This semester, GLOBSEC brings another group of students from Stellenbosch University to the far north. Five students from South Africa are joining UiT The Arctic University of Norway for a semester of study, exchange, and — we hope — a fair amount of Arctic weather.
Their backgrounds and interests are diverse, but they share a curiosity about how security, risk and resilience are understood in a very different geographical and societal setting. For the incoming students, the exchange is an opportunity not simply to collect credits, but to encounter new ways of thinking about familiar problems.
Maj Kay-Lee Fisher, a South African Air Force major and pilot, is particularly interested in Norway’s approaches to resilience, safety management and climate change adaptation, and in how these can be compared with the South African experience. She hopes to take new knowledge and perspectives back into her studies and professional work.
For Lt Humbulani Ndou, the exchange offers the opportunity to connect his background in human and organisational development with questions of resilience, safety and adaptation. He is also looking forward to his first international study experience and to gaining a more global perspective through interaction with students from different backgrounds.
Lt Bulelwa September comes to Tromsø with a research interest in risk management and the implementation of risk-management practices. She is particularly curious about how a high-risk, high-resilience country such as Norway approaches preparedness and complex risks, while also stepping outside her previous academic background through studies in climate change adaptation.
Capt Nicolaas de Jongh is looking forward to the exchange as an opportunity to encounter different worldviews and teaching approaches — and, as an outdoors person, to experience an Arctic environment very different from home.
Lt Tiaan van Schalkwyk brings another comparative perspective. His research examines the relationship between economic growth and conflict in Africa, and he is interested in seeing how Nordic and Arctic security debates compare with the drivers of conflict he encounters in his own research. He is also looking forward to the cultural exchange and the opportunity to build relationships that extend beyond the semester.
During their time at UiT, the students will study Resilience, Climate Change Adaptation, and Safety Management and Accident Investigation, bringing their own professional and academic experiences into the classroom and into conversations with Norwegian students and colleagues.
This is precisely what GLOBSEC is meant to create: a movement between perspectives. We look forward to seeing what happens when South African and Arctic experiences of risk, resilience and security meet — and, of course, to finding out what our guests make of Tromsø in winter.