The time is flying and I haven’t written a blog post for quite some time now. I am now at the end of my first two week at my assignment in Amsterdam. I am going to be here for two months working for a department called Project Governance and Improvements and that is pretty much what it is, how to governance project and also work with continues improvements. This is a new department and it is going to be the support for all Vattenfalls big projects like building a wind farm or an R&D project. My task is to look at parts of our project model and optimise part of the process.

On our last seminar week we talked a lot about culture awareness, we had a lot of interesting discussions about how we experience our own culture and from that sees others. How is to come to Sweden and work? Think of it, have you had colleagues coming from other countries or maybe an exchange student came to your class when you studied? How did you greet them welcome? How do you think he or she experienced it?

This is a very interesting question to look in to and I am trying to think of how I react and behave when I am here in Amsterdam. My first impression of the Dutch people is that they are very friendly and honestly curios to get to know me and my culture. While walking out of the office yesterday I got yet another confirmation of the openness here. I meet some of the national trainess that I only meet ones when they where in Stockholm, they where going for a beer and invited me to join. I hade a great night and meet many new people and also made some contacts that can be really useful for my project here. We hade quite a few drinks and no dinner (eating is sheeting the say here) only the tradional Dutch snack Bitteballen, it is mixed meat that are fried and you dip it in muster, really good actually. So I didn’t get the relaxing evening with a lot of sleep that I hade planed, but I had a really great night instead so much better!

I have during the last weeks been travelling around in Europe learning about Vattenfalls business in Amsterdam, Brussels and Sweden.

My trainee colleagues and I started up in Amsterdam attending a seminar about personal development and strategic leadership. The first step is naturally to understand yourself, your values and behaviour in order to be able to understand and lead others. In preparation we had been asked to complete a questionnaire about how we would react in various situations. A similar form was distributed to our work colleagues, family members and close friends – the answers resulted in a personal report, describing our characteristics and capabilities. I found the material interesting and useful. Naturally, it’s important to be aware of how other people see you and whether it’s in line with your own opinion and expectations.

We had also time to bike and enjoy a charming Amsterdam! I have previous working experiences in Amsterdam, which is one of my favourite cities.  It’s artistic, beautiful and fun and the Dutch are easy to get along with.

After gaining new insights about the Benelux operations, the tour continued to Brussels and a seminar about “Energy is politics”.  The political agenda is more or less determining the market conditions for the energy business. We visited the European Parliament, Commission and discussed energy politics with our colleagues at Vattenfall European Affairs.

I am personally interested in the development of Smart Grids, which is key to the future efficient and low-carbon electricity market and a necessary precondition to achieve the European energy targets. I got an introduction to a number of European initiatives driving research, development and demonstration programs in order to accelerate and coordinate the deployment of Smart Grids in Europe. Very interesting and I gained valuable insights.

The final day of the journey was all about renewable energy and took place on the west cost of Sweden. We learned much about the technology behind ocean wave energy and visited a factory of one of the pioneers in this industry. Wave power has potential, but is highly dependent on an EU directive.

Wind power on the other hand is already a huge industry. Sweden has around 1700 windmills, and we had the opportunity to climb one of them!

Please let me know if you have any questions about the trainee program or the energy business.