This text is translated from Norwegian with the assistance of GPT UiO.
– Generally, I am interested in processes that are rendered invisible in global climate initiatives, often actively to maintain political and economic systems that are not particularly sustainable, says Vilde Marie Skulstad Henriksen.
The award recipient conducted seven months of fieldwork in Salvador, a city in the state of Bahia, Brazil. Her thesis addresses perceptions of urban landscapes in relation to the climate crisis. Waste is used as both a practical and analytical means to understand the marginalisation of places, objects, and people in light of the value system created in climate discourse.
She examined participation and inclusion of local people in waste management policy, highlighting different experiences of the city as a global cultural heritage and a subject of intervention.
– I chose to study waste because it is an unstable category that can refer to anything that once had value at some point before it became waste. It is also a powerful metaphor for things, stories, people, and alternative ways of living than those surviving in the market economy, which are discarded as useless or unproductive, Skulstad Henriksen explains.
Aiming to inspire originality and quality
The University of Oslo's Sustainability Award for the best master's thesis is annually presented to the three best master’s theses at the university, focusing on themes related to sustainability. The purpose of the award is to inspire originality and quality in theses that contributes to knowledge and insight in sustainable development. Including this year's winner, six master's theses from the Faculty of Social Sciences have received the award since it was first presented in 2018.
Think differently
Study Dean Tora Skodvin is proud of the faculty's students' dedication and academic achievements.
– We have very capable students, which is evident in their success in such awards, she says, and adds:
– I believe the sustainability award is important because students often think differently about many things. Their interests, knowledge, and ideas on how to create sustainable societies represent important social innovation.
Support from other anthropologists
Reflecting on the time after her fieldwork, Skulstad Henriksen shares:
– After returning from fieldwork, I generally found it challenging to adjust to everyday life as a student in Oslo again, and it was crucial for me to present the people involved in my research as fairly as possible.
She is grateful that others have had similar experiences:
– I received significant help and support from my supervisor, Elina Hartikainen, and the rest of the team at SAI, who have had similar experiences in their fieldwork, she says.
After her master's degree, the award winner continues on the academic path but has moved west.
– I am currently working as a teaching and research assistant at the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Bergen and hope to continue to engage with similar themes in the future, says Vilde Marie Skulstad Henriksen.