian translation as an eleven-year-old and made Heyerdal her idol.

– He inspired me to become a passionate woman of the sea. From 1994 to 2001 by the way, I was part of the Croatian sailing expeditions across the Atlantic and twice across the Pacific.

– Was it a special meeting and listening to Thor Hey erdal for the opening in 1995?

– I was overexcited!

Belamaric has since made an effort to relay Thor Heyerdal’s story to the RCN students. On the cen tenary celebration of his birthday in 2014, Rektor Richard Lamont asked Belamaric to do something related to this. She promptly invited the students to build a Kon Tiki-inspired raft. RCN Tiki was the working title of the raft and it sailed across the bay in Haugland.

– It was supposed to be the students’ project, and I was the facilitator to ensure that the project didn’t drift too far off from its initial idea. I took around ten students with me to Vidar to select our logs. We saw that they did not float as well as Balsa wood. But

at least they did not give way under the passengers’ weight. We bound the logs together with rope just like the Kon Tiki. I taught the students good knots and mounted and arranged the sail so that it caught wind. I also participated in the making of oars. But apart from that, it was all the work of these enthu siastic students. They had cut the logs and tied the knots in waist-high fjord waters.

– Did they work standing in the fjord?

– Yes, after a while, it became necessary for us to work in the fjord because the finished raft would be too heavy to lift in one piece off the land. So, our students worked in rubber boots and wetsuits during every break for many weeks. On 11/10-2014, almost one week after the jubilee day, there was a high tide and a southern wind. That was when RCN Tiki launched with five smiling students abroad. They crossed the bay and of course, there was a group of natives on the beach, beating drums and dancing and welcoming us, says Belamaric with a smile.

– It was so much fun. Our lives were, in contrast to Heyerdal’s expedition, not in danger. Still it was exciting and we felt great satisfaction just making it possible.

A Hymn to the Sea

So where did the line go for what was feasible- marine biologically- at RKN? Was RKN to become an exem plary institution of the second largest export industry in Norway, namely fish farming?

The fish farming project started like many other things, thanks to Magne Bjergene’s fantastic personality, his brave dreams and social magic. Magne arranged for the school to get involved in fish farming. He

contacted the owner of Firda Seafood’s Ola Braa naas. The idea was to build an operating station with modern research labs close to the school. Magne, Anna and I met Ola Braanaas several times, visited the Norwegian fish farming station and went to Ola’s island Skjerjehamn in Gulen, to discuss the project.

– Isn’t fish farming often used as an example of de structive activity in the fjords and ocean’s ecosystem?

Tey crossed the bay and of course, there was a group of natives on the beach, beating drums and dancing and welcoming us

Rektor John Lawrenson during the Graduation ceremony. Rektor John and Nicky being celebrated by colleagues, towards the end of their stay.

– Yes, the industry has a bad reputation all over the world. Eutrophication 20 and salmon louse are among the local problems that can arise. But the world’s most advanced aquaculture technology was right here in Norway. I saw and still see smoothly run, controlled and sustainable use of the ocean as an essential way to conserve the world’s fish population.

Another way to secure the fish in the sea is to estab lish No Take Zones, but that is a different story. The point was that I got excited about the fish farming idea. I still maintain that a UWC education in the future must include farming and harvesting food.

One mustn’t leave out this important step. It can mean everything from growing your own greens and fruit to fishing. I have seen the academic advantag es of taking students out to the aquaculture station. There should be a lab there. Then I wanted to get the students involved in an experiment with organic aquaculture. I always planned to involve the students in monitoring the environmental effects that the aquaculture station had. We were to dive, take photos and observe.

– You wanted to and had made plans, but…?

– It went as far as us planning a new subject that needed approval from the IB. The tentative title for

Chinese decoration in the cantina.

this subject was Marine Biology and Aquaculture.

I wrote a first draft for the subject. But at some point there were misunderstandings regarding its financing. The project fell like a dead leaf, recounts Belamaric, and uses the opportunity to share some memories of Magne Bjergene:

– Magne knew everybody everywhere. In a matter of seconds, he was able to gather a group of interesting people and organize an unforgettable social event.

A memorable example was sailing together aboard the boat Draumen (the Dream) to the Faroe Islands.

After a couple of days in Torshavn, Magne had man aged to organize an exclusive gathering in one of the original houses that the Norwegian settlers had built. There was delicious food served. A local singer called Hanus G. Johansen did a cover version of Jacob Sande’s Hymn to the sea. That song has become one of my favorites ever since.

Biology in a changing world

As a researcher Belamaric studied the biological ecosystems on underwater cliffs. She was renowned in Croatia for her fieldwork and for her outstanding diving and underwater photography skills. She still oversees the diving activities at RCN. I was once her

20 Change of the state in an aquatic ecosystem as a result of increased nutrition in the water- o en as nitrate and phosphate found in arti cial fertilizers.

25 years of UWC Red Cross Nordic ■

diving student too and can ascertain that she was a knowledgeable, disciplined, and motivating instruc tor. I remember the regular measurements of our lung capacity and a certain demand for weekly pro gress. When it all came down to it, this activity was about coming as close to the seabed as possible.

– Marine life is so beautiful and diverse. I love life forms on all levels, the complexity, the interactions, and the intricate structures. Being a biologist has been an excuse to engage with this beauty and to gain a better understanding of it. That is the standpoint from which I teach.

– How has the biology subject changed with the envi ronment and the climate?

– The knowledge about biology and the way we put this knowledge to use, expands rapidly. To keep the IB-curriculum up to date, we need to expand this too. There is always more being added than extracted. The demands on our present-day students are visibly larger than those of the students twenty years ago.

– The ecosystem is under pressure all over the world. Your students are under pressure. How do you keep going?

– What motivates and inspires me is seeing the students’ eyes light up in a Eureka-moment when sci ence suddenly becomes meaningful, and they make connections with their observations of the world. They ask me super smart questions. This keeps me going and motivates me to expand and deepen my knowledge about life forms. Teaching thus becomes a two-way exchange. But I must admit that the admin istrative work involved in all of this is not part of the excitement and joy.

– What are some of the positive aspects of the IB-sub ject’s development and technological advances?

– I got an extra boost teaching in our bio lab equipped with smart boards instead of overhead projectors. What an elegant teaching tool they are!

To adapt the lectures to the smartboards and to make the bio lab more experiment friendly, I designed my dream lab on a piece of paper and gave it to Vidar (Operations Manager). This was all he needed to get creative. We spent a summer reconstructing my lab.

Belamaric was close to getting her dream lab. But where was the dream world?

Marine life is so beautiful and diverse. I love life forms on all levels, the complexity, the interactions, and the intricate structures.

John and Nicky - the vikings.

–What kinds of changes in the ocean and fjord ecosys tems here, did the biologist observe? Let us start with climate change.

–The night before you arrived here on campus, from the tenth until the eleventh of February this year, we were almost flooded. This was due to a series of hur ricanes with continuous low air pressure. There was record-breaking rainfall that January. I went out to the Eckbo-building in the middle of the night during high tide. The water had risen over the pier and up to the lab walls. After three such episodes in a row, it seems like spring tides have become more common.

–What about species going extinct, did you witness anything like that?

–I have been diving in the fjord and at the open sea in Sunnfjord for 25 years and observed that the water’s temperature more and more often rises above twenty degrees Celsius. The warm periods last longer too. Brown algae do not tolerate temperatures like that for more than a couple of days. I see the entire brown algae culture dying. I saw it last time in the autumn of 2019. Even though these phenomena hap pen only now and then, it seems to me like they are occurring more often now.

– What about plastic in the ocean?

– In 1996 I went alone on an expedition to the coastal pearl Lammetun. I was disappointed to see that even the Norwegian beaches are littered with trash. Thanks to a raised awareness about this problem, all the locals and the school organize spring cleanings. The beaches and bays have less macro-plastic than before. It was in Lammetun that I met Børje Møster. This diver, sailor and artist is the man behind the ex pression free water life. Børje also started the project in the same boat with the aim of cleaning up inac cessible coastlines. He contacted me at the beginning and invited my students to participate. Our environ mental coordinator Judit Dudas was the one who sent students in groups over to Børje in his boat Queen Sheba. I joined one of the groups and was shocked to see how we were able to gather a mountain of trash in a couple of hours on a totally uninhabited island. Børje and his group tested the waters for micro-plas tic using a special modified plankton net. We iden tified many types of micro-plastic with the help of a stereoscopic microscope. It was discouraging finding this in the planet’s cleanest ocean.

– What does this mean?

– It is still too early to predict the consequences of this. But I have acquired Børjes special micro-plastic net and plan to introduce my students to it. It will become our tool for monitoring the micro-plastic in the Flekke fjord.

Sustainable use of nature, sustainable everyday life

JWell, what are the characteristics of the biology in the immediate environment at Haugland? The organ izers of “a Nordic UWC” were during the eighties, eager to point out the biodiversity and the numerous ecosystems that could be studied here. Everything from brackish water in the fjord, to grazing pas tures, high mountains and open sea is within hiking or driving distance from the school. It was decided that the subject Environmental Systems should be on offer here. The biology subject involves a lot of field work. The ecosystems have been monitored for over twenty years. The changes to the Haugland environ ment and its ecosystems can be followed throughout these years.

– Where do you concentrate your efforts for biology class now?

I see the entire brown algae culture dying. I saw it last time in the autumn of 2019.

– Now I put my energy into the excursions out to

For many years Reidunn Bergstrøm was Senior House Mentor at the College. Here with the students of Iceland House in 2007.

Svanøy Island. I also encourage the students to do their special assignments there. Our students often participate in the Young Researcher’s competition.

Last year it was one of my Latvian students, Liva Araka, who got second place for her extended essay. It was an accountable and in-depth work on mush rooms growing along the Svanøy coast.

But none of the planners, builders or architects could have foreseen the climate changes while the school was being built in 1994 and 1995. This explains why a lot of the buildings are so close to the fjord. With rising water levels comes a need to clear the water from the buildings.

– Do you, as biology teacher, get to use the immedi ate environment enough or does the chase for results confine you to the classroom all the time?

– We have outdoor enthusiasts like Alistair (Robert son) and Chris (Hamper) who kept reminding us of the many possible uses of our immediate environ ment. Even Angie (Toppan) has been an enthusiast when it comes to the uses of nature. Still, it was a struggle for me to keep our excursions to Svanøy.

It used to last for several days including spending the night there. Now it has been reduced to a sin gle day. The main reason is that an IB-course is so

demanding that no more than three weeks per year can be spent on various projects.

– What about the offers for extracurricular activities?

– I believe it is the extracurricular activities that re ally give UWC its reason for existing. They give huge opportunities for refills and spontaneity. Our won derful students come here with all their ideas, enthu siasm, and energy. It is typical for many of them to pile too much onto their plate. We try to encourage balanced and sustainable choices. But discovering the practical impossibility of achieving top grades while at the same time taking part in absolutely everything, is part of their development. At some point, the students learn to make healthy prioritizations. This process is part of the UWC- package. I have seen how those students who take time to contemplate, meet their demands better than those who don’t. Inter estingly, this contemplation is often a part of their religious practice.

Outdoor life and underwater life

– I still feel connected to my research and still call myself a marine biologist. I teach basic skills in identifying the species of the fjord and ocean and thanks to the great help of Vidar, I set up large sea tanks. There I can pump up the water from the fjord’s

Our students often participate in the Young Researcher’s competition.

Under the water.

seabed and analyze its life. The surface of the fjord is brackish water and is deadly for sea life. So, every spring and autumn, the students and I fill the tanks with sea life that we classify and observe. There is of ten a lot of excitement around the tanks when we see that Flekke fjord hosts starfish, sea cucumber and sea urchins and somebody gets to hold these creatures for the first time. It was especially memorable doing the water tank experiments with blind students from the Laski school in Poland. Many students use the water tanks as a springboard for individual research.

While diving is more than just science for Belamaric, science keeps bleeding into her hobbies. Diving and biology float into each other, becoming a lifestyle.

When I teach free water diving, all my students learn about the fundamentals of marine biology. They be come acquainted with the usual species. I always take lots of pictures during those tours, of both human and marine species.

– Is photography both a hobby and part of the subject?

– Underwater photo-hunting is a part of all the other things I do.

From the very beginning the math teacher Jean-Paul Ginestier took the responsibility for one of the activ ities involving weekly hikes up the mountains. The

motto has always been “there is no bad weather, only bad clothes”.

The aim is to intensify our students’ love for nature, to teach them basic orientation skills and the funda mentals about the flora with its edible mushrooms, explains Belamaric who has taken over this activity.

– Our dog Ben has been a loving companion on these tours. His ears would flap as he zigzagged between us. Ben was with us for fifteen years. One of our trips went to Jyttelshogen over Dale. We took a group pho to while hiking in 2013. It circulated for a while on the RCN’s webpage. When we repeated the trip in au tumn of 2018, we also took a silly photo in the same place and position but with new faces. Except for Ben and I. Only days later, I was on a plane to Croatia for my autumn holidays. When I opened the Lufthansa paper, I found the original Jyttelshogen picture in an article about UWC.

– I made a long face when I saw that, indeed. Ben thus became an official member of the UWC- com munity, the only one with four legs and a tail.

Te demanding but important IB-exam

Back to our subjects. Belamaric believes that the IB is an excellent program because it requires the

students to hone their analytic skills.

– But it is demanding. Many of those students who had poor English or weaker academic backgrounds prior to joining the school, struggle with the IB. I could be lecturing in front of a class with a student who had been a former street child with poor English while another might be a Swede with Oxford English who had already taken a preparatory IB year prior to coming here. All of them must deliver the same as signments on the same deadlines. This is difficult to combine with the ideal of each student being assessed according to an individual progression. Luckily, there are people who do admission to the Universities who succeeded in finding places for students who have had a poorer start than those from a western background.

–What are you most happy to have done- and givento RCN?

– In hindsight I am most grateful for and proud of my contribution to the Silent House’s existence. For many years I have insisted that the students get a warm and safe place where they could retreat to for meditation and freely practice their religions. From our first gen eration we remember the sight of Sylla leading a Tai Chi group out on the pier of Eckbo. But on cold days

with rain the group had no adequate place.

Luckily, our good helper Marianne Andresen heard about the need and donated money for the construc tion of the Silent House.

Ten vs. Now

– In the early years there were strong bonds between staff. Compared to the staff at AC or PC, we behaved like enthusiastic teenagers. Everybody participated in everything all the time. We were spontaneous and contributed towards organizing ad-hoc activities and weekend trips. It was what Tony Macoun expected of us and fortunately it came naturally. I remember driving the students around in the two minibusses, the white and gray one. Typically, a student might call us from the airport or the ferry asking to be picked up. We would turn around and find somebody to pick them up.

– Was that typical? I did not know that was possible. But you all came across as very accessible to me, yes, and I almost assumed that I could grab anyone of you for a little chat.

– I remember the students’ frequent surprise visits. You were one of the very first ones who came by, followed by some others. Then suddenly there was

a full tea party going with cookies and conversation that lasted many hours.

– I remember that, but also the way we nearly took this openness for granted.

– I was a house mentor for three years, and that is one of my cherished experiences. I can see all the of ficial open houses that each house mentor organized. We baked mountains of cake and invited our students to taste. Once we even invited the locals in. That was a busy day on campus. The relation between the vil lage and school was closer back then. And on campus the students and teachers cultivated warm and close relationships.

– I can subscribe to that. But how was it between teachers?

– A lot of the teachers had especially strong bonds to one another. There would be regular invitations to dinners and social gatherings. Anne Ginesteier became a very important person, a kind of mother figure for the whole campus. Anna Garner played the more formal role of social glue. As our first Envi ronmental Sciences Coordinator she taught me a lot. I miss both Anna and Anne; they were completely irreplaceable.

– Was everything better in the early days?

– Due to lack of alone-time and structure to support us teachers, many of us were teetering on the brink of a burn-out towards the end of the school year. Ours were not sustainable ways. Yet the incredible ener gy and attention that Tony gave us was exemplary.

Tony sat there until ten every day. It was inspiring to

Ola Hovalnad shortly after returning for his second periode at UWC, in 2016.

witness his work ethic and to be given so much trust. I had a lot of ideas. Tony listened and said “Go ahead! ‘’ and gave me the financial support I needed. So, I lived intensely throughout the school year before I collapsed in my bed as the students returned to their homes and only then could I go on holidays to Zagreb.

– What do you think about the school now?

– RCN used to be like a young teenager. Now it has grown up. And as it tends to go in adult life, things get a little less energetic and innovative. But we have better, more established routines. We know what works well, and we do not want to cause a stir and destroy it. There might be fewer meeting points and contact between students and teachers now. But there is also less stress. What is expected of the students and teachers, has become more clearly outlined. It is more orderly, and we get feedback from the teachers’ union. This makes everyday life a bit more predictable. All in all, the lifestyle has become more sustainable.

Ideals, philosophies, and pedagogical thought pro cesses are important. But they are of little value when the trash starts piling up and there needs to be food on the kitchen table. Ola Hovland stands in the wings and makes sure that the students’ basic needs are covered.

Ola Hovland had only just been hired on the day a milkman arrived at Haugland demanding to be paid in cash because RCN and the Haugland Center had trouble paying their bills. Twenty years later and in the middle of an unpredictable pandemic, he is happy with the school’s economy.

We drove very carefully this spring. Now it is November 2020, the second wave of the covid-19-pandemic, with another round of strict, na tional regulations. There is still no reported infection in the, by local standards, dense population of Haug land, so far. But in nearby Hyllestad there has been a rapid spread of infections at a workplace with many

I had a lot of ideas. Tony listened and said “Go ahead! ‘

– AND THE TRASH NEEDS TO BE TAKEN OUT Økonomidirektør Ola Hovland

immigrant workers. There was an infected group who came to the boat building company, sending all the factory’s employees into isolation at the hotel. The price to pay was many millions which a “company” like RCN would struggle to cover. Not to mention the consequences for the students. But it is with numbers and calculations that COO at RCN, Ola Hovland, speaks of the school. He has done so since 1999 and is therefore able to give a telling perspective on the sto ry: the school seen in a pragmatic and practical light.

in the Administrative Building as one of four main actors in the leader group. His background is eco nomics and management, among other things. Magne Bjergene tried head-hunting him in 1998. Back then Ola worked in the oil-sector in Stavanger and had just landed a new job. But when the offer was made to him again, he took it because it fitted him and his family better. RCN in many ways have benefitted from Hov lands talents in leadership and economy.

Unavoidable Upgrades

operating functions. Even though the company has been dis solved and Hovland today only takes responsibility for RCN, it is still a complex organization that he operates.

“Is it possible?”

Hovland started his career in the Stavanger oil-service at a time when the economy was growing strongly. Still, he moved back to a humbler life in Dale.

– In my view these were exciting jobs. It was important that it was knowledge-based, and that the environment was international.

– None of our teachers here have demanded unrea sonable resources for their classes from us. But after 25 years the teaching strategies have changed, and the mass of buildings has aged. Students will work in various ways, and this creates new needs inside the classroom. Now we are in the middle of some up grades and renovations.

The Rehab Center was at its worst during that period. UWC was barely scraping the bottom of the barrel. But there were no leftovers either. One had to stretch each crown in the beginning. Slowly but surely things changed from minus to plus. Today, the Haugland Center and RCN are solid companies.

Hovland first came to RKN in 1999. With the excep tion of a nine-year long period as a Municipal Direc tor in Fjaler municipality, he has had his regular office

In the story of the cash-demanding milkman, Hov land, has no more to say than “There was no discus sion. You either paid the bill on the due date or you paid in cash.”

Hovland and I try making up our minds what his job de scription COO, Chief Operating Officer, would be in Norwe gian. Daily Leader does not quite cover it. That would be the Rektor’s job. Yet Hovland sits like the Rektor at the top of a pyramid with offices beneath him. The kitchen, maintenance, technical department, sustainability, IT and economy. Under them, there are offices working with transportation and ticket orders. Transportation to and from Dale and Førde is one task. Getting all students and employees back and forth along the narrow routes in all kinds of weather to catch flights at unholy hours from Bringeland, can be challenging enough. But the journeys to over a hundred homelands are an entirely different order of magnitude. Another typical thing about Hovland’sRCN used to be like a young teenager.

Now it has grown up.

It was no small amount of milk that needed to be paid for. At the time, the operating functions at RCN and Haugland Center were organized under the same name, HIS, Haugland International Centre AS. The shared company was responsible for the common

First visit to Svanøy. Johan Trygve Solheim in familiar style.

job is that he deals with colleagues from 25 different countries. Their cultures are totally different with regards to responsibility, terms and conditions and what they are willing to give back.

– HR is an interesting field here with us. In Norway we have holidays laws and insurances. Everything follows the Norwegian Law including sick leave, maternity leave and social welfare. We try to inform all employees about the Norwegian system during the introductory week in August. That is always a reminder that things are actually going quite well for us here in Norway.

– What do the employees think about what you are saying?

– The reactions are positive. I heard somebody exclaim “Is it possible!?”.

Risk of infection and the week menu

Med In addition to students from over ninety nations, Hovland has other responsibilities. Health is part of it. The College has hired two employees for the Health Station in charge of organizing this. Their job is to register the students’ vaccinations and map the contagion situation. All this needs to be written

down when the students arrive. The kitchen is also a place for international and multicultural creativity. The menu is aimed at catering to the various needs related to allergies, culture and religion. The econ omy department also takes care of the individual student’s economy. The accountant is busy every day helping the students to change or borrow money.

None of this is just about health, nutrition, or pocket money. All these practical-economic issues are on the deepest level about giving the individual student the feeling of a safe home.

What about the broader lines; future plans for the school? We have heard about the construction of bet ter student rooms which enable easier bug cleaning as well as renovation and maintenance of the entire mass of buildings. But this has to do with the school not having been finished when it opened in 1995.

–When the school was built back in the day, we were not able to do everything we had planned. These things were to fall into place in due time.

One of those things was the library. “The center of knowledge” as that part of the school is known, is only half-finished. There are meant to be two build ings: building one and building two.

–Building two is ready. But building one does not exist yet.

Ola Hovland is then able to leak some ambitious plans for the reconstruction of the entire complex. Because the kitchen measuring 27 square meters is just not big enough to prepare the amount of food needed for events with extra visitors.

One of the propositions for the new kitchen and can teen involves turning the existing kitchen and canteen into a library with study spaces for the students, office spaces for the teachers, group rooms and meeting rooms.

– Olav Hovland’s original blueprints show five Board ing Houses, with four students in each room. There was not enough money for so many Boarding Houses when the school was built. Will it be added on later?

– Of course, ideally, we should have one extra Board ing House to give each student more room. But our new design of the rooms presented a smarter solution than previously.

– Are you now referring to the solution for bug cleaning?

– Yes, we asked all the students what was important to them and what they wanted for their rooms. Two stu dents were part of the group who did the final design.

We have torn out the entire inventory and installed a new one in three of the five houses. The remaining two will be finished this summer. We have received very positive feedback about that. This was after all, a project involving a great deal of collaboration.

What else is in the woodworks? Hovland can name a lot of things that the school would like, like a climb ing park with zip lines and bouldering walls.

– We have a lot of needs and are in constant develop ment. The list is long. But some things are more im portant than others. The office facilities, the universal design and the maintenance of the mass of buildings. The latter is important in order to facilitate the devel opment of our core business which is education and teaching activities

Yes, we asked all the students what was important to them and what they wanted for their rooms.

“But here we do it in practice”

On the subject of core values, it is said that Hovland has a special affinity with the UWC-ideals and values?

– The first time I heard of UWC was in fact, while working for a year at the high school in Dale. There was a presentation of UWC at the school. There were talks about what consequences UWC would have. As far as I remember, there were discussions about the pros and the cons. Now I know RKN well and am

Before taking the dive, in 2014

still a strong believer in their message to use educa tion and the energy harnessed by gathering students from all over the world with the aim of changing the world. At the same time, it was the organization’s ex tremely high level of knowledge and the many bright colleagues that attracted me. Otherwise, one might add that it is nice having the Nordic values such as democracy, environment and human rights in focus. Anybody might claim to support these values in theory. But here we do it in practice.

– So, what do you hope for – and believe- will be RCN’s further development in the coming years?

– There will always be things to improve on. One can always arrange things in a way that enables everybody to do the best possible job. It is about becoming pro fessional. That is the goal we set for the current and future endeavors.

THE CANTEEN AT THE HEART OF THE CAMPUS

The way Heidi Myklebust takes our phone call

on the day before Christmas Eve- and the fact that she eats her dinner at the college on Christmas Eve, might be typical for how the kitchen assistant has been living in recent years.

Kantina, i hjartet av campus

Life on campus is generally busy. Still there are peak periods with a lot of simultaneous activities. Submitting essays might coincide with approaching half-year exams. A friend needs a shoulder to cry on at the same time as a family at home is waiting for a phone call. And one didn’t want to miss out on that activity. Climbing, folk dance or a conversation group. Nonetheless an imaginary gong sounds three times a day when the students fill up the canteen. Food is vital. The meals are like a pulse that get you through the day. Heidi Myklebust and the others there, have kept the same schedule throughout the years; breakfast at seven, lunch at twelve and dinner

21 is interview was the last to be made for the book and was in that sense to be placed towards the end of it. Out of consideration for the theme and the dramaturgy it is instead put in here and does not follow the chronology that otherwise sets the tone

years of UWC Red Cross

at six. The canteen is the school’s beating heart, keep ing bodies and spirits alive regardless of exam times, graduation parties or like now, pandemics.

During times of crisis and good times, the students get their refills from Myklebust and her kitchen crew. Students from all over the world are regularly challenged to eat lightly salted cod or lapskaus stew. And they also get their popular taco-days or burgers and salad. We offer rice porridge on Saturdays, soup day with fresh, homemade bread, vegetarian days, fish days and five varieties of brown bread from the Naustdal steam bakery. Myklebust has throughout the 25 years and changing times, chopped vegetables, and filled saucers with bread spread for students from all over the world.

– To me it feels like the same old- all over these years, she says with a smile: But there is one new thing. I cannot remember anybody having a mobile phone twenty-five years ago. Nowadays the students bury their noses in mobile phone chat or watch movies there constantly, she says.

Mobile phones have invaded the campus’ most inti mate sphere too: the big room above the library, wall to wall with the auditorium.. Some people stay there

to work after their meal. Others wait for lunch to be served. And all the while the swinging doors keep opening and closing between the dining room and the kitchen.

The kitchen is relatively small to make food for so many, a space used by the chef Jonny Lidal, Heidi Myklebust and six others. There are regular deliveries by car of groceries from Asko, milk trucks from Tine and vans from Naustdal with the five varieties of brown bread.

It was the same in 1995 as it is in 2020: the same delivery companies, the same brands- also through out the students’ two-year period. This predictability and familiarity are reassuring in the middle of an otherwise new and exciting setting. Cookie break is no longer a thing like it used to be, with endless amounts of small cookies. There’s crackers and cheese. The healthy salad-bar alternative is one of the students’ wishes.

Jonny has regular kitchen meetings with his boss, Fredrik Gustafsson and the students in the food committee. That is when they can add their grain of salt and give their opinions on the canteen. And the students will always have more things to care for.

– What sort of things?

– The kind of things that taste good to them. But they also have a kiosk-van that they run every evening during dinner. They sell everything from soda, ice cream and candy to canned goods, tampons and more.

Fiskebolle-humor

The pioneer students in the final of their two-year study dedicated a page in their yearbook to fish cakes and potatoes. It is a simple pencil drawing. A large circle (plate) containing three smaller circles (fish cakes, potato). The drawing shows Norwegian minimalist cuisine at its best. There are not many visually fancy traditional Norwegian dishes. Still there are some that strangely enough, hit the spot for the students.

– Fish cake is popular. Maybe they have improved over the years? Somebody had the bright idea of making a “burger” from a fish cake and a couple of bread slices. We also eat fish balls regularly. Only just a couple of days ago we ate fish balls in curry sauce.

– So, the food is no longer being ridiculed?

–Sure, we might still get mocked for serving fish

cakes. And we do eat lots of fish. During our twoweek stay, we ate fish five times. Not all types of fish are equally popular, with salted cod as the least. Salmon is my favorite. Lasagna never goes out of fashion. They also enjoy porridge on Saturdays. Today we ate hamburgers. That is a big hit with the students like spaghetti in tomato sauce, pizza or taco.

– Typical Norwegian food, in other words!

– Exactly. And once a year, Jonny insists on serving lamb and cabbage. The students are not great fans of that dish. Still every year there is a fixed date for it.

Food and meals are more than tradition and culture.

It is also nutrition, a social gathering, a scene for the less formal types of learning: working together, exchange of ideas and experiences. But at UWC the meals play an important role as a break when the students simply recharge after having challenged themselves in all imaginable ways. It probably helps having friendly and familiar faces in the canteen.

Even I get great pleasure from returning to see that Heidi Myklebust, who worked here when I was a stu dent, still carries the food trays in the mornings and opens for lunch at noon.

–What is it like being the person who creates the kind of changes that meals can be in a day?

–I know that the canteen plays an important role for the daily routines of our students. Tomorrow we will eat our Christmas dinner together here. I will most likely eat dinner at the college this year.

– Will you celebrate Christmas with the students?!

– Yes, but as employees we usually eat in the kitchen.

– Does that have anything to do with the pandemic? Because normally there are no students eating in the canteen on Christmas.

– No, all of December is usually empty here. But this year was different. I worked all month, this year. Jon ny and I will go down in history as the first to have stood in the canteen kitchen on Christmas Eve.

– Regardless of the pandemic, isn’t it so that you work both weekends and weekdays at the college? Is working at RKN a lifestyle?

– Yes, that too. For many years now I have had three homes: our home in Dale, the college, and the hos pital where there has been somebody to take care of almost all year round.

Just hours later we get the opportunity to see that this historical evening at Haugland turned out to be very beautiful. Radiant, blue sky. No snow or ice, just a quiet fjord as shiny as steel. Fifty-four happy students in a canteen decorated with bowls of candy and man darins, candles, and red tablecloth.

WITH AND AGAINST NATURE’S LAWS

Lærar Chris Hamper

When Chris Hamper fell ill with Parkinson’s

he bounced back by revolutionizing the IB’s physics course..

Hamper has also become a popular lecturer – on the net as well as in the real world.

You inspire me!

Two former students, one colleague and at least five of those who commented on Chris Hampers post on Facebook, are saying the same thing almost verbatim: Hamper inspires them. Why? I call the house which he and his wife Hilary constructed on the sunny side of the Haugland settlement. The last time I saw Ham per, he was most likely hanging from the face of a rock on or near campus, 25 years ago. But he was one of the first to start a blog. So that made it possible to follow him from a distance, to read and see his online courses and digital lectures.

It seems, from a distance, like Hamper has been leading multiple lives simultaneously. He has set up the physics subject and lab at RCN, has been running many extracurricular activities here, has published three textbooks and has climbed some of the hardest mountains in the world- and raised three children.

In addition, he was practically the Deputy Rector at RCN for long periods and is the brain behind the internal communication system and the databases W3 and W4. Hamper was the planner behind getting all students at RCN involved in face-to-face instruc tion for visiting groups of camp school children at Haugland.

Daniel has a way with the students, here with the first generation.

But it isn’t these things that primarily inspire people about Hamper.

As mentioned, Hamper now has Parkinson’s disease. He has had it for some time but was only diagnosed in 2015. Hamper has a bad hand that he cannot use for eating, drinking, getting dressed or driving. But as soon as he is on a climbing wall, the “bad hand” suddenly springs into action again, and he climbs with both hands. And he climbs routes at difficulty level 7A despite the risk of his bad hand giving way.

Actually, I prefer building cars to driving them.

Hamper is less motivated to drive and eat than to climb, and that is how he explains his healthy hand. But what about the importance of necessity? His rev olutionizing the IB-physics course started when his illness impeded his ordinary spoken lectures. Ahead of most others, he was using the digital net-based teaching tools.

– Yes, in a way it was new when I started: This teaching style proved to be more student- orientated. Many teachers thrive being in the front.

Wants and Needs

Hamper has trouble grasping that he is a source of inspiration:

– I do not feel inspired by the onset of the disease’s symptoms. Yet I cannot stop climbing even if I am sick. And I find pleasure in doing and developing things, like the car that I built.

– What car?!

– I bought an old Triumph Spitfire that I stripped down and rebuilt. I taught myself welding. I can drive it down the hill to the college. But if I want to drive further, I will have to register the car in Førde.

– Are you one of the teachers who changed from the old school ways to the new modern way- in a very short period?

– Yes, you could say that. It was about finding ways of getting the students’ attention, of engaging them and hopefully, making them laugh. When the class is not too top-heavy, it puts different demands on the students. They must work more. Not all students like having that amount of freedom. While others appre ciate having their classes personally tailored to their needs and having more, depending on their own initiatives.

Chris in familiar style, from his periode as “Lord of the

Even though each student sits in front of a comput er during Hampers’ class, the teacher goes to the classroom every day at RCN and is a teacher. But has he not made himself redundant as a physics teacher in the classroom? Why can’t the students just sit with their computer and do their personally tailored class?

To answer that question we will go right back to the start, to the time before the Hamper-family arrived at Haugland:

before the interview, I was so nervous that Hilary sent me to a sensory-deprivation chamber. I floated in a little tub filled with water at body temperature and with the Dead Sea’s salinity.

– Did it help?

– Not much. After the floating, I got lost inside the London train station and that stressed me out. But I did get the job.

Te tent trip to Haugland

Chris and Hilary Hamper had only just started work ing at Atlantic College when the talks began about a new UWC in Norway. But it was going to take five years from that talk until the construction was underway. So, then Chris and Hilary decided to pack their bags and go tenting in Norway.

– We did Norway up and down and ended up in the Flekke metropolis. We were stunned by its beauty. Was it really possible to live in a place like this? I saw climbing walls everywhere, even on campus.

– You were seeing natural climbing walls, right?

– Yes, and we were so impressed that we decided to move here. I just needed to get the job first. The day

Hamper believes he got the job because of his climb ing and teaching experience. But nonetheless, he was not certain to have landed the job at RCN.

– Were there any surprises when you came to Norway?

– Several people I had spoken to at AC had told me about the enormous houses in Norway. I expected that we would live in a big house like that. But then I arrived on campus and discovered that the entire teacher’s quarters were smaller than our living-room at AC. The wages were not any better, either.

We were stunned by its beauty. Was it really possible to live in a place like this?

Kathini Lamont, always promoting yoga and mindfulness.

But still the Hampers continued living here and have been doing as many outdoor activities as possible: climbing, snowboarding, kayaking in fjords and rivers and fly-fishing.

– What about skiing?

– I have not mastered skiing yet. I managed snow boarding because I have surfed before. But I respect skiing. There is a reason for Norwegians to go skiing. The skis help them get to where they need, to go even in deep snow. I discovered this while on a cabin tour to Stryn. We were driving in a convoy up on the mountain. Then the snowstorm worsened. So, after a while we needed supplies. I wanted to go to the shop. A local man told us that it was ill-advised to do that.

Of course, one can go to the shop, I thought. I walked out and ended up on my chest in snow.

– What happened to your trip to the shop?

– I gave up.

Big, empty room

The physics lab at RCN did not even have electric sockets when the young and newly hired Hamper ar rived. But luckily, he was shown the blueprints before

the lab was built and he promptly reported to Rector Tony Macoun about the need for electric sockets. This was telling of the kind of processes that Hamper was about to undergo: he was given great responsibil ities and a lot of freedom.

Te lab was a big, empty room.

In an autobiographical text written later by Hamper, he describes coming to an entirely new school as the ultimate for a teacher: “You get to create traditions and fill the shelves.” When he got the freedom to buy the equipment for the lab, he went straight to the best supplier and bought from the top shelf.

– All the equipment purchased back then is still operational.

Except maybe the computers? Hamper had indeed bought a whole network of computers in 1995. And when he connected the network to an especially big machine on the teacher’s desk it led to the develop ment of a student database system so good that it survived the decades and was bought and used by UWC Robert Bosch College in Germany.

–You were the only male science teacher back then. How was that for you?

– I had always worked with male science teachers, so it felt a bit odd. They wanted everybody to hug when we returned after the holidays. I must have flinched or something, because I ended up getting the reputa tion as the one who did not like hugs.

– Did you like that?

– I do not know. UWC-lifestyle embodied.

– Full of enthusiasm for my job at the new school, I began collecting tasks.

–I did not like the schedule, so I made my own. Boul dering and physics are about solving problems. You see a problem that you cannot solve immediately. Yet you know you have what it takes to solve it in the long run.

I had no idea how to set up a schedule, but I knew how I wanted it to look, says Hamper.

Parallel to building the lab and teaching physics, Ham per constructed a climbing wall behind the auditorium. Hamper, like all the other teachers, was also responsi ble for extracurricular activities. Because of his passion for climbing, he was delighted to be able to do some thing extra for his students. He took them on climbing trips that lasted entire weeks, abroad and at home.

– One trip was to Turkey. I had seen pictures of rock walls at a cheap tourist resort in Anatolia. I found all possible information on the net. All things included a trip to Anatolia cost a couple of thousand crowns per student. So, we flew down and found the walls, and they proved to be a treat to climb. We were the only climbers there at the time. It has since become a famous climbing spot.

Don’t be Listless!

Hamper has certainly done more than what a climb ing instructor must do. Another one of his contribu tions to the community on campus were his database systems W3 and W4.

You see a problem that you cannot solve immediately. Yet you know you have what it takes to solve it in the long run.

– I noticed there were lists everywhere. Every teacher had a list of all the students with their likes and history. I believed it was time to systematically gather all this information. This is how he was given the

responsibility for developing the internal system. The first, W3, was made possible by a student who knew programming.

– You strike me as somebody with good IT-skills. Could you not have programmed the W3 as well?

– No, why should I start programming and coding?

There are enough people doing that. I worked well with Mirek, a consultant from Poland, and a student called Thomas. I knew the timetables and saw the re quirements. So, I decided what we needed. I believe people do not always know what they want, and they don’t always see what is possible.

– Are you one of those who like making lists?

– No. When we go on holidays it is always Hilary who writes the lists. But I saw the needs and I saw solutions. So, I was the one who could do it. This eventually became the system W4 which is still in use and has archived everything and everybody who has been through the school.

Hamper made the student database system in his so-called spare time. He thought it was exciting to develop the system. But once it was established,

his motivation to give a little extra dipped. Then he turned the “hobby” into a job. From around the 00-years he has worked full time as a teacher and in addition, had the responsibility as a climbing instruc tor and worked part-time on the database.

– Teaching physics was my enjoyable job, Hamper comments laconically. He explains that everything else that a UWC- teacher job demands, eventually becomes tiresome.

– Since I had the responsibility for the intranet and at the same time, bearing the responsibility of the ski week for the fifth or sixth time - which meant sorting out ski boots according to size and gathering infor mation about all the students’ clothing sizes - that I felt I couldn’t go on. It was affecting my teaching. And my teaching has always been paramount to me.

If you keep doing what you like doing, you can keep going for a long time.

Hamper dropped the leader part of his job, which left more energy to climb and teach physics. At that time, he was developing his knowledge on the subject via net-based chat forums. He eventually became a renowned person in those forums and describes RCN Tiki on the move.

his high activity like this: “It felt at times like I was talking to myself. Because I was good at talking to myself, I started a blog.”

But I accepted the challenge. The book is now in its second edition. Writing a book is a gigantic project.

Te blog started of being about physics, climbing and some silliness.

– My readership was mostly students. I eventually adapted the blog to them. As the blog was develop ing, I gathered lots of material for my classes: work sheets, tests and other resources. My students were not very grateful for all the material. So I started sharing it with people who I knew cared for the hard work, the other teachers. I made a website where all

I spent a whole year using every afternoon, evening, weekend, and holiday. So, when I hear teachers com plaining about having to write their students’ reports, I laugh. “One day of deskwork is nothing”.

Hampers Pearson Baccalaureate Physics Higher Level was published first in 2014.

– Will you write any other books? About climbing for example.

he contacted me about writing a textbook. “Who me? “ Tat was absolutely not my plan.

– I remember an English teacher who was also a writ er. I asked him what he wrote. “Just for fun”, he said. It never felt like fun to me. But then I discovered blog-writing and it became fun. It is a genre where one writes in short sentences, short texts, with a lot of drive. So now writing has turned into an enjoyable activity. But I don’t think I will write a new textbook, and certainly not a book about climbing.

the material was free in the beginning. But there is a limit to how much one can do for free. My net activity got the attention of the freelance publisher Jane Mann. She contacted me about writing a text book. “Who me? “That was absolutely not my plan.

– Wasn’t it fun writing a textbook about IB physics?

– Yes, I wrote it in my own way. I tried making a collection of stories. But otherwise, it contains a lot of diagrams. Since it was published by an established

publishing house, I got a lot of help with the layout and the editing of the text.

– In addition to this, you were raising three kids with Hilary and were house mentors on campus. How did you manage?

– That was the first year. Back then there were only half the students and half the number of classes and climbing programs.

Yes, in 1995-96 there were no second-year stu dents yet. But on the other side, there were tons of things to establish, build, start and secure. RCN had flagged their outdoors profile. This was one of the many things that needed fol lowing up. Hampers’ climbing wall was a treat in a place with such rough weather conditions.

There he started climbing activities which also took place outside – at Haugland or other rock walls in the district.

– When I first moved here, I was looking for a climbing partner. By chance there were some young men on the wall where I was climbing. They were from Høyanger and so young that I

How many have not learned the periodic table of the elements and RCN?

might have been their dad. I thought it would bore them to climb with a man of my age. But that is not how it turned out. I climbed everywhere with these lads, in Norway, France and other places.

– Are there any differences in the enthusiasm for the use of digital platforms? Are the students more open to it than the teachers, for example?

Teacher 4 ever

Hamper did not stop teaching physics on the net, even though he had now written a textbook. He stayed online in chatrooms with other physics teach ers and held workshops and got jobs as an external inspector.

– After a while, it became necessary to create a good website where I could gather all this material.

This led to the collaboration with ThinkIb.net, an entirely digital learning tool for the IB. Hamper has elaborated the whole physics part of the work in cooperation with a colleague.

Now they have also made Study IB, which is used by the students.

– No, the students are not especially open to it. But I can see that they want to design their own courses.

They like discovering things by themselves. In cer tain situations, the students want to challenge me and show me something new. I used to make jokes during my physics class and say: I am not interested in your opinion. I want to know Newton’s opinion.

– Is physics a conservative subject?

It is a subject based on the laws of nature which are hard to reinvent.

– It is a subject based on the laws of nature which are hard to reinvent. Still the world will keep chang ing. And there are two types of physics: cutting edge physics and physics one needs to learn at a funda mental level. At times I use reverse pedagogy for my students. I might lead them down a wrong path and let them be fooled by their own delusions. I will not stop until it all ends totally wrong. Research shows that the students will remember the right way which I of course, explain later. It works because you learn why the wrong things are wrong.

Doubts

In March 2015 Hamper was diagnosed with Parkin son disease. He had taught his classes for many dec ades and knew the material and his lectures like the back of his hand. Nonetheless, he felt like his brain was locking down at times. “We all make mistakes now and then, but when it starts happening too often, our self-confidence starts fading. Everything goes in the same pot. Electrical cables become spaghetti, and equations don’t stay put long enough to reformulate them,” wrote Hamper in a text that is posted on the RCN website. He writes that finding out that he had Parkinson’s was in a way, a relief, before commenting in his unmistakable, ironic way: “Phew, at least I don’t have an incurable, degenerative neurological disease. Or hang on a second…I do have it!”

Hamper had been feeling the symptoms for some time. He had trouble moving the fingers on his left hand, but thought it was a climbing injury. He kept training as much as before without getting any stronger. He ate more than usual, but lost weight. He was tired. And why did his hand let go when he was hanging from the climbing wall?

Hamper had access to the Haugland Center and their employees. His symptoms were still mild- shivering, altered mimicry and cognition-when he was given the right diagnosis. Today he still works full time. He just struggles with the smartboard and the black board, and he eats, washes himself, gets dressed and drives single-handedly. But he teaches to excellence in his own way and keeps climbing with both hands.

“Phew, at least I don’t have an incurable, degenerative neurological disease. Or hang on a second…I do have it!”

–It is strange. I can still use the climbing wall on dif ficult routes rated 7b or 7c. I explain this by the fact that climbing is so well integrated in my body. But you would think that it would be the same for eating and driving. But eating and driving might not be as important to me.

– Level 7B and C are, from what I gather, pretty ad vanced, right?

– Yes, level 7B and C are intense routes where one needs to stay in constant movement. The doctors

Since the very beginning, climbing has had a central part in our activities. Here teacher Simon Ramsey with student instructors Veronica, Emma, Bruno and Nina.

say that one can stave off symptoms like shivering, undesired movements and drooling by staying active.

So, I stay active.

– But is it safe?

– I have one good and one bad hand. I cannot trust the bad one, yet the good one is strong. Changing the carabiner is a problem. Using my good hand to move the rope, requires me to hold on with the bad one. Changing the carabiner with my left hand is also risky because I can freeze up.

– Do you fall?

– Yes, I fall. The medicines can at times make me somewhat reckless.

But it has gone well. So well in fact that one might wonder: has the physician cracked the code to rede fining nature’s laws?

I have one good and one bad hand. I cannot trust the bad one, yet the good one is strong.

5 THE NORDIC REGION AND ITS ROLE GLOBALLY

About the Nordic variety of democracy at RKN and how RCN contributes to spreading this. Te idea of a Nordic UWC was a reaction to the Cold War freezing in the mid-eighties. Te UWC was put in the Nordic region because of its location between the east and west. Placing it here proved important beyond the Cold War period. In an age where democracy is under pressure, it seems appropriate that the school should be situated in a country with a long and healthy democratic tradition.

SOCIAL DEMOCRACY IN PRACTICE

Rådsformann Pär Stenbäck

We live in a confused world, and we will prepare our students for this kind of world.

He worked as the Minister of Education and Foreign Minister in Finland, as General Secretary for the Nordic Council of Ministers and for the international Red Cross (IFRC). Since Pär Stenbäck’s heart also beats for youth organizations, it seemed natural to elect him as Leader of the Council for UWCRCN.

PPär Stenbäck peels his citrus fruit and goes to the heart of the matter. It hardly shows that he has just traveled from Helsinki to Flekke this morning. He sits with a straight back at the meeting table in the administration building and looks more focused than tired.

–The belief in everlasting peace has faded. Many ideologies have ended up failing and have had a faul ty message. We need to give our students hope and

The new students from Western Sahara have just arrived for the summer course.

knowledge. We need to help them out of the climate depression. Without knowledge and with much fear, we might end up back in a very polarized world. We must give our students solid ground to stand on, says Pär Stenbäck. As the leader of the council, Stenbäck is the College’s ambassador out in the world and in circles that are crucial for its further development. In addition to his position as a leader here, he is Vice Chairman for the international UWC- Council. Sten bäck has more than fifty years of experience in the field of education, organization, and politics- in Fin land and internationally, and he has clear ideas about what direction UWC might be taking in the years to come. The students first and foremost need to create a realistic picture of the world for themselves, based on an understanding of how they might contribute to it changing in the preferred direction.

–All students at UWC come here with their co untries’ respective cultures, myths, and burdens. Do we manage to create a common platform in just two years? UWC’s political neutrality can also be somew hat limiting. One thing I know we can achieve is ma king sure that all students believe in facts. I believe

in educating them so that they can relate to objective facts, but also that they have a grasp of the emotio nal realm. One can harbor feelings for one’s nation without becoming a nationalist. After all, this started out as a Peace school. Kurt Hahn lived through the dark post-war years but kept believing that one could create a better world by bringing young persons to gether. One must not forget that story.

Te Important Democracy

BAmong the documents laid out on the table bet ween us, is the book Democracy under attack? Sten bäck wrote it during the summer of 2018. Access to objective and free information is a criterion for and a characteristic of a functioning democracy.

–In Russia, the country that Finland shares its lon gest border with, politicians use misinformation to confuse people. They are waging a war with language as its weapon. By obscuring or presenting countless versions of history, they can make people cynical or exhausted: “Nothing is true. Everything is possible.”

–What kind of threat do you think Russia poses to democracy?

–The challenges that arise from nations coexistence are more important to deal with than ever before. Giving up is rarely an option. If one party persists in being threatening, one has to adopt a different tone. As an aside joke I comment that the Swedish are afraid of Russia, the Finnish are respectful, and the Norwegians are hopeful. I can relate to the Norwegians’ hope. They have succeeded in working peacefully in securing their rights in the Barents Sea region. Still, I believe we need to take a serious look at the Russian threat. Authoritarian tendencies are increasing worldwide, and Russia is only a part of it. I believe that the greatest threat to democracy is

–Te core idea in democracy is that one can change the leader when one no longer feels satisfed with him or her.

are only focusing on increasing their prosperity.

–We see that in Russia too. One says that Putin gained his popularity because he increased the prosperity for many during his first presidential period.

–Yes, we must remind every new generation that democracy has not won once and for all, not even in the West. As soon as the youth start thinking: “I couldn’t care less” or “a strong dictator is not so dangerous”, things start getting volatile. We must give the young ones material they can use to shape their future with- not just as idealists and humanitariansbut also realists.

–What is in fact, a democracy?

China. The leaders there have increased the material living standard for more than 100 million people. This has happened without democracy. China can be an example for many, and the country has become a model that competes with the Western one. What happens when poorly functioning leaders in Africa or Asia look to China? The danger is that so many

–The core idea in democracy is that one can chan ge the leader when one no longer feels satisfied with him or her. Many democracies are plagued by populism. We must give the youth tools to uncover populistic myths. Brexit is an example of how the people can be led in the wrong direction. One should introduce more media-critique at schools. It is im portant to see through the false messages.

Pär Stenbäck heard of UWC RKN long before the College opened. He was the General Secretary of the Nordic Council of Ministers at the time the work for

Euncia Ajambo and Mostak Rahman have found the way to Bergen to protest against “blood diamonds› ‹, undertaken in cooperation with the UN Association.

Ezequiel Jimenes, to the left, one of many students who have served for the Council. Here from happy student days in 2008.

establishing the school gained momentum. But he was still in good contact with the Finnish Parliament and maybe, the Rektor to be, Tony Macoun knew about this. Macoun came to Copenhagen, where Stenbäck lived, and they had a talk. Macoun’s mis sion was to get into contact with the relevant Fin nish ministers and get them onboard for this shared Nordic effort. Stenbäck put Macoun in contact with the ministers of church and education. Stenbäck also had a talk with his old colleagues. This helped forge the way toward the solution, by getting the Finnish and Swedish Cultural Fund to support the Finnish scholarship at the school.

government, six from Sweden. Finland has been less generous with their support.

–In the College name, there is Nordic- but also Red Cross. Is Red Cross an appropriate name and brand for the school?

Educating for Citizenship

––The Council does not take part in the daily decis ion-making at the College. Our task is more to keep a general overview. Whenever a situation arises and it is deemed either good or difficult, I am informed, and I might have some advice to offer. My main role is nonetheless to keep the Nordic dimension in focus. Since it is a Norwegian foundation, the chair of the Board must be Norwegian. All the Nordic countries contribute towards the financing, most of all Nor way. I just had a look at the budget, and it is around 80 million. 37 of these come from the Norwegian

–One must be careful giving out access to make use of one’s precious name. But this is an example of wor king together while keeping your own integrity. The Red Cross is not jeopardizing its name by lending it to UWCRCN and Haugland Rehabilitation Center. Both parties are committed to the Red Cross’ name and everything that goes with it. Together they offer education and rehabilitation to young persons who have been injured by landmines or who are otherwise functionally challenged. I hope we can accept more students like this for our program. The humanitarian spirit at the College matches the Red Cross profile like two sides of the same coin.

Pär Stenbäck’s new book Democracy under Threat is the source material for the speech he will hold for the students. He has very clear ideas regarding the most central tasks of the UWC- education.

–The most important thing is to educate people, so they become good fellow citizens.

Edmund and Angie at the top of the Jarstadheia mountain.

–ARE YOU REALLY THE MAYOR OF THE UWC-MUNICIPALITY?!

Four Fjaler Mayors

One who feels like a rockstar visiting a foreign country and two who literally have taken UWC all the way into their homes, as host families. Listen to the mayors telling what UWC is doing to their municipality and how the locals are interacting with the College.

this work during his period as a Mayor, 1989-1995. Kjetil for the first time got in touch with his future wife, Trude, due to her previous studies at Atlan tic College. Today their eldest daughter attends the UWC Robert Bosch in Germany. Asked about what the establishing has meant for the municipality, Felde answers:

–It is difficult to see how our municipality would have developed without UWC and the community at Haugland, the present Mayor Kjetil Felde (Sp) begins, as he explains that this also applies to his private life. He has had a personal relationship with UWC even before the College was established here in Fjaler. His father, Rasmus Felde, was an important supporter for

–UWC RCN has in 25 years had a huge impact here in Fjaler. The college has affected the culture and at titudes of our inhabitants in a positive way and made us less fearful of opening up to the world. The work places at UWC and Haugland are central in offering a varied and exciting job market for our inhabitants and contribute towards lifting the cultural dimension

UWC RKN har gjennom 25 år sett djupe spor Fjaler.

in everything that goes on in our municipality. Fjaler was brave back in the days and took a chance when they managed to bring UWC here. Establishing the College has made our region more attractive.

Like Felde’s family, former Mayor Gunhild Berge Stang (V) was opening her doors as a host family for UWC-students. Berge Stang had a Eureka-moment regarding the potential of the College during a recep tion at the Norwegian Embassy in Copenhagen, right after she moved to Fjaler. She wanted to describe where she was from. The west coast of Norway was uncharted territory for these Danes. Sogn & Fjordane and Fjaler – no, they’d never heard of it. Then Stang told them about United World College. That was the magical word.

–Are you really the Mayor of the municipality that hosts a UWC?!

This was a landmark that spoke for itself even in more cosmopolitan circles.

During Berge-Stang’s years with the mayor’s chain, she felt compelled to gather as many politicians as possible to UWC and Haugland. – It is a place you

must experience for yourself to fully understand it. One can try explaining it, but it is the personal expe rience that hits the nail on the head. A highpoint in the year was the graduation ceremony, during which she would always make sure to have her colleagues from the region with her in addition to national politicians like the Minister of Culture Abid Raja and the Secretary of State, Laila Bokhari. And best of all was if you could give them a task. Each of the two re spective politicians just mentioned, mesmerized the graduating class with their speeches and encounters of their first-hand experiences as first- generation Norwegians. And never did Berge-Stang invite politi cian-colleagues who would not be moved by meeting these teenagers who had dedicated two years of their life to this place and now we›re ready to head out into the world as ambassadors. They departed with their diplomas and municipality emblem pins.

–I believe there is even more potential to be unleas hed on our region by hosting a UWC. And traveling abroad turns you into a kind of a rock-star when you introduce yourself as the Mayor of a UWC-municipa lity, she humorously concludes.

For many years also Labor Mayor Arve Helle has had a strong relationship with the College and the Haugland Center. This was when he worked for a longer period as the Chairman of the Board for HI FUS, the research and development company based at Haugland.

–UWC brought the world to Fjaler. During the 25 years, it has been visited by more than 2500 youths from over 100 countries who have given us impul ses that no other district municipality comes close to. The College puts Fjaler on the map, making us famous at home and abroad. The strongest memory of UWC from my time as a Mayor, is the enor mous engagement that was stirred up as soon as the government in 2003 proposed cutting their support for the school. There was a mobilization of magni tude. I remember well how Director of Development

Magne Bjergene passed by the Royal Palace before we gathered at the Parliament. Magne made sure to mention the little chat he and the Queen had had about the school, to the parliamentarians in passing. Not surprisingly, support was subsequently given at hyper-speed. I had noticed Queen Sonja’s strong and genuine commitment for the College, and this gave me great pleasure and impressed me massively.

I had the honor of being the host for the Queen on several of her visits to Haugland, and it was obvious that she was genuinely interested in the College and the students’ wellbeing. There are many reasons to be grateful for the UWC. It means a lot to the Fjaler community. I am sure that the school will continue being a powerful life-force for the locals but also worldwide in the form of values that the UWC-move ment mediates and which students take with them on their journey onwards.

–Are you really the Mayor of the municipality that hosts a UWC?!

THE NORDIC REGION IN THE WORLD

Humanitarian Exchange with Western-Sahara

Have you heard of Western-Sahara? If not, you are in good company. Te territory has many names and a history of confict. Against many odds, RCN has been able to facilitate collaborating with the region for many years..

Edmund Cluett remembers the background for the Western Sahara project like this: RCN had wrapped up its work with an exchange program in China. The project was in collaboration with Ningxia University made possible by the Norwegian Peace Corps and the. At this time, the College was hosting a student from Western Sahara who impressed everybody.

–Sinea was a strong student, open, curious, and always interested in exploring. What I say now might sound like a stereotype. She happened to come from a religious culture, wearing a robe down to her ankles and a headscarf. But her headscarf was not black. Sinea was always colorfully dressed. She would roll up her sleeves and robes to play football. Much was new

to her, and she was very direct. So Sinea got all of us interested in the Western Sahara region. Magne Bjer gene was always one to organize and fix things. He hoped to do another exchange program sponsored by the Peace Corps. Peter Wilson carried out a feasibility study. He traveled to the refugee camps in the Wes tern Sahara and presented our ideas to our partners there. The Peace Corps was willing to undertake another project with us, and then I got involved.

Cluett and Toppan

Cluett and his wife Angie Toppan worked and lived at UWC RKN for two periods from 2001 to 2017.

Cluett worked as a photographer, was responsible for the website and was leader of the Western-Sahara exchange. Toppan has also been the coordinator of the Learning Support team.

Previously he had been a practicing Buddhist monk in a monastery. But then he met Angie. And so, he asked to be freed from his services as a monk. After a stay in Scotland, the next chapter started when they landed at Førde Airport Bringeland in 2001. Even tually, the Western -Sahara project became the most important part of his work. On short notice he had

Celebrating UWC day on September 21st. Council Chari Pär Stenbäck no 2 from the right.

to learn all there was to know about the last African colony. His job was to ensure the exchange’s safety and the benefits for all those involved.

Cluett has done extensive travel in his life and be lieved that he had seen many parts of the world. But Western Sahara surprised him.

–You can imagine tent towns in the middle of the desert! The colony comprises four tent towns like that. Each town has hundreds of tents. Each tent houses a family. Each tent measured around four meters in diameter, circular, with room to sleep, eat, be together and have meetings.

–And these towns all had services like education, health care and buildings for the politicians to meet?

–Yes, and the education system is among the best in North-Africa. That was one of the reasons for belie ving in the exchange program when the Saharawi people finally came to Flekke to take part in life there. But there were many challenges on the way, and it was probably hardest for the young Norwegi ans coming to Western Sahara.

In short, Western Sahara is an area on the NorthWest Coast of Africa, in the Maghreb region. The

capital is El-Aainún with a population of around 220000. The people here have been fighting to be recognized as a sovereign state. Morocco ruled most parts of the area in 1975. Norway recognizes neith er the Moroccan nor the Saharan-Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) occupation of the area.

Cluett and his working partners established an annual exchange program. Three Norwegian students were to spend a year in the West-Sahara while youths from the West-Sahara spent a year in Haugland. Due to the West-Saharan’s very extreme climate, the Nor wegian students were only able to stay there for eight months maximum. In practice, the periods were halved to four months.

–The first year was relatively bad, both for those traveling to and from West-Sahara. They all had a culture shock and felt lonely here. We then flew the Western-Saharan administrators to the school so they could experience what being here was like and discuss how things could improve. The second year got better. At this point we already had agreed on how things were supposed to be. During the fourth year, something happened in the region that made it unsafe to send the young adults to the area. After this

Fk volunteers in Western Sahara: Renate Rustand, Ida Krog and Lena Dyngeland being visited by Peter Wilson.

initial five-year cycle, the project was discontinued. I would have liked another five-year cycle for this pro ject. It was a challenge for everybody, especially for the Norwegians in the Sahara. But these were power ful experiences. I had faith in this project.

inspired them. The aim was to give the participants a different experience; to live in close quarters with refugees and “the others”. I think the project goes straight to the core of the UWC- principles of foste ring peace, understanding and a sustainable future.

–Yes, and the education system is among the best in North-Africa

The students who traveled from Norway to the Sahara were mostly busy doing useful work in the camp. The volunteers visiting RKN were engaged in extracurricular activities on campus such as leading informal Arabic language activities and otherwise participating in what was on offer on campus. They informed us about Western Sahara, and we tried to keep them motivated. Cluett was also involved in organizing the exchange from Norway to Western Sahara. We received the applications, and some of them were former Norwegian students who had been to our College. I was impressed by how these young people challenged themselves. The new ways of living

Those who traveled down for the fifth and last year, liked it so much that they wanted to stay longer. But this was against the rules agreed upon. There are also violent incidents in the region now. We received warnings not to travel. The Norwegian authorities instructed the Peace Corps to bring the youth back and terminate the project.

Life in the Camps

Since Cluett’s time at the College, the national committee for the Western Sahara has continued selecting students to come to UWC. The committee has for many years collaborated with people from the camps and young Norwegians who participated in the projects enabled by the Peace Corps. Thinking back on the project, Cluett sees a lot of good will and strong commitment. Despite good intentions, the result is not always ideal. One of the stories he told me about the camps, can illustrate this:

After a long flight and hours of driving in the Sahara Desert, he was warmly welcomed. A woman in the camp wanted to serve him a meal, and with a little help from an interpreter, he tried to make her understand that he was a vegan. “A little rice, bread, that’s fine,” said Cluett who had been in dialogue with students from the region before leaving and had heard about it being the standard meal at the camp. “I only need to keep this up for a week, so that’s easy.”, was Cluett’s attitude. The woman asked if he ate fish. No, no fish either, said Cluett: Sorry, sorry. She nodded and smiled. An hour passed, and then they came back carrying a wide tray with a pile of steaming camel meat.

–Of course, I ate it up, says Cluett with a smile: –It was the first time I had eaten meat in thirty years. Something was obviously lost in translation. But Cluett wants us to understand the reality in Western Sahara: they butcher goats and camels. But otherwi se, the food consisted of canned goods and another truckload of damaged tomatoes or peaches.

–It is an illustrative example of a situation where everybody tries their best to do the right thing.

Haja Mohammed-Nafe Ali invites us to a traditional tea ceremony, the way it would be made at home.

With the ongoing conflict in the Sahel-region, the Peace Corps’ exchange program was put on hold. But the strong international competence environ ment at UWC was a weighty argument in support of moving the Peace Corps headquarters from Oslo e to the Sunnfjord-region and changing their name to NOREC. Director of Development Arne Osland and the Mayor of Førde Olve Grotle traveled to the capital together and took part in one of the crucial meetings with the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. He commen ted on this later: “This was a time for expansion from the Haugland expansion. The region was in bloom with sprouts shooting out of many places all over the world.”

The seeds that RKN succeed in sowing and growing in the desert are therefore especially interesting and important. The sprouts came from their mandate from the Norwegian government of contributing toward peace – at home and abroad. This leads us to the central question for the next chapter. How far back can one go, when enquiring international outreach- from Norway, and the Sunnfjord region in particular?

REBUILDING THE COUNTRY WITH ART AND CULTURE

Bjarki Bragason (elev 2000-02)

There is an invisible line across the ocean from Dalsford to Reykjavik in the west. Te frst

to follow this route was Ingolfur Arnarson, in 874. Since 1995, the movement has been reversed; from Iceland to the Dalsford, and RCN. One of the Icelandic alumni has taken on a special role of modern-day na tion-builder in Iceland- this time right after the 2008 fnancial crisis.

Bjarki Bragason drives into Vesturbæjar, in the west part of Reykjavik. The artist and member of the RCN-council grew up here before moving to Flekke and enrolling at RCN in 2000. He enters the coffeehouse overlooking the open sea with an air of familiarity. That was the coastline that our man from the Dalsfjord, Ingolfur Arnarson, encountered around the year 874. According to the Saga, Ingol fur snatched a pole floating on the water as the boat approached Iceland and was going to settle wherever

–Of course, I ate it up, says Cluett with a smile: –It was the frst time I had eaten meat in thirty years

the pole drifted onto land. A statue of him decora tes the hilltop that situates Iceland’s holiest place; the Hallgrim church. An identical commemorative statue exists in the Dalsfjord. The exchange of lan guage, culture and knowledge between Iceland and Norway goes back a long way. Even now it happens daily when Bjarki sits down to order a coffee and recounts his many experiences of being an Icelandic student at RCN. It was an über-Nordic experience.

–It felt like I had missed the train, comments Bjarki: – When we were done and had received our IB, the others traveled on to their prestigious universities. I visited a friend of mine in Germany. She had been a kind of art mentor to me as a little boy. The two of them had been writing letters to each other since. Now, he was living with her and learning how to paint.

–Gradually, it dawned on me that I wanted to dis cover the world. Yet I was still not sure about how.

I considered architecture, or maybe archeology. But then suddenly it seemed obvious that I should apply to the art academy.

Bjarki’s many detours in life would prove to play a

small role in Iceland’s “second nation building” peri od, after the country went bankrupt in 2008.

Stars in the Art-sky

DWhen Bjarki returned home to Iceland, he went straight to the art academy in Reykjavik. He stayed there for three years and took a year as an exchange student in Berlin. After the art academy, he worked as an artist and was able, among other things, to get Kulturkontakt Nord to sponsor one of his projects.

–A friend and I led this project that involved 15 other Nordic artists. It was a gigantic production. And he had odd jobs parallel to doing art, for example in a bank. I was basically just working with Excel sheets and was able to work from almost anywhere, any time. But I also worked on boats and with fishing.

–Were you working at a bank when the economy collapsed?

Yes, I was. And this gave me a unique look into that side of society. But in 2008 I traveled to the California Institute of Arts and did my master’s degree. When I returned from L.A., I got the job at Reykjavik School of Arts on the spot. I participated in developing a whole new institution at this private art school. This was a consequence of a reform initiated by the pre sent-day Prime Minister, former Minister of Culture, Katrin Jakobsdottir. Katrin had somehow managed to make it clear that the Arts perspective could be app lied to all subjects at high school level. For math and physics, one should have architecture, for example. This is what we took part in shaping.

That was in 2011, after Iceland had gotten back onto its feet.

–Yes, the country recovered quickly, says Bjarki: –I have studied questions related to what we now call the Anthropocene. What happens when man crashes with the Arts perspective could be applied to all subjects at high school level.

his environment? It makes me nervous. Before the crisis, there was a great upheaval around the dam being built at Karahnjukar. It is compared to the pro tests in Alta, northern Norway, back in the early 80s. So, the power companies were planning to inundate an area the size of Manhattan. This had been an im portant nesting place for birds. I spent a lot of time up there. I was part of a human chain. We really tried to make them turn around. We were there to document the dam’s construction work. I spent the night there when they filled the dam with water. I saw the appro aching water. It was traumatic to watch the landscape that it had taken over a million years to shape, getting covered. We were obviously sacrificing nature for mo ney. The stock market crash happened shortly after.

is where he works on the day of our meeting. Bjar ki is helping to design the school’s plan. There are many ways to shape art and Iceland. Since the crisis, it seems as though the country’s put their hopes on rebuilding the nation on its legacy of culture rather than the financial one.

Bjarki is one of the important artists in Iceland who actively tries to contextualize the climate crisis as an overarching threat. As a member of the council at RCN he makes flights across the ocean between Sunnfjord and Reykjavik, just the same as Ingolfur Arnarson did in his day.

UWC AS AN EDUCATION FOR LIFE

representatives of leadership and organization

Te climate and Eco-poetry

Bjarki’s job at the Reykjavik Art School was part of the Department of Culture’s ambitious plans to rebuild the country – with art and culture. For three years Bjarki worked as the project leader. When this new education was in place, Bjarki obtained an even more prestigious position. He became assistant professor in fine arts at Iceland’s Art Academy. This

Compared to the rest of the world, it seems like the Nordic way of practicing democracy is our strongest card.

Sigrí ð ur Anna Þ órð ardóttir was an experienced and well-known politician in Iceland before she became a board member at UWC RCN. She first heard about

the newly opened school in Sunnfjord from the Nordic Council of Ministers in 1995.” Something interesting had happened in a village deep in the fjords of Norway”, she recalls. Sigrí ð ur Anna served for the Council of Minis ters for almost a decade. But it was only in 2007 that she touched down on Sunnfjord turf and saw with her own eyes what all the talk was about. It was in many ways like coming home. She had lived at a boarding school for four years when she was a teenager.

–I did not grow up with awareness of the UWC-move ment. Still, I experienced sharing everything with someo ne and what it is like being part of the kind of society that a school like this constitutes.

Pay back time

NA person who has grown with the UWC-movement, is the longest sitting chairman of the board at RCN, Bjørn Rønneberg. The AC-alumnus (1965-67) had such a po werful experience with UWC that he wanted to pay back, as he puts it. Payback time has in the meantime lasted for many decades. Rønneberg was the chairman for the Norwegian National Committee before he became the alumni representative at Atlantic College. He has been a member of the Board for the International UWC for

Ski Week, or “Friluftsveka” has provided an important experience for all generations. Here in Stryn, 2018.

seventeen-eighteen years. Only then did Tony Macoun get the idea for a Nordic UWC.

–At first it seemed like a castle in the sky, starts Rønneberg: –But thanks toTom Gresvig having the luxury of taking a break from his work as a lawyer and com mitting to this, it turned into something concrete. I became the chairman of the Financial Committee and worked with financing the project together with Ivar Lund-Mathiesen and Tom. First, we worked with the Norwegian government and then the rest of the Nordic region. It was a jigsaw where all the pieces had to come together.

–Was it also a jigsaw where you had to begin from scratch a couple of times?

–There were some rounds, yes. At one stage we nee ded 500000 NOK for a matching grant. We had to get this from the Finance Committee in the Parliament. On the last day available for the committee to pass this grant, I almost went up to them with a check showing them how much we already had, to get the remaining sum.

That was a year prior to the opening. As the readers now know, the finances were sorted out. Partially, in any case. There was only one boarding house built at this stage. But was this not according to the planned progression? Was it not simply that they had not been able to finish the whole school with boarding houses for two full school years? Not if we are to believe Rønneberg: –We only had the means to build a boarding school for a hundred students and did not know if we would gather the funds to build for another hundred. So, we took the crazy decision to open the school for 100 students, hoping it would result in financial support for the remaining facilities.

Te battle against HIV – I was told that you were once the Chair of the Board when the College was three days from having to go to bankruptcy court. Is that true?

–It was not like the College was in a deep economic crisis. The tiresome part was the constant struggle for support. We struggled to secure the government’s financing and worked relentlessly for it. The financial

1. From the opening of the new buildings for visitors, named after Thor Heyerdahl and Henri Dunant.

2. Voluntary work takes many forms. Giving a high quality lecture is one of them. Per Heggenes, from the IKEA Foundation, telling the students about their involvement worldwide.

3. Every year the College is part of TV aksjonen. This annual fundraiser was in support of the Rainforest Foundation in 2015.

structure was complicated. Eventually we found a model for RCN that the Norwegian authorities accepted. We were quite creative. We were transfer red to our own section in the Department of Educati on’s budget and felt safer. I think the government has been unusually generous during all these years.

Some call Rønneberg “the architect behind RKN”. He believes that his role was supporting Tom Gresvig.

–Tom is the father of the college. I only helped Tom realize his dreams and plans.

To others, Rønneberg is known as Chair of the Board at the big, contemporary art museum called Astrup Fearnley at Tjuvholmen in Oslo. But another impor tant chapter of his life happened when he was hired as a health worker in South Africa. Together with his wife, Rønneberg built clinics for HIV-positive women who were pregnant. Even before the country acknowledged the problem of HIV, women in this position received medicine and treatment to prevent newborns from being infected.

During these years, the infection rate at birth sank from over twenty percent to two percent, Rønneberg explains.

–From the very beginning I wanted to fortify the Nordic aspect of the school.

It is typically Nordic to promote democratic values.

But what about the UWC? Is he still committed to the movement since stepping down as chairman of the board at RCN?

I have paid back now, he says.

Overseas contact Sigrí ð ur Anna too, has experienced that it is time to stop and start something new. In 2007, she decided not to run for reelection for the Icelandic govern ment, Alltinget.

–Then UWC RCN contacted me. A small delegation had come to Iceland to strengthen the bonds bet ween the Dalsfjord region and Iceland. They heard about Sigrí ð ur Anna, who taught at junior high and had been a member of the Education Committee at Alltinget for 11 years. In addition, she had been the Minister of Environmental Protection for a couple of years during the 00-years. It was easy for her to accept the invitation.

Denmark House!

2 Ladis Said Nafe, follows in the line of the strong representation from Western Sahara.

3. Maja Howath, one of the many exceptional musical talents at the college. Photo from 2016.

–From the very beginning I wanted to fortify the Nordic aspect of the school. It is typically Nordic to promote democratic values. Our problem-solving ways can be a model for many others. But we have much to learn from other countries too.

–I believe that Norwegians and Icelanders have much in common too. Nature can be rough, even if Norwegian winters are colder. And yet the outdoor activities are important at RCN. Feeling nature on your skin affects the way you relate to it.

–What do you most appreciate here?

–My strongest experiences at RCN happened during springtime. Some of our Board meetings are right after the graduation ceremony. Our students reap the fruit of their hard labor here, knowing that they may not meet their fellow students again. It is deeply moving to see them approach the Rektor one by one, in front of the entire school. –But at the same time, we know that they will continue being active ambas sadors for the democratic way of thinking that they took part in – one of the finest things the Nordic region has to offer.

Education the Whole Person

Ingegerd Wärnersson is a member of the Council, and Hans Lindemann is the Deputy of the Board. They are from Sweden and Denmark, sitting togeth er in the Administration building. They are taking a break from the annual Council meeting and have time for a talk with me.

Wärnersson, who has a background as Minister of Education in Sweden, recounts how she was skeptical about the College at first. “Can they have a school in such an isolated place? These are after all students from all over the world! Can five of them live in the same room?”

–But then I came and saw how it worked. The culture and everything that the students learn impressed me. In this way RCN strengthens their character as human beings.

–How does the RCN of today compare with the colle ge you visited for the first time in 2008?

–The school looks the same except there are more buildings now. But the operation has developed. It seems to me like students these days participate more

1. Hanna Rømmen, in national dress for the international show.

in central decision-making, says Wärnersson.

–We have had three Rektors in my time, adds Linde mann: – First John Lawrenson who had full belief in the individual, both for students and teachers. Larry (Richard Lamont) was an unusually structu red Rektor who accomplished much for leadership, administration and also development of buildings.

During his period as a Rektor, we took the consequ ences of buildings not lasting forever.

Having solid leadership is important for the school, even if it has its own entry in the state budget. Being “on the state budget” is a top priority, since it does not make it necessary to chase renewed support eve ry year, and so gives you a form of security. But some events during the start of the millennium show how a free agent like RCN never can be fully secured. One must constantly seek support and acceptance even for the grants that one wrongly took for granted. The experienced Board members remember how the Bondevik government removed the College from the state budget:

In the autumn of 2003 in the proposition for the state budget, the post that had been operational since

1995 had vanished. The newspaper Bergens Tidende sends a team to Haugland to interview some of those who are in danger of having their studies cut short and sent back to their country with an incomplete education. BT talks to Jahvni, who grew up in SOS Children›s Villages; whom the newspapers label “underprivileged”, one of the many benefitting from a full scholarship.

“Can they have a school in such an isolated place? Tese are after all students from all over the world! Can fve of them live in the same room?”

–I often say that Palestinians and Israelis at our Col lege need to learn how to live under the same roof for two years. Then most people understand that this is a special school, says Rektor John Lawrenson to BT, but admits –that the deal between the Nordic countries is too flimsy. Lawrenson calls it a “gentleman’s agre ement”. Every autumn the College needs to ask for money again. –That’s what makes us vulnerable, says Lawrenson. 23

«Bergens

Gifts after graduation.

The students too, made sure their voices were heard. Two of them wrote a letter to the paper with poig nant arguments. They first put forth their key facts: At the college there are (…) students from SOS Chil dren’s Villages and refugee camps, as well as western youth. (…) The College’s average results have for many consecutive years, rated among the top three schools,

planning of the College, Bondevik himself commented that “International understanding and solidarity du ring workdays and holidays are crucial for creating a safe future(…) I give the initiative my full support.”

Most of them shook their heads and presented the case as a glitch

worldwide. Also, all students get to learn about the Norwegian welfare state in “Nordic Studies”. In addi tion to this very demanding academic program, the students arrange camp school, collaborating with local schools and helping clients at the Red Cross Rehab center at Haugland. Then the youths write: “The proposition to shut down the school is in contradiction to government’s politics. The Christian People’s party has foreign aid as their main agenda, while education is the Conservative Party’s top priority. During the

Then, at some point, someone in the Department of Education made the following statement: “The Col lege may well be important to the passionate idealists behind it, but it is not important for the country.” At this stage, Mayor of Fjaler, Arve Helle traveled with Magne Bjergene to Oslo to meet the Parliamentarians from all parties. (Nobody) admitted to the govern ment’s proposition. Most of them shook their heads and presented the case as a glitch. The local leaders of the governing parties were unable to comprehend the cuts and promised to do everything in their power to sort it all out through their channels. 24

Some years after this budget blunder, Kristin Clemet writes a lengthy article about the political processes in the state budget. And here Clemet brings forth the very story about the proposition to cut funding for UWC RCN, as an example how those responsi ble must not fall asleep on their shift. Clemet was a Minister of Education when the proposition was put

forth. In hindsight, I must admit that it was a glitch, writes Clemet: The Minister of Finance should in fact thank his lucky stars that those kind of propositions usually did not slip through so uncritically, she wri tes, and describes how ministers of the then-sitting government had committed themselves to bringing the school to Norway and that UWC was as she wri tes, the apple of the Queen’s eyes (Norwegian Idiom: Child of MY Heart): I think she was shocked that we wanted to cut the costs. Neither I nor the Prime Minister were eager to meet her right after presenting our budget.

It is also worth noticing how Clemet praises the solidarity within the UWC-network. She writes about the R enormous pressure-group, spread out across the globe. They mobilized very quickly, creating a storm of protests against the Department.

who were to be flown to Colleges around the world. Denmark sends six students to RCN every year.

– I fell for this college as soon as I laid eyes on it.

How does one choose the right students f when sifting through UWC-applications? Lindemann

explains the screening process: from all the Danish applicants there are eighty chosen after the first round.

– ese interviews are conducted exclusively by alumni. Will you take the responsibilities? Are you a leader? 40 of them go on to the next round based on this.

Must be robust

Hans Lindemann’s way to joining the Board at RKN went through academia. Among other things, he has been the Rektor for a Danish gymnasium that offered IB’s. He eventually met the Danish National Commit tee for UWC and was involved in selecting students

– We choose the eighteen best and keep four in reserve. Then we distribute them to the various Colleges. In doing so, we consider the individuals’ interests and qualities and how they will fit in. And it is not that we always send the most adventurous and brave ones to Swaziland, Hong Kong, or India, he says, and adds:

– Norway is right outside of Denmark. But Flekke is one of the places that offers the most eclectic culture. And it rains and rains and rains. Many of the other Colleges have a city or a village nearby where they can sit at a café, eat, and drink together. We look for

1. Muxuan Yan got to meet King Harald after having won first prica at the Abel Mathematics competition in

2. Mayor Gunhild Berge Stangand Vibeke L’Orca Mortensen from the SOS Villages, during a reception at Marianne Andresen’s

3. Pär Stenbäck sharing his perspectives with the students.

those who are robust, physically and mentally. But we also take peoples’ interests into consideration: those with musical ambitions are for example better suited at Adriatic. We do not all have in-depth knowledge about the Colleges. But together we manage to fill in the blanks, and in all honesty, I believe we are getting good at it.

– How do you keep track of the Danish students’ development?

– When they have been away for half a year, they come back for Christmas and so they get called in for an interview. Half a year seems to have changed them already. But it can be a source of unrest too. I went on a mission to one of the colleges to get a feel of the situation there. There had been moments when they needed our support. I wanted to see it from the perspective of an educator.

– How did it go?

– It went very well.

Te Nordic Region

I mention Sigrí ð ur Anna’s comment to Wärnersson and Lindemann: that the North’s strength lies in our

ways of demonstrating what democracy is. Wärners son responds to this: One of the schools’ strengths is that all countries in the region are behind it, says Wärnersson. In addition to representation in the board and council, the Nordic collaboration is also embedded in the pedagogical program:

– One of our main ideas is that Scandinavian stu dents should understand each other’s languages. Swedish, Norwegian, Danish. We made the first language class a meeting place for Scandinavians to speak to each other in their respective regional dialects and official languages. In society at large one might get the impression that this kind of teaching the neighboring country’s language is disappearing, says Lindemann. He points out other Nordic attracti ons: transparency, democracy, high living standard.

–To me, Wärnersson says, UWC is a freedom project:

– Here, everyone can discuss and express opinions on politics. Everybody›s free to gather informati on about the situation in all countries. Many have preconceptions about their own and other countries, preconceptions that sometimes are incorrect. I am so impressed by how these youths manage to live

together. It is about more than doing an IB-exam. UWC is about fostering for life: We should use this as a model in Sweden.

The day after this interview I land at Gardermoen Airport and come to Oslo where the authorities have locked down schools, bars, cafés, restaurants and factories. The Solberg government has made Norway’s historically biggest peace-time interventi on into the public space. The virus which we heard about in December has escalated into a pandemic that has forced many countries to cease producti on and to send people home, to avoid the spread of infection. For me, this flight from Bringeland will be the last for an unusually long time.

Here, everyone can discuss and express opinions on politics. Everybody›s free to gather information about the situation in all countries.

for the United Nations department of climate change, UNFCCC. She coordinates research and experiments for all countries in the federation. So far, her work has been carried out by video-conferences, emails and mobile phones. As soon as she got the job in Bonn, the pandemic hit Europe and forced all bor ders to close. She is obviously preoccupied with the pandemic only weeks after her arrival in Bonn. UWC too, with its transnational focus, has found new and increased resonance for Coordinator Simonsen.

Gathering Climate Researchers from all over the World – RCN opened my eyes to all the possibilities that arise when dedicated people collaborate.

Karin Simonsen talks over the telephone from her new home in Germany. Simonsen, who was born and raised in Canada, was part of the pioneer class at RCN in 1995-97. Just after the new year in 2020, she and her family moved to Bonn where she is working

The climate change group is under the UN’s main group and works exclusively with climate-related is sues. At this point, Simonsen uses scientific evidence and her diplomatic disposition to contribute in the best possible way to gather information about the climate situation in the world.

– My task is specific. It is about encouraging all governments worldwide to be more transparent and thus find out what progress they have made

UWC

Icealnd and Venzuela, side by side, Marianna Arrieta Yanez and Anna Sverrisdottir in 2015.

regarding the climate goals.

– Which is quite specifically, the magic number 1,5%, right? Can you say something about those goals?

– The number 1,5 is the result of scientific work done by IPCC, which is what we call the intergovernmen tal panel on climate change. ICPP is the professio nal, advising body of the UNFCCC. I was fortunate enough to work with ICPP last year. Not specifically with the 1,5 grade report, but rather research on how forests and farming fields might help us reach the 1,5 % goal. Whether the regulating of these natural resources will have an effect, depends on how carefully and reasonably it is done. One must also ef fectuate changes in other parts of the economy. Like in real life, there are no easy solutions, no magic pills. But agriculture has a big effect on CO2 emissions and climate change.

– What does it mean to be climate neutral?

– Generally, it means that one cannot emit more CO2 than one can absorb. Specific to the Paris-agreement, it is also about how we, once those goals of global temperature has been reached, start working towards balancing emissions and absorption –the way the trees in the forest do it–from 2050 and onwards. All countries who signed the agreement are united. Many countries still intend to reach the goal.

And what concretely does your job entail?

– I coordinate two other groups of international experts whose job it is to go through the reports. They do colleague assessments. The assessments are a part of the secretary’s neutrality: We do not make judgements on countries. Rather the countries judge each other based on internationally negotiated and prearranged regulations and criteria. As you might think, it is delicate business letting countries assess each other’s progress towards climate goals. It can be diplomatically challenging.

– Where are you – physically- in this process?

Generally, it means that one cannot emit more CO2 than one can absorb.

– I connect with the experts. Beyond this I help out with the communication of credible and correct

1. Under the leadership of Dan Silfwerinour Choir sings in Swedish. From 2016.

2. The Norwegian tradition of “Russ” during graduation has never been prominent at UWC, but in recent years the red dress has been visible, also on 17th of May.

3. Playing together, Celia Morton and others.

On constitution day all flags are welcome in Flekke; Samira, Jennifer, Novia and Peace.

information regarding our progress toward the 1,5/2 degree landmark, and how much we need to catch up.

Simonsen, her husband and their eight-year-old daughter had just about landed in Bonn and their new home when the pandemic locked down most of Europe. That is why all the first meetings with the UN colleagues were done by Teams or WhatsApp.

– These are special times. Very strange. Occasionally, I worked from home and always liked the possibility of being able to concentrate without being dragged into conversations. And to be honest, I hate wearing suits. Sometimes it just feels grand, rolling out of bed and sitting with the laptop. But there are many down-sides. I find it difficult to do my job when people cannot be gathered. It is also quite special getting totally novel and alien tasks without having colleagues around to ask for advice. It is not like we can just call across the hallway when one needs help getting on. So, I hope people can meet again soon.

– Can the pandemic and reducing production have a positive e ect on emissions and climate change?

– You can expect more research on this. And if it is

not empirically provable, it is possible to connect the dots and paint a picture. Studying man’s e ect on the planet is like opening a Pandora’s Box, where you can see man-made traces le in nature that we have yet to fully comprehend. It might take many years before most people make the connection between the e ects and their causes. Despite science and research being so deeply rooted in empiricism and international collaboration.

– Do you see that we will reach the climate goals?

I always keep faith. But so far 2020 has been an over whelming year. Nonetheless I feel that personally, it is very good having this meaningful job. At the same time this means that I have more information on the situation, which can be a burden at times. I know we need to do something about this. And one’s degree of pessimism depends on who you surround yourself with.

– Who do you mostly have around you?

– throughout the twenty years of our marriage my husband has been a great person to have close by. Oth erwise, one meets people from all countries here. We

share a kind of black humor. at is one way of getting through this.

– What sort of results would your work have in an ideal world?

– e goal of my work is to make countries more transparent and honest. As soon as the magic numbers are on the table, we can study, compare, and make re alistic plans. We need the real numbers, real data and to convince the authorities that it is important to be sincere. ere is a crisis right now. Climate change is comparable to covid-19. Also, in the way our country handles information about the situation. e num bers are constantly being tweaked and changed. And knowledge is a cornerstone in this line of work.

– And information is the cornerstone of a smoothly running democracy. Before moving to Germany, you

shared a border with the USA. What do you think about the situation there, seen against the great need for reliable facts and good information?

– The USA is the country where the information pro blem is most prominent. It is astounding how grownup state leaders fabricate stories, myths, and fictions. While disinformation goes viral, facts and truths which were gathered and collected with pain-staking precision by colleague assessments and fact-checks and many years of research – go over most people’s heads, unnoticed. I consider this a plague of our times. Information chaos is an old strategy for power that leaders should have risen above, which they instead hold on to. The scary part of this situation is that I have felt how easily it can be transmitted. I have seen how even Canada has lowered its standards for ignorance and information-tweaking.

1. NRK correspondent to Africa for many years, Einar Lunde finding a receptive audience during his visit, here together with Sarah-Estekke Gøsswein.

2. Pål Nesse from the Norwegian Refugee Council giving his perspective on the refugee crisis.

3. Prime Minister Erna Solberg congratulating Hannah Mulbah on completing Ridderrennet.

It is astounding how grown-up state leaders fabricate stories, myths, and fctions

Why did Simonsen choose to work in this field and position? This is the path that led up to it: Simon sen got her IB from RCN in 1997. After this she felt undecided about what way to go. But she ended up with a degree at the Norman Paterson School of In ternational Affairs among other places and has done research at the Centre For Applied Studies in Inter national Negotiation in Geneva and worked for the Canadian Forest Service (CFS). Then she got current job for the UNFCCC. She calls her work and educati on experience- a lesson in diplomacy.

– I have always had a dream of working with interna tional developmental work, which led me to do field work in developing countries. I hoped to make a dif ference. But after a year in Bolivia which was going through one of its worst political crisis, I understood how difficult it would be to make it. Working in the field in that way was not my forte. This is when I returned to Canada and completed my specialist de gree in international development studies. This again brought me to Geneva where I could concentrate on the job, structurally. I saw the role played by interna tional organizations and what traditional diplomatic

work did for solving global problems. At this point it became possible for the Canadian leaders and the Canadian Forest Service to work with negotiations for climate change.

–The road rise to meet you as you were going along. Was this how you came across many interesting-and not so many irrelevant- places on your way?

It was while all this was going on that I felt compelled to further educate myself.

–By chance I had a fantastic boss in Geneva who recognized my strengths and pointed me in the right direction. I got a job that brought me many interesting meeting places like the G8-top meeting, the World’s Bank and more. It was while all this was going on that I felt compelled to further educate my self. I moved on from the job at the Canadian Forest Service because I felt like stagnating. Canada is a big player when it comes to oil and gas and I perceived very little self-critique or self-awareness regarding the country and the role its industry played in

Per Heggenes in conversation with students.

affecting climate change. I had trouble with convin cing people that there was a problem.

–It has also been that some Norwegians and Nor wegian leaders like to stick their head in the sand. There is some self-awareness and self-critique but no will to change the big and fundamental plan.

–I have my doubts about this. Norway seems like the top student in class. In certain areas it is little Nor way who contributes most of all. They are also good with the rainforest. No one else gives more money than Norway. Those Norwegians I met at work have been motivated, motivating and inspiring. I do not see that kind of attitude in Canada.

What traces might one find of your background at RCN; what did you bring with you into real life?

–Working for a global organization today is a big

transition from the RCN I went to. First of all, I went there in an era without social media and constant in ternet news feeds. During the nineties we rarely used the phone even. I seem to remember that we spent a lot of time on campus. I believe this had a big impact on me. It is all the one-to-one contacts that enable you to understand the other’s point of view when you start caring about things that are bigger than your own problems. Working for the UN would normal ly involve regular, international gatherings. Agents would come to Bonn and sometimes we would travel around. But I loved Norway. So when I was given the chance to travel back, we did it. My husband and I went to the place where my Norwegian ancestors came from.

–There is something Nordic about the name Karin and Simonsen…

It was this place that witnessed two tidal waves. Both times it caused the death of sixty to eighty people

1. Chair Tove Veierød, County Governor Anna Karin Hamre and Mayor Arve Helle take part in hosting Her Majesty Queen Sonja in 2015.

2. Steiner Bryn first visited the College with a guest lecture on “America in Norway” in the 90s. Here he is back 20 years later.

3 Happy volunteers in Western Sahara.

–Simonsen was my great grandfather’s name. He was Simon’s son. The farm he grew up on, carries his name and still stands near Loenvatn. It is a breathta kingly beautiful place that also has a tragic history. It was this place that witnessed two tidal waves. Both times it caused the death of sixty to eighty people. We visited this place. My daughter is called Sigrid and she is named after her great-great-grandmother. I feel a strong connection to Norway and that farm.

I also grew up on a farm in Canada in Saskatchewan. The farm was called Lodal like the one in Sogn & Fjordane.

Simonson is, in other words, “international”. She sticks to UWC’s idea of solving global problems with international collaborations. But will the UWCschools that were also hit by the pandemic, have the means to make a difference?

It is all the one-to-one contacts that enable you to understand the other’s point of view when you start caring about things that are bigger than your own problems

Flekke may have the most colourful 17th of May parade in the country.

Nordic Region and its

SCHOOL FOR A

–UWC was created as a reaction to the Second World War. One of the founding ideas was to gather an international school community and work across borders, cultures and religions and thus contribute toward a better world. RCN’s anniversary year 2020 was heavily impacted by the pandemic. One can only wonder: how can the UWC-philosophy contribute to a time where global and local changes are so closely linked?

in snowy weather.

EVERYDAY LIFE EVEN IN STATES OF EMERGENCY

Elevar Dieko, Maya og Tenzin

UWC represents transnational solutions for worldwide problems. Te values are refected in the mirror of the pandemic. Te pandemic also has a practical and emotional aspect. Should you send students back to their home countries? Could and should you hold onto the students, and let them be safe in Haugland?

1On March 12th, 2020, Norway locked down schools and kindergartens, industry and services and en couraged everybody who could, to stay at home.

Everywhere in the world, ports, airports, and borders shut down. RCN was still open. On March 13th it was open too and stayed open throughout the weekend.

What else could the students do when their College was their home and leisure time, while their home countries were on the other side of the world?

Coming to terms with the extended restrictions, RCN

discontinued their classes and activities and sent the following message to their students: The ones who were able to travel home, should do so. They had twelve hours to decide. On the next day, a bus with students left the College in the direction of Førde and Bergen airport. Approximately ¾ of the students chose to leave. Around fifty stayed behind and were redistributed into new rooms in Finland and Iceland House.

I am talking with three of these students at the end of April 2020: Dieko from Namibia, Maya from Italy and Tenzin from Tibet who are gathered in the same room in Finland House. We talk on Google hangouts. The sun is shining through the window. It is relative ly bright for an April evening in Fjaler.

–In a way it all happened very abruptly. One day the school was open as usual. The next person returning home, Dieko, who is the only first-year student out of the three starts: – But otherwise, our changes were not as drastic as elsewhere in Norway.

¾ of the students have left campus. How do you notice that?

– I have yet to grasp the gravity of the situation. I was lucky enough that my best friends stayed behind on campus. Some of them are second-year students, and I get to spend extra time with them now, possibly more than in a normal situation where we must study for exams and leave school early.

– Do you still think that you and the other first-year students will have a school year left here after the fall?

– Yes, I keep hearing myself say that. “See you in the second year”, we say. But there are no such certain ties. That is the difficult part.

Her aim is to persevere with medicine studies. She has handled subjects like math, physics, or chemistry pretty well

Education in Times of Uncertainty

Spring 2020 is tainted by the mark of uncertainty. Dieko, Maya and Tenzin each feel it in their own way. Dieko did not make the trip home in time before the borders closed. Maya is from the North of Italy where the pandemic hit hard. It was safer for her to stay at

school than returning home. Tibetan Tenzin’s family is exiled in India.

– There is a deep crisis in India because of the pan demic. It hurts not being able to spend time with my family when I see how India is being hit.

There is another question that makes the girls unea sy, because nobody can answer it: What will happen to their professional future? The IB-exams in 2020 have been canceled. One still doesn’t know how to grade the students in 2020. The second-year students have had their classes locked down.

– We, the first-year students, will keep on studying, hoping that things return to relative normality in the fall.

All the girls are ambitious and skilled students. Tenzin for example, has four classes at higher level and most of them are of the unusual kind. Her aim is to persevere with medicine studies. She has handled subjects like math, physics, or chemistry pretty well. Yet she feels a strange kind of deficiency:

– I sit here in the protected environment on campus and do not directly feel what is going on in the world.

1. Junette Maxis, one of many alumni who has received awards as agent of change, here with ex President Bill Clinton.

2. The Paper Princess - a co-production with the Bergen International festival in 2017.

3. Swedish alumni at reunion in 2003.

Yet I know how difficult the situation is in India.

At the same time, shouldn’t one at least show some gratitude for being so privileged?

Maya nods in agreement while also appreciating the video conferences.

– The situation in North-Italy has been very bad. But I have received regular reports from home and know that my family is fine.

discover how we take a lot for granted. Like everyday life at school and all its possibilities, for example. Another example is our fellow students.

– Was it as though their “graduation” took place a qu arter of a year ahead of schedule in one day, without any preparation?

– Yes, it was like breaking up with 150 people at the

Zoom in and out Dieko has had the video-conference app Zoom on her computer for as long as she has been going to the college. But before the pandemic hit, she hardly ever spoke with the family back home in Nigeria. Now she has frequent chats with her folks and preferably with all her relatives at once.

– I have unbelievably many cousins and nieces who I didn›t even know prior to leaving. Now I have an entirely different relationship with my family and relatives, she says and believes it will stay that way.

Maya adds: –This is like a wake-up call for many of us, to

Ja, det var litt som å slå opp med 150 menneske på ein gong. Eg trur graduation alltid kjennest slik.

same time. I think graduation always feels like that. The pandemic amplified the sorrow. Within the be ginning, all of us were in shock. Eventually it all sank in, and the sorrow changed. Many believed they had wasted precious time better spent on something else. –Better?

–If “next year” comes around –While Maya, Tenzin and the other second-year students hardly have any classes now, Dieko still has her regular school-hours from twelve to five. Some

The Graduating class of 2016.

employees can only meet online because they live off campus or because they have family members wor king with people outside of campus. The campus is in many ways a closed entity for keeping contagion out. The Haugland Center is shut. All activities and ser vices that involve external people have been canceled.

Internal activities like kayaking, climbing and such are still going on.

– It has had a disciplining function, Dieko comments dryly.

Luckily and maybe coincidentally, the IB has progres sed well with online classes. Typically, it would begin with subject managers and teachers of IB gathering for a conversation and exchange in a chat forum. This became a more or less complete online teaching tool. Chris Hamper’s physics tool is an example that was discussed earlier in this book. Even for the Hampers this teaching tool expressed a necessity in a state of emergency, and it later became one of IB’s and UWC’s strengths.

The girls in room 203 at the Finland House have many questions. Will their countries’ borders open again? Would it even be reasonable to travel back

there? How will they spend their summer in Norway if they cannot return home? Can they live with host families? What will the campus look like if the school is to continue? What alternatives are there if next year gets canceled?

– A long time ago my plan was to travel the world after my studies. I can forget about that plan now, Dieko says before concluding that currently she is mostly thinking about returning home. Still, she ho pes to finish her second year, get her IB-diploma and have a more ordinary and less abrupt farewell than the second-year students got.

Generation Corona

Generation “pandemic” might go over in the history books as a unique class at RCN. Have the girls thoug ht about that? Maya answers:

– When Corona hit my country, I started keeping a diary. I have been writing down daily occurrences and feelings. It has been interesting to go back and read. It started with us not being able to go beyond Førde. After that we could not go to Dale and not even Flekke. Then we got the sudden message that all This is how you look during the pandemic.

those who could, had to return home.

– What does your journal say about your feelings?

– Generally, I am nervous. The world will go through drastic changes. There is no normality.

Tenzin also reflected on what the corona situation might do to the world and humanity at large:

–Everybody must reassess their priorities. Not the least, one must ask oneself the question, do I need this thing or not? When such a significant part of the laboring force has been incapacitated or are working from home it is only a matter of time before the race for material goods begins, says Tenzin. She believes and hopes that this in turn can lead to a reorganiza tion of society, not just a more equitable distribution of resources. She hopes new concepts of important jobs will emerge.

– One notices how important the primary industry and having food in shops is. One might find new re spect for the cashiers at the supermarket and cease to underestimate one another, she says. She also believes that it is an eye-opener for one’s own values. Moneyin cash or as a number on a screen – is worth little

if there is no food, clothes or house, she says and underscores that money has no value in and of itself.”

Value” means consuming in a sustainable way:

– We can now see that it is possible to live without buying stuff all the time. When ordering clothes gets complicated, then we repair old ones instead. We can see that we have been abusing our planet, says Tenzin.

We can now see that it is possible to live without buying stuf all the time

RKN is and will always be a little world of its own. This world too can change with the pandemic, the girls believe.

– For us it will never be the same RCN again. We notice this already now in the way we spend our time together, the way we meet each other, says Maya.

–Back in the day, there was a lot more physical conta ct between friends here. Living so close to one anoth er here means experiencing everything together.

People

– Our world has been…super intense. But just like the rest of the world, RCN has set up rules about keeping a certain distance. Nonetheless, the corona situation has elevated our sense of community to a whole new level. It is still intense in a more seri ous manner. People are opening to each other and asking, “How do you do?” We listen to the answers and understand each other better. Relationships are stronger. How can we make this last? It all depends on how we use this opportunity, says Dieko.

Just before we say “bye-bye”, I ask one of the girls what her plans for the evening are. “Now I will study for my Spanish exam”, says the first-year student. 25 The second-year students say nothing.

On the wall in a cabin in Agder, there is a pic ture of young Arne and Inger Johanne Osland taken prior to the young couple moving to Wales in 1991. Little did they know that their choice to become teachers would end in the Director’s job and always new decisions to make at Haugland.

What we do know is that we need to listen to the in fection prevention specialist in our municipality and otherwise make good assessments based on national guidelines.

Director of Development Arne Osland talks from his home office, a room with a slanted roof and view of the fjord near the village Flekke. Inside the student room at Finland House located a couple of kilome ters north of the little hill beside the local children’s school I have turned on my video-conference pro gram Zoom. Osland recounts how he found out that

Norway would close its borders because of the ongo ing pandemic. The leadership team had taken many decisions in this new situation.

– The Doctor responsible for infection prevention was in favor of us having the students stay at school. If we can isolate ourselves from the world, then we count as one large household. So, we intended to keep the students at school, initially.

– Was the school open as usual until the day before yesterday?

–Yes, but of course adjustments were made. We got support from the local Doctor in charge of infection prevention. But soon we understood that our predi cament would last longer. We saw how countries star ted closing their borders. We were facing a situation where all the students would be stuck here without the possibility of going home to their families- for a long time. There were many problems related to this, among others that our health workers would have to care for the students for an uncertain amount of time. That was partly why we decided to help all those who could travel home, to do so.

UWC-afnities

OSo Osland is situated a couple of kilometers outside of Haugland which is far from the rest of the world but still has a busy transit of students, patients and employees from both institutions. The village Flek ke has about two hundred plus inhabitants spread out. It is not a village that is likely to be hit hard by a pandemic.

Like others here, Osland is within walking distance of trails, mountains and fjord. He keeps on working like before despite the pandemic. Except that he does not have the daily physical interactions with students and their environment at the College. And despite the restrictions that have been put in place regarding face-to-face contact, which is in fact so important for UWC, this state of emergency makes this school extra important.

– Corona has led to a global shut down. But the pandemic requires both local and global solutions. It has demonstrated that politicians will act when they must, and that we as citizens can be part of changes that we might have ridiculed previously. It shows us that a new world is possible.

25. Since the making of this interview, a lot has changed with regards to the school and the pandemic. By the New Year 2021, many students at RKN had been “corona-stranded” at school for a year already. It was documented by NRK Sogn & Fjordane and broadcast over the whole country: “Now we celebrate Christmas holidays at school”, writes NRK in the headline. Ww.nrk.no/vestland.

–A TEST FOR THE WORLD, A TEST FOR THE UWC-VALUES

Utviklingsdirektør Arne Osland

– We remember that this school was built becau se Norway is a peace nation. Now we have become especially aware of our mandate. Politicians do not consider the school a luxury that one can easily shut down in such difficult times.

and Ragnfrid Trohaug. The latter told the story about the photograph on the wall on the island Borøya out side of Tvedestrand, where their friends-in-common from Wales have a cabin.

Western Norway and Wales

To understand Osland’s loyalty to the UWC-values, we take a small break from the 2020 pandemic and return to the early nineties. There is an ad for a job as a teacher of Scandinavian languages at Atlantic Col lege. One of the applicants is the recently graduated Norwegian teacher Arne. On a professional level he is on par with all the other applicants after the first round of interviews, only younger. The Vice-Prin cipal at AC then contacts Ivar Lund-Mathiesen who now sits in the selection committee: “Is there an app licant in our stack who can join Lifeguards?” Sure. The young man. Physical Education is one of the sub jects in his degree. He has played competitive football and is generally interested in outdoor activities. That is how Arne ended up being hired as a Norwegian A1 teacher specializing in literature. Among profiled students he has educated, are authors Hilde Hagerup

The fact that Osland still is in contact with his former students, encapsulates one of those typical UWC fe atures. The downside of this is that campus life does not give much room for privacy. But mostly it is for the good. One is supported by the whole group, also when it’s needed most.

Global crisis, global solutions

UThe Director of Development does not seem down cast or tired by the situation but rather alert and engaged. In many ways the pandemic has made the work at United World College in Sunnfjord – and the whole organization- particularly meaningful. UWC Red Cross Nordic shows how one can and must work both globally and locally, all UWC’s values have global as well as local dimensions. We were able to demonstrate that to its full extent during these last weeks when the world locked down. We must manage the infection prevention here and now by following national guidelines and the staff’s assessments. On a

Graduation is a big day, both for students and their families. Here in 2019.

planetary scale, our global solutions for the pandemic require trans-national collaborations. Now, we are putting our trust in a vaccine – it will be developed, manufactured and distributed to the people – in a way that benefits all.

– Are there any problems with the local solutions?

– Our reaction to the pandemic has proven that society can mobilize when it is burning. At the same time, we can see how the situation ostensibly created a resonance chamber for protectionist rhetoric. That is not all positive.

– What about the UWC as a movement: Has it shown resilience in these trying times?

– Mark Wang’s UWC in China was the first to close.

There were talks about it being only a matter of time before it came to us. We heard it, but it did not really sink in. Of course, the infections cannot be preven ted by national borders. When it eventually comes, I hope the vaccine won’t get stopped by national borders either. We live in an interwoven world. We educate students so that they can appreciate the complexity of this and feel at home with it. They are

taught to perceive and experience that the truth can be interpreted in many ways. One must pierce the noise bubble and seek valid conclusions. The nation is a cornerstone of democratic interaction. Yet it is

still important for each and one to be part of the world at large. We foster active participants and agents of change equipped with knowledge and compassion. Here at UWC it is a short way from big perspectives to personal experiences. There is a familiar face that can be tied to so many events in the world – think about the richness inherent in these experiences and being able to bring this with you at a personal level.

– The patient ones will keep in mind that this pan demic too can end. But there have and will always be more challenges to meet for our globally shaped communities. Can you think of any other situations where the UWC-values come into play and allow one

Red Cross

UWC Røde Kors Nordisk viser korleis ein kan og må jobbe både globalt og lokalt.

to learn a little about the philosophy behind it?

– Yes, here and now we have the Black Lives Mat ter-movement. In a broader sense, this is about identity which is at the UWC’s core. For a long time, it was often said that colorblindness is the ideal. We have recently been reminded that this ideal also may obscure real divides and systematic discrimination that exist between groups? At an individual level it remains that the goal should be empowerment. We must educate our students to become responsible agents in their own life situations and enable them to see it in relation to a wide range of issues.

– Having been in the UWC-system for over thirty years, what were these issues? How did they change over time?

– I can still remember the first time a student came out as homosexual at AC during the nineties. It was through the student paper. My overriding impressi on was that he got support from all classmates and employees. In those days that was not a given. Today we have different issues. The goal remains that our students should be able to show their true colors.

Borders and Limitsr

When Osland talks about borders I am reminded of issues that came up earlier in the process of working on this book. Many of my interviewees have talked about how fantastic but also challenging the border less environment at an international boarding school is. I ask Osland about the RCN-tradition of throwing students celebrating their birthday into the fjord at midnight – shouldn’t there be a limit against that?

– It might seem like an innocent example. The birthday tradition you mention has in some cases lifted the spirits. On the other hand, I have heard of students who were not looking forward to this feared student tradition on their birthday. Some were thin king: “Do my roommates know that I can’t swim?” It was therefore necessary to ban this. As teachers, we are role models and should also make an example to show that you have to be clear about something that is not acceptable. When you look at how people rela te to one another, you will see that we are all mutu ally dependent on another, at the same time as we all want individual autonomy.

– So, this local phenomenon -the birthday traditioncan be used to draw knowledge about society?

–That is possible. And think about food distributi on, which is a relevant example in society at large. All societies can increase their degree of autonomy regarding food. At the same time, we know that there are countries better adapted to farming than us. The fields around here in Flekke would not operate if one left it all to the global free market. But we have rich access to seafood in Norway. As a nation we need deals that ensure that we can export from the com modities we have in abundance. Here it is a trans national task to find solutions so that the coming generations can feed the growing population world wide. This is complex not least of all because we must find sustainable solutions to it all. This complexity is well taken care of by the UN’s sustainability goals – a central reference in our education.

Marcus C. Guardian (elev 1997-99)

Closed borders and local solutions during the corona pandemic has given Marcus C. Guard

ian ideas about how to best organize European collaborations. Especially with regards to medicine.26

– I am trying to facilitate collaborations for the development of the COVID-19 vaccine. Attempting to gather people, finding common solutions. But it is turning out to be a bit difficult.

In a little village in Belgium, a low, intense evening sun is setting. Marcus C. Guardian ambles around a Te felds around here in Flekke would not operate if one left it all to the global free market

26. is chapter is based on two conversation with mr. Guardian. e more general subject matters about Guardians background was discussed during an interview in Oslo in the summer of 2019. e covid-19-related issues were discussed via video conference during the rst major European lockdown in 2020. e conversation and our observations and thoughts about the pandemic may be slightly anachronistic seen in relation to the knowledge of 2021. But this is included nevertheless, as a snapshot of the time.

– WE COULD HAVE LEARNED SO MUCH FROM THE UWC-PHILOSOPHY

garden, and seems professional in this new manner of meeting, all happening over video conference. His circling in the garden creates a looser and less formal frame around the whole thing. Screens and phones are the Guardian›s most important method and me ans of communication. He is the CEO for the phar maceutical network European Network for Health Technology Assessment (acronym: EUnetHTA). He works there to strengthen contacts with and collabo rations for medicine and vaccines between politici ans and pharmacists on a national and international level. To him, it always felt like deeply meaningful work. Then the pandemic hit, and he glimpsed the potential for improvement that lies in crisis manage ment and international cooperation.

– The corona pandemic is a drastic turn of events and a sudden development in the world. In the background we see serious risks lurking that I believe we should now bring to the fore and evaluate. The pandemic has brought them into the light.

– You’d rather call the pandemic “a development “ than “something new”?

– It was a predictable situation. But of course, we do not have a vaccine ready. 27 What has become so very clear is that no country was prepared for such a crisis. The pandemic has shown the limits of politics. Few politicians were used to making the toughest decisions.

– What about the rest of us, all the citizens?

– The pandemic shows how no-one is used to step ping out of their comfort zone. As silly as it may sound, this much is true: The so-called challenges we, the westerners, face are relatively manageable.

A friend of mine runs a hospital in Delhi. She tells me: “It is a luxury to be practicing social distancing.”

In India, most people are homeless and do not have access to clean, running water.

Trust

Trust is a keyword in Guardian’s life. To receive, give, and regain trust. Guardian has accomplished his work thanks to the trust he has built with ministers, health directors and the science community. He must be able to trust those who manufacture the medicines and vaccines which he mediates. And he must also

The Norwegian students succeed in engaging Queen Sonja for an unplanned meeting in 2017!

have trust in those who request the medicines and vaccines, and in politicians.

– In the western part of the world one has discussed how Third World countries have resorted to unci vilized solutions when resources were running low and situations became tense. But we did not react any better. The behavior I have seen on a national level during the pandemic did disappoint me at times. We have a president in the USA, Donald Trump, who first and foremost thinks of his own individual situa tion. Most other heads of state have thought exclusi vely of their own nation. Even Norway, Sweden, and Denmark - each country with a unique history and tradition of Nordic cooperation - have closed their borders to each other.

Denmark was the first to close its borders, on the 11th of March 2020. In the days that followed, one country after the other introduced border controls that denied visitors entry. Ports and airports eve rywhere closed, while production and activity shut down. Apart from almost only Sweden. There it was in many ways “business as usual”, an attitude that was both criticized and applauded.

– There is something akin to a battle going on bet ween Norway/ Denmark and Sweden, about who has made the right decision: “we” with our tight re strictions or “them” who kept their society open and productive, with contact tracing.

Trust is a keyword in Guardian’s life.

To receive, give, and regain trust

– You have witnessed the beginning of the development of vaccines. What can you tell us about it?

– Just a couple of days ago a German company pre sented a new COVID-19 test. It was an effective test that would benefit many people. Those who were in vited to the presentation were all German, ministers and directors. In an ordinary situation, there might have been health ministers from Germany, France, Italy, and an otherwise international panel. There is a growing tendency towards protectionism within countries now, with an inherent egoism.

– Surely, it isn’t the traveling restrictions that prevent

a presentation from having international exposure?

– No, now everything happens via videoconference anyway.

– I was tired of being shot at and of people trying to kill me. I was ready for something totally different.

Te pharmaceutical network

As the CEO for EUnetHTA, Guardian has an over view of the European pharmaceutical industry and tries to influence the decisions made by the gover ning powers. Also, in Norway. What pharmaceutical preparations ought to be listed as available on the Norwegian market in the “Felleskatalogen”, a catalog presenting the stately approved medicines. This is some of the decision-making EUnetHTA is involved in. Guardian represents this platform, which includes 83 governmental health institutions. Still, the field is not as independent as he would like it to be.

Health policy is an easy way to score points with the electorate. The pharmaceutical industry is greatly politicized. It is a fragmented and problematic field. How did he end up here?

I was tired of being shot at and of people trying to kill me. I was ready for something totally diferent

Guardian smiles a little while explaining why he, after ten years in Afghanistan, Syria, the Balkans, and other war-torn areas, ended his career as a peace worker and came to EUnetHTA:

Rotterdam Fjaler

Marcus Christian Guardian was born in Rotterdam in 1978 and came to Norway in 1995 as a part of the UWCRCN’s first generation of students. Being Ger man, Guardian needed two science subjects and four subjects at a higher level, to qualify for the Abitur exam at home. He chose math and physics for science at a higher level, as well as German and History. On top of that, he had geography, biology and a little Norwegian. After UWC, Guardian took a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies at the University of Dresden. He traveled to China and took an MBA at the Ocean University of Qingdao before he in 2003 completed his Master degree number two in Diplo matic Studies at the University of Leicester. After finishing his studies in 2003, he worked for the high commissioner for human rights in Sarajevo.

A quiet campus during the pandemic.

– This led to a decade of foreign service, Guardian recounts:

– I have worked for human rights, against human trafficking and other kinds of abuse, for the army and civil unions, for British, German and Dutch Mi nistries of Defence and spent a particularly long time on a project in Afghanistan. The project was based in Jaipur in Rajasthan and was a collaboration with the local jewel manufacturers. I worked for governmental institutions then and together with NGOs and an In dian institution. The job consisted of teaching young afghans the craft, especially polishing diamonds and manufacturing rings, bracelets, and the likes. The project was driven by a colorful and idealistic, British aristocrat. Her main idea was to expose afghans to the Indian knowledge and environment. They were to soak it up and bring it back to Afghanistan. The pro ject received financial support from the government and is an example of how money from the defense budget can go to humanitarian work.

was part of many more projects for the Ministry of Defence. The jewel manufacturing project is public. The military projects are confidential. He cannot go into any more detail about them But he can relate how his travels between Asia and Europe led him to increased involvement with projects for the EU com mission. Soon enough, he was headhunted by the Eu ropean network for Health Technology Assessment.

– They realized that a change was necessary for in ternational cooperation between health trusts and so they brought me in.

Afghanistan EU

Guardian spent four-five years in Afghanistan and

As the Chief Operating Officer, Guardian’s main re sponsibility is the mediating and implementing of the scientific knowledge that EUnetHTA produces. He has negotiated with ministers and health directors, quite literally across all of Europe, and has visited a couple of European towns every week for negotiati ons. Occasionally, he has had to put people in line who were not following European regulations. This is especially the case with regards to the testing of new medicine. Like vaccines, they can take - in his expe rience - over a decade to develop. The development

of the vaccine against COVID-19 is now taking place at express speed and will likely be ready in a fraction of the normal time.

– The most important thing is making sure that the medicine is safe. Is it safe and does it do what it is supposed to? EUnetHTA evaluates both effects and side effects.

– What exactly is your role?

– Negotiations and influencing decision-making. The professional aspect is taken care of by a brilliant advi ser. She is from Canada, has a double PhD in relevant subjects, and she helps me make up my mind swiftly about the work at hand.

– And what visions have you had regarding your work?

– Early on, I would get my knees in a knot over the fact that a lot of medicine many patients are de pendent on, is so costly. It is up to the politicians to make the changes. Now, cooperation in the field is the matter of my heart.

– Do you see problems -apart from the pandemicthat might turn into global challenges in the long run?

– We are about to leave behind the pharmaceutical industry as we used to know it. The administration of medicine is, for example, becoming increasingly tailored to the individual. One of the challenges we meet is how to test medicine that is tailored to the in dividual. This raises ethical issues that societal actors must come to terms with.

Nettverk i koronaens tid

Guardian calls himself a “backman” since the scientists work in the front. Nonetheless, or may be because of that, he knows a great deal about the government and departments, as well as the large-scale health companies’ undertakings, reacti ons, and standpoints. It is Guardian who goes into dialogue with them about medicine and vaccines. He notices how the “vast majority avoids making the big decisions”.

How can we as a global society become more resilient when a serious pandemic hits?

– The civil society tends to break down when facing a crisis. The civil society has a duty to be ready for a crisis. The pandemic is a kind of test, as they say. But they do not pass it. The only part of society that we have seen trained for handling of crisis, is the military.

– What do you think this pandemic might teach us?

– We must build an organization that takes respon sibility for precisely this: How can we as a global society become more resilient when a serious pande mic hits? How can we create a network that will resist and function then?

– How has life been for you since the pandemic hit, apart from your experience of disillusionment?

– It has been busy, of course. But in my sector too, most of the communication has moved to the digi tal domain. Meetings happen via video, also in my sector. So, I no longer travel the world. Still, I must move a great deal between Amsterdam and Brussels. It is symptomatic of our lacking a sense of commu nity that I now, for the first time ever, get stopped at the borders and have to prove that I have a good

reason to cross them. Borders are artificial. Why must we do things this way?

– Why do we?

– It has to do with the absence of a common appro ach. The problem is that very few nations have the capacity of doing anything constructive on their own when dealing with issues of such magnitude.

China, USA, or the EU might have been able to do something. Yet none of them have convinced me in this case. When it all comes down to it, they act on egotistical grounds. And once again, there is the issue of the closed borders. Call me defeatist. But the EU was close to gaining the overhand, of pulling through with a common effort. And then we locked down.

– In what way were you directly involved in the nati ons’ crisis management?

– One nation wanted to cooperate because of a lack of medicine. This is a problem a lot of nations must deal with now. I established networks and bore witness to how some parts participated exclusively to gather information that would enable them to be the first to buy the medicine.

Tough guys don’t cry! Much joy during graduation.

Being ready

Guardian wanders in circles between the trees as he talks over FaceTime and has ten days of home office before returning to Amsterdam, and then Brussels. His colleagues all live in European countries, and in a normal situation he would almost “live at the air port”. Guardian is a world citizen and a European but is beginning to appreciate what looks like a sedentary life. It is the first time that he enjoys such extended periods at home, like a “normal man”, where he can spend quality time in this calm village. Interesting ly, it is a village that was hit hard during the Second World War. And as this year marks the 75th year since the end of the Second World War, it is an event worthy of its own grand celebration. Guardian draws parallels to the lessons learned after the liberation:

– We celebrate our liberation from- what I might call – the sickness that Nazism and extreme nationalism were. There is a great deal of focus on the lessons to be learnt from our mistakes and to ensure that we will never end up there again. But when the different leaders now panicked, those lessons were blown to oblivion. They forgot that this pandemic too, will

pass. Then, the neighboring countries will recall how this, and that country reacted when the so-called crisis broke out.

– 75 years is a long time. Is it maybe a bit much to expect them to have routines ready for staying level-headed when the unexpected hits?

– That, I believe, is not too much to ask from a head of state. Especially, when the threat is of this nature.

It is human to be afraid. But just the same, it is human to be alert.

Call me defeatist. But the EU was close to gaining the overhand, of pulling through with a common efort. And then we locked down

After hanging up the telephone, the sound of Guar dian’s voice still lingers. It was almost like before, like those many times I had heard it in the aula at Global Concern meetings, or else in social settings. It was nearly, but only nearly, like we were in the mid-nine ties, on the pier down by Bekkerhuset in Haugland. We could have been partying in the Boathouse. We might have been looking out over the fjord, at the

Still, I believe that many of us sensed the wonder of it all; the fact we could live right there, exactly the way we did; in a fve-person room and coming so close to each other. What was it? Magic?

islands, the mountainsides and the thousand hues of green from the mixed forest. We were teenagers, and few of us were aware of the work behind and the financing of our school. In those days, few of us seemed particularly worried about the climate, either. To us, the landscape, the environment, and the school were almost a given, as though all of this had been – and always would be there. Still, I believe that many of us sensed the wonder of it all; the fact we could live right there, exactly the way we did; in a five-person room and coming so close to each other. What was it? Magic?

Haugland as a motif for a Christmas Card.

EIT UTVAL KJELDER

Bjergene, Magne, Lund-Mathiesen, Ivar - med fleire: Uni ted World College/ Prosjektutgreiing juni 89/ Haugland

Campell, Judith: Kunsten å være prins-gemal - s. 32 1972

Egge, Bjørn; De ga oss en dag til å bruke, Forum s. 176

“En skole for verdensborgere” VG27/6-1963 (ingen byline)

Eriksen, Karlsvik og Wiesner NKD 20 – gitt ut av Nordisk kunstnarsenter Dalsåsen (2017)

Glovers rapport, gjengiven Et nordisk United World College/ Skolens innhold og program/ En rapport frå stiftelsens fagråd (s. 8)

Houge Sæther, Jorem Magnus Verdenscolleget må ikke legges ned – kronikk i Aftenposten 26/10 - 2003 «Investeringsoppgåvene som sto i kø» (Firda, 1/12 – 1990)

Langset, Røe Isaksen og Syse, Tre essays om konservatis me (Civita 2008)

Lorenz, Konrad: Civilized Man’s Eight Deadly Sins

- Utgivar Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (1974)

Losnegård, Gaute: Verdsgymnaset – gitt ut av UWC Røde Kors Nordsk 2005

Lund-Mathiesen, Jane med fleire: Et nordisk United Wor ld College/ Skolens innhold og program/ En rapport frå stiftelsens fagråd (s. 11)

St. meld. nr. 21/ 1999-2000/ Menneskeverd i sentrum/ Handlingsplan om menneskerettigheter

Stetson, Charles P. An essay on Kurt Hahn founder of outward (1941) – gjengive m.a. på www.kurthahn.org

T.d. Tungesvik, Hans Olav: Minneord (Tom Gresvig), Bergens Tidende 15/1-2016

Ulvedal, Terje og Apneseth, Oddleiv - BT Morgen 15/102003, s. 29

Vallestad, Silje (red) Har du 2 sekunder? Akribe forlag 1999

Fordi skapinga av skulen har vore avhengig av sterke enkeltpersonar og fordi skulen framleis blir forma av desse enkeltpersonane, har forfattaren valt ei intervjuba sert form på boka. Her blir skulens historie fortalt med alle dei unike røystene. Det har blitt ein skulehistorie sett gjennom blikka til alle desse personane som på kvar sine måtar har lagt att meir eller mindre av seg sjølv skulen.

Difor er dei viktigaste kjeldene for boka munnlege. Prak tisk talt alle desse munnlege kjeldene er siterte boka, og nemde med namn.