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PRESENTED BY STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Stockholm school celebrates global citizens

As Nobel Week kicks off in the Swedish capital, Stockholm International School held its own event celebrating learning and global citizenship at the Nobel Museum.

Published: 10 December 2015 10:45 CET
Stockholm school celebrates global citizens
Students from Stockholm International School. Photo: The Local

International ambassadors, diplomats, politicians, and brilliant minds gathered at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm on Monday to mingle with students, parents, and the “Nobel laureates of the future” from Stockholm International School (SIS).

“You might ask yourselves, why this celebration now, and why in this setting? We wanted to combine the celebration of International Education Week, the last week of November, with Nobel week, as a time when the greatest achievements of human intellect and leadership are being celebrated,” said SIS Director Marta Medved Krajnovic as she welcomed guests to the museum. 

Stockholm International School, which offers a truly international education for preschool through grade 12, is home to students from more than 60 countries.

The school was a fitting host: the aim of the evening was to honour the international nature of the Nobel Prizes, and the international learning and global mind-set that can lead to a better world for all.

Gustav Källstrand, Senior Curator at the Nobel Museum, pointed out that Alfred Nobel himself was a “global citizen” who spoke six languages and spent much of his life travelling.

“If you look up at the ceiling, we have 900 flags hanging, representing all the Nobel prizes and their global distribution,” he pointed out.

“A few years ago at the awards ceremony, everyone receiving an award was a dual citizen – or triple citizen. So Nobel laureates are also truly global citizens.”

Students from SIS then treated attendees to a poetry reading in 13 different languages, highlighting the diversity found in the school community and sharing their vision of the future.

“I see a world where people feel safe,” 11th-grade student Elle recited in English. “A world where no one is waif, and people do not feel the need to chafe. I see a world where we all are fed, a world where no one needs a bed or a roof over their head.”

“I want to see a world where we all are equal. In order to see that world, we must stand together and open our senses,” fellow 11th graders Sofia said in Swedish.

Together the diverse students also read in Arabic, Croatian, French, Danish, German, Kiswahili, Malay, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish sign language, and Ukrainian.

Meanwhile, ninth-grade drama students from the school wandered the museum, clad as Nobel laureates of the past, entertaining guests with their portrayals.

But the main highlight of the evening was perhaps the two speakers: Pedrag Petrovic and Dona Hariri.

Neuroscientists and psychiatrist Predrag Petrovic enlightened guests with a lecture about “Decisions, Leadership, and the Brain”, providing insight into how and why emotional systems affect our behaviour and leadership abilities.

The lecture also touched on how so-called “executive abilities” and meta-cognition can predict how skilled a decision-maker an individual really is.

Lawyer Dona Hariri also warmed hearts and inspired minds with her personal tale and presentation about her work as founder of Counsellors without Borders – a new foundation which gives free legal advice to refugees in Stockholm’s Central Station.

“Everyone has the right to know their rights,” she proclaimed.

Hariri, a professional lawyer who also spends much of her time giving free legal advice to residents of Stockholm’s relatively impoverished suburb of Husby, said she came straight to the event from the city’s central station, where she had been welcoming refugees.

Hariri also hosts the Swedish TV show Justitia, a programme about simplifying the law for children and young people. Hariri argued that learning about legal rights should be a central part of school education. “Children are usually aware of their rights, but not their obligations,” she added.

The speakers’ inspiring words, combined with the event’s international flavour were a perfect kick-off for Nobel Week when Sweden finds itself squarely in the global spotlight, SIS Director Medved Krajnovic added.

“We want to celebrate the international community we belong to, but also to honour our host country, Sweden.”

This article was produced by The Local in partnership with Stockholm International School.

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SOCIAL LIFE

Why summer in Sweden can be lonely for foreigners – and what you can do about it

Sweden’s summer holidays are long, but for people who haven’t made friends here yet, time off work without daily contact with colleagues can also be lonely.

Published: 8 July 2024 13:21 CEST
Updated: 14 July 2024 08:27 CEST
Why summer in Sweden can be lonely for foreigners - and what you can do about it

A survey by national statistics agency Statistics Sweden showed earlier this year that hundreds of thousands of people in Sweden don’t have a close friend.

For those born outside Sweden, the figure was more than twice as high than for native-born Swedes, regardless of whether they have foreign or Swedish parents.

Sweden regularly tops international lists of the worst places in the world for immigrants to make friends, which is often put down to the local culture which respects privacy and values individual independence.

During the summer, this can become even more obvious, as Swedes log out of their work computers and head off on holiday for four weeks starting in July. For new arrivals to the country, the loss of this daily contact with colleagues – as well as the fact that friends and family often live in a different country – can make summer feel rather lonely, especially if their social media feeds are filled with idyllic pictures of Swedes spending their time at family summer houses in the countryside.

“It can be very noticeable,” psychologist Anette Utterbäck told the TT newswire. “Especially when you can see everyone else having fun on holiday, it can feel very obvious that you maybe don’t have that many people you can spend time with.”

It’s not always easy to find friends in Sweden, especially during the summer when people are often on holiday.

“The problem isn’t necessarily that people are too afraid [to try and make friends], but it can also be the case that they try to reach out a hand, and no one reaches back.”

Utterbäck said that it’s a good idea to try as much as possible to build relationships during the rest of the year.

“There don’t need to be many of these, but building a network around you which you value all year round, rather than forgetting about it during the winter when you’re busy,” she said.

For immigrants, making friends in Sweden may look different than it did back home, although a classic tip for making friends with Swedes which often comes up in surveys with our readers on the topic is to join some sort of club or society, whether this is a sports club, interest organisation or even the board of your housing association.

READ ALSO: How to make friends in Sweden – seven things I wish someone had told me 

Many of these clubs or societies take a break during the summer, but why not try a summer course or activity instead? 

You could take a university course, with the added benefit of improving your job prospects in Sweden, an intensive course with a provider like Folkuniversitetet, ABF or Medborgarskolan in a skill you’ve always wanted to learn, or even a class at your local sports club or society. You could even use the summer as an opportunity to improve your Swedish.

READ ALSO: ‘We all cheer each other on’: How we made friends in Sweden

There are also clubs, apps and other online groups which can be useful for meeting new people.

“Facebook’s popularity isn’t what it used to be, but there are still some thriving, friendly Facebook communities, like Girl Gone International and International Meetup Sweden,” The Local’s contributor Gemma Casey-Swift wrote in a recent article on making friends in Sweden.

“I met one of my closest friends in a hiking group. Some of us went away to a cabin, which was completely out of my comfort zone, but as well as an award-winning hangover and an appreciation for public transport in Gävleborg, I came back with a new friendship.”

There are also apps like Gofrendly, Citypolarna and Meetup, which offer all sorts of events up and down the country where you can meet new people.

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