It was time to set the clocks one hour ahead this weekend. Naturally we forgot this as we were so busy taking part in Earth Hour the night before and missed the news. Ingrid’s soccer trainer helped us by calling and asking why we were not at the tournament the next morning. Luckily we got there in time and the girls played their way to the final, which they eventually lost. It was a great Sunday with beautiful weather and Elsa spent most of it outside on the bicycle with Sofia.
The light is coming back and tonight we had a fantastic low evening sun setting over the lake. The changing of season is something fantastic and each season is always special but best is the change to spring. Somehow people also change when the light finds its way back and happiness seems to spread. Problems get smaller and possibilities greater. I wonder if this is culturally defined? If I had grown up in South Africa instead of in Sweden would I have felt the same way about the changes of seasons? Would the autumn storms with hot chocolate and a good book have felt the same? The Kenyan visitors who were here this winter did not see the positive aspects to the white snow and the cold air despite being dressed in the warmest of winter clothes. Maybe we get socially and culturally programmed as kids and those images stay with us. We see and feel something and it brings back some positive memories. The memory itself might be lost but the positive feeling about it remains. Maybe I am just lucky that I had such a positive childhood? Due to that I can sit and smile and just take the early spring breeze in and know that something good is about to come!
May 2013
in Ulricehamn
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Support to businesses, making people healthier and enjoying life a little bit more as well!
It looked like spring was getting closer and for two days we were able to bicycle to school and work but then the snow came back. The snow reflects a lot of light and the sun tells us that the season is changing but it is still a bit too cold. Next week I go to the Netherlands to visit the Dutch UWV. We have a project supported by the European Social Fund where we are looking at the Dutch model for lowering the number of long-term illnesses. Sweden has the highest number of long term ill people but we live the longest?? Ulricehamn municipality and Tranemo municipality are participating in the project and our project leader is connected to Göteborg University. We hope to find new models and tools to work with and see how the NL were able to lower there number of long-term illnesses. They have been very successful in the last 10 years!
Amsterdam in April sounds very attractive at the moment and I am really longing for a change of scenery and strolling around visiting small unique shops in Amsterdam (and to do some serious work as well!!). When I get back I will be seeing my family from Lund and spend Easter with them! Maybe we meet up here in Ulricehamn or I go to Lund but both options are fine. The kids are looking forward spending Easter break with grandma and grandpa in Lund!!
The last two weeks I have collected 50 hours of overtime! I have written a proposal applying for funds for 54 businesses in our region that are all suffering from the financial crises. We want support for training personal to help the individual companies but also to increase the skills for the individuals making them more employable. The flexicuritymodels used in several other countries around Europe are interesting to look at and the project also has a scientific part to it. However, there are many regions, districts and cities fighting to get the financial support and this proposal had to be written in two weeks time so we will see what happens. I have applied for 3,5 million Euros so it is quite a big project! Today I have a day off to catch up on things in and around the house. Cleaning should be on the list but I have scrapped it off the list and put in playing the guitar, doing some body combat training, eating nice food and enjoying a nice bottle of wine instead! This weekend Ingrid has a football tournament, we have two birthday parties and Jochem wants to look at some boats again. Spring will come and then he will make sure we are all ready to enjoy the beautiful lakes around here!
Hope spring is close to you too!!!
Amsterdam in April sounds very attractive at the moment and I am really longing for a change of scenery and strolling around visiting small unique shops in Amsterdam (and to do some serious work as well!!). When I get back I will be seeing my family from Lund and spend Easter with them! Maybe we meet up here in Ulricehamn or I go to Lund but both options are fine. The kids are looking forward spending Easter break with grandma and grandpa in Lund!!
The last two weeks I have collected 50 hours of overtime! I have written a proposal applying for funds for 54 businesses in our region that are all suffering from the financial crises. We want support for training personal to help the individual companies but also to increase the skills for the individuals making them more employable. The flexicuritymodels used in several other countries around Europe are interesting to look at and the project also has a scientific part to it. However, there are many regions, districts and cities fighting to get the financial support and this proposal had to be written in two weeks time so we will see what happens. I have applied for 3,5 million Euros so it is quite a big project! Today I have a day off to catch up on things in and around the house. Cleaning should be on the list but I have scrapped it off the list and put in playing the guitar, doing some body combat training, eating nice food and enjoying a nice bottle of wine instead! This weekend Ingrid has a football tournament, we have two birthday parties and Jochem wants to look at some boats again. Spring will come and then he will make sure we are all ready to enjoy the beautiful lakes around here!
Hope spring is close to you too!!!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Attracting Dutch people to Ulricehamn
Last weekend I was in the Netherlands at the emigration fair outside Utrecht. Thousands of Dutch people spent their weekend looking at emigration possibilities and 72 Swedish municipalities were there to attract some of them. The trade between the two countries has been constantly increasing the last years and currently the Netherlands is our 5th largest export market, which makes it a more important market then France. Last years trade increased with 6% despite the financial situation in the world.
At the same time many Dutch people feel that their country is over crowded. People living in the Randstad area (Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague area) live in one of the most populated areas in the world. It is an exciting area filled with creativity and innovation but it is also an area where house prices stay high and crime rates as well. When you travel on the train you never know when one city ends and the other begins. Integration issues, crime, filled schools, endless commuting, high living costs etc. are only some of the reasons why people are looking into emigrating somewhere else. Sweden is a country of interest as we can offer what they are missing and for us it is interesting to attract high-educated people with an entrepreneurial mindset. The Netherlands have the highest number of self-starters in Europe which is interesting as their social system is similar to ours. What makes people start their own business?
The target for Ulricehamn is to become 25 000 inhabitants in 2020 and in order to achieve this we are looking at attracting both commuters from our neighbouring municipalities as well as international competence. The emigration fair was a first step for our municipality to look at the international market and we focused on attracting businesses. The strategic location of Ulricehamn (close to the airport Landvetter and surrounded by the three larger cities Jönköping, Borås and Göteborg) made us stand out at the fair. Many people want to live in a big house on the countryside but naturally you want to have a large customer base near by and a large employment market. Now we have attracted the interest and the real work will start. We are expecting many visitors in the coming months!
The European Social Fund (ESF) has an extra call open and I am currently writing an application for competence development for businesses in seven municipalities. Time is short and I usually have a lot more time when I write applications so this is a tough one. Tomorrow I am off to Malmö and a meeting regarding EUs energy program and next week I am off to Stockholm for a meeting regarding EUs healthprogram (and in between this I work on the ESF application). Needless to say I am looking forward to April and some more normal working hours.
Jochem will be home for a week and is currently learning everything there is to know about wooden boats. He can’t wait for spring and summer to start to get our boat out again. I wouldn’t be surprised if we soon have one more boat. I have noticed that he is taking up boat orders from people all over the world so who knows what new business ideas he is up too!?
Hope you are also enjoying a sunny Sunday!
At the same time many Dutch people feel that their country is over crowded. People living in the Randstad area (Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague area) live in one of the most populated areas in the world. It is an exciting area filled with creativity and innovation but it is also an area where house prices stay high and crime rates as well. When you travel on the train you never know when one city ends and the other begins. Integration issues, crime, filled schools, endless commuting, high living costs etc. are only some of the reasons why people are looking into emigrating somewhere else. Sweden is a country of interest as we can offer what they are missing and for us it is interesting to attract high-educated people with an entrepreneurial mindset. The Netherlands have the highest number of self-starters in Europe which is interesting as their social system is similar to ours. What makes people start their own business?
The target for Ulricehamn is to become 25 000 inhabitants in 2020 and in order to achieve this we are looking at attracting both commuters from our neighbouring municipalities as well as international competence. The emigration fair was a first step for our municipality to look at the international market and we focused on attracting businesses. The strategic location of Ulricehamn (close to the airport Landvetter and surrounded by the three larger cities Jönköping, Borås and Göteborg) made us stand out at the fair. Many people want to live in a big house on the countryside but naturally you want to have a large customer base near by and a large employment market. Now we have attracted the interest and the real work will start. We are expecting many visitors in the coming months!
The European Social Fund (ESF) has an extra call open and I am currently writing an application for competence development for businesses in seven municipalities. Time is short and I usually have a lot more time when I write applications so this is a tough one. Tomorrow I am off to Malmö and a meeting regarding EUs energy program and next week I am off to Stockholm for a meeting regarding EUs healthprogram (and in between this I work on the ESF application). Needless to say I am looking forward to April and some more normal working hours.
Jochem will be home for a week and is currently learning everything there is to know about wooden boats. He can’t wait for spring and summer to start to get our boat out again. I wouldn’t be surprised if we soon have one more boat. I have noticed that he is taking up boat orders from people all over the world so who knows what new business ideas he is up too!?
Hope you are also enjoying a sunny Sunday!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Sun is in the air! (with or without a moose head!)
Everything has its ups and downs and I got a message from a friend asking how deep my dip actually is. My blog has been quite pessimistic lately without me even noticing it. Well, I am neither suicidal nor desperate but maybe I have been a bit self-centered lately and that shall now change. I guess the winter months here were a bit tougher then I expected but luckily I was the only one caught by this virus. Jochem and the kids are enjoying life fully by skiing, playing football, going horseback riding or taking part in whisky tasting events (you have to guess who does what!)
I am enjoying my work and am trying to structure it better in order to be better at evaluating results as they come in. As I constantly work on different projects I need to know where they are going and how successful they are. The financial situation in the municipality and in the world puts more pressure on people but I also see advantages when new ideas might get more room and changes are seen as possibilities.
Today the sun was shining and spring was in the air. It is no longer possible to drive on the lake and birds are singing in the still naked trees. I feel inspired by the light and soon we will start our next renovation project – the summerhouse in Vegby (15 minutes south of Ulricehamn). I am filling it with auction furniture (a new hobby I’ve developed!) and funny gadgets. I tried to get a moose head at the last auction but it was a bit too expensive. Instead I came home with an old typewriter, some chairs, a bed, a drawer and some sun chairs. Our summerhouse will look great when its finished though the road to completion lies further ahead then we want to admit. Last weekend the radiator in the kitchen exploded due to expanding ice but we wont give up. We still bravely invite you and hope for visits this summer!
Lots of sunny kisses to you all!!!
Ulrika
I am enjoying my work and am trying to structure it better in order to be better at evaluating results as they come in. As I constantly work on different projects I need to know where they are going and how successful they are. The financial situation in the municipality and in the world puts more pressure on people but I also see advantages when new ideas might get more room and changes are seen as possibilities.
Today the sun was shining and spring was in the air. It is no longer possible to drive on the lake and birds are singing in the still naked trees. I feel inspired by the light and soon we will start our next renovation project – the summerhouse in Vegby (15 minutes south of Ulricehamn). I am filling it with auction furniture (a new hobby I’ve developed!) and funny gadgets. I tried to get a moose head at the last auction but it was a bit too expensive. Instead I came home with an old typewriter, some chairs, a bed, a drawer and some sun chairs. Our summerhouse will look great when its finished though the road to completion lies further ahead then we want to admit. Last weekend the radiator in the kitchen exploded due to expanding ice but we wont give up. We still bravely invite you and hope for visits this summer!
Lots of sunny kisses to you all!!!
Ulrika
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