Last fall, when others students were packing their cars to return to university, Laura Weinbender was boarding an airplane for a trans-Atlantic flight to attend a semester of classes in Sweden.
Through an exchange program arranged through the University of Saskatchewan Weinbender attended the Swedish University of Agricultural sciences (short form SLU) in Uppsala, Sweden.
Weinbender, who grew up on a cattle farm near Canora was in Sweden until Christmas -- one semester which will go towards her degree.
Weinbender said the opportunity was just too good to pass up.
“I actively searched foreign options,” she said in an interview regarding the exchange last August. “I heard about the exchange from the U of S website, and afterwards talked to people about it. Everyone I have talked to that has taken part in an exchange program has loved it, which is what sparked my interest.
“I had met with a few advisors, and the exchange coordinator about it, and then I had to apply to get accepted into the exchange program at the U of S.
“After that I then picked three host schools that would fit with my program, then the U of S chose one of them which I then applied for.
“It was a long application process as I didn’t know I was fully accepted into the host school until beginning of June.”
Weinbender said the experience was a great one.
“Sweden is a very beautiful country,” she told Yorkton This Week. “The landscape and climate is very similar to home, but the immense history that Sweden has still made it feel very different than home. Architecture of the buildings and houses was also very different.
“Sweden is also very environmental friendly, and honestly is probably one of the cleanest places that I have ever visited which added to the beauty the country had.”
As for classes, Weinbender said there are certainly differences in the way university is structured.
“Their semesters are set up differently than here in Canada,” she said. “In Sweden, their school year consists of four periods. I was there for the first period which ran from end of August to end of December …
“Their classes are different in credit values as well. I could take classes that are worth 5, 7.5, 10 or 15 ECTS credits. The credit system here is based on three credits per class for one semester, or a six credit class that runs for eight months.
“Transferring the credits over to U of S is basically a 2:1 ratio.”
Weinbender also noted, “Residents of Sweden do not have to pay tuition.”
But at least there was not a language barrier as the classes Weinbender attended were taught in English.
That did not mean there were not added challenges to taking classes abroad.
“The different learning styles, and the schedule was my biggest challenge,” said Weinbender. “In Sweden it seemed to be a lot more independent work, and the class requirements were minimal. Most of your grade is reflected off of the final, and the other part of the class was an essay or project of some sort in only two months.
“The two months for one or two classes is nice because you are only focusing on a few things at once, but the time crunch and pressure is more because of the shortened time period that I was not used to as I am used to doing several assignments, midterms, and a final exam over four months for five classes.”
Weinbender said the chance to learn in consort with other students was a plus too.
“One thing I really enjoyed about the classes is the group work in a couple of my classes, as it helped me to learn new perspectives,” she said.
“Also since I only had one or two classes at once it really let me get to know my classmates better, since we were always around each other.”
Weinbender took Environmental Communication, Agricultural Policy & International Trade, and Natural Resource and Environmental Economics while in Sweden.
“All of the classes were very interesting in their own way, so I cannot pick one (as a favourite),” she said. “Each of the classes helped me learn more about Europe, Sweden, and the certain issues that they deal with. I definitely was able to gain some new perspectives about the environment which I wasn’t expecting going there. I haven’t taken anything similar to those classes here in Canada, and I am very happy with how the classes were unique in their own way which made my classes very diverse.”
The trip did not however afford Weinbender as much time to explore outside the classroom as she had hoped.
“Initially I had thought that I would spend a lot of my time going to some agriculture shows, and doing farm visits,” she said. “With my classes schedule being heavier than anticipated I didn’t do as much of that as I hoped.
“I had tried to arrange farm visits since I arrived in Sweden. Two of my planned visits ended up not working out because our schedules didn’t match up.
“However, I was able to do a short farm visit at a farm near Uppsala in mid-December. The farm was around 250 hectares of grain land, and they had about 30 head highland cattle, in which they fed silage. They grew cereal grains, and canola for cash crops. As well, they do butcher and sell their beef off the farm.”
Weinbender said she also was allowed some insight into agricultural regulations in Europe via the farm visit.
“The EU (European Union), and Sweden do have several regulations that the farms have to follow. This farm had a new heating system that was able to heat their whole farm for the year by burning wood chips or straw. This project was very expensive, but there are governmental subsidies that are available to help with projects.”
And of course Weinbender learned about agriculture as it pertains to Sweden specifically.
“Agriculture in Sweden only contributes about two per cent to their GDP, (Gross Domestic Product), which surprised me,” she said. “Their biggest industries are forestry, and mining.
“The farm size in Sweden is much smaller than farms get in Canada, which is due to the fact there is only 2.7 million cultivated hectares, which is 6.5 per cent of the total land area of Sweden. Most of Sweden is mountain, marches, forest and lakes.
“However farm size in Sweden is getting bigger, so there are less farmers than there used to be. The average farm size in Sweden is about 37 hectares.
“Almost half of arable land is planted to cereal crops, which is a main export product, and the next is meat products.
“There are several regulations on farm that have to be followed both from the Ministry of Agriculture in Sweden and the EU. Sweden is pushing very hard to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly, which goes with the regulations they have to follow.”
Ultimately farm size stands out for Weinbender in terms of how agriculture differs most between the two countries.
“I think the biggest difference is the farm size,” she said. “Our farm sizes are much larger, but we do have more arable land to work with.
“I also think that Ag awareness is something that is being heavily pushed here to make sure the consumer knows how food is produced. As in Sweden I think there is a larger gap with consumer knowledge on food production.”
The experience in Sweden is likely to have a lasting effect on Weinbender in terms of her view of agriculture on a scale beyond Saskatchewan and Canada.
“I think by living and experiencing another country has helped me gain some new perspectives on the environment and agriculture,” she said. “These new views that I have gained will help me to stay more open-minded in my life, and career in the industry.
“I think that we need to be able to learn from others, as well as teach others in order to improve.
“Being away from home also made me value home a lot more, and I realized how huge and how valuable the agriculture industry is in Saskatchewan. There are so many opportunities out there, and it is so important to support where you come from, and share what your passion is.
“Being in Sweden really helped me to have more conversations about agriculture, and share how my life is being involved in our family farm, which really helped me to be more passionate about agriculture, and how important it is to be an ag-advocate to educate others no matter how far away from home I may be.”
The trip was about school first, but it did offer other opportunities too.
“I did have the chance to travel to Norway, Denmark and a few different regions of Sweden,” said Weinbender. “I got to tour the Fjords of Norway.
“Copenhagen in Denmark which is probably one of my favourite cities I have ever been to.
“As well I was able to see a few smaller Swedish towns, and travel to the Lapland region of Sweden, which is in the Arctic Circle.
“All of those places are absolutely breathtaking, the nature within Scandinavia is so diverse which is one reason why travelling there was always exciting. I highly recommend going if you have a chance.”
Weinbender said the exchange program is certainly one she is happy to have undertook.
“The whole exchange program was amazing, and was an experience that I am so thankful for,” she said. “I think for me one of the greatest things about this trip is the friends I made, life-long friends that gave me so many great memories. Right away on my first day of school I met so many great people that I got to know very well in the four months.
“The hardest part about leaving was not knowing when, or if I would ever see some of my friends again. Now I have friends around Europe that I will hopefully get to visit one day.”
Photo 1: The Main building at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Photo 2: The SLU campus was situated on an old farm yard. The building in the picture is what used to be the old farmhouse, and the house style and color is what the traditional Swedish house looks like.
Photo 3: Nyhaven in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Photo 4: The highland cattle on the farm that I visited north of Uppsala.
