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Published: October 2nd 2015
Its crazy to think we have now completed the 1st week of the programme, the whole group agree it has flown over but thats a good indication that everyone is enjoying it lets hope this time next week I don't have some unhappy young people who don't want to leave.
We had our earliest start of the week (I can hear the cheers from my colleagues) and it was evident by the group looking a little more tired than normal but it has been a busy week. The reason for the early start was that Robin had arranged for us to visit the urban development building Alvrummet before it opens to the general public and as always we were welcomed with a friendly face and had the whole building to ourselves.
The Alvrummet is dedicated to urban development in the area and on walking in we could tell this was a special facility, our guide explained many years ago 2 model makers starting making a replica of the city of Gothenburg which quickly developed into a full scale model of the whole area. It was interesting to find out that local people are not informed directly of any development
work that is planned instead it is their responsibility to visit this centre and keep up to date with any plans the region have that might impact on them - imagine the response from our comminuty if we decided to take this approach.
The model itself is amazing and demonstrates the ability to visually demonstrate how regeneration work and development can be conveyed to the public in an interactive way. This was taken one step further when we were shown the 3D screens the public can use to explore the area, focus on any development planned and even see the impact the environment could have on the area by increasing the water levels and other environmental conditions. I am a bit of a geek and love this type of thing such a fun way of seeing the impact urban development can have both in a positive and negative way.
We then headed back to the main office to be greeted by some breakfast for the group and of course hot drinks aplenty. Our next meeting was with Tomas Ekberg the Data Management and Analysis officer who had travelled 3 hours on a train from Stockholm to speak to
us about the development, attractiveness and potential in West Sweden. Tomas had some slides he had prepared but much prefered chatting to the group and asking them what they wanted to find out about and their area of interest. We can take the slides back home with us for further research.
Tomas explained that everyone is always positive about their own area and presumed this had been the approach by everyone we had met so far, it was refreshing to listen to him speak and detail some of the areas the west of Sweden can develop and improve. He was fascinated to hear about our apprenticeship programme as this isn't something they have in Sweden and was impressed to hear about the positive opportunities available to young people in our area. The common theme so far from the group is how more advanced Sweden seems but Tomas was quick to explain the strengths our own country has - something we sometimes forget about.
It was interesting to find out that there is such a high percentage of tax paid in Sweden but this in turn helps to strengthen the standard of living and opportunities available to people in
the area - a great example of no fees for university study demonstrates this and to our surprise even earlier in a persons education they can choose their own school (well their parents no doubt) and do not need to be in any catchment area like we operate in Durham.
Over lunch I had the chance to grab 5mins with each apprentice to carry out a mid placement review, thankfully everything seems fine and they are all enjoying the experience. They, along with me, thought the placement would consist of working within one office studying how a colleague works on an individual basis - they all agreed the variety of the placement is a much better format and staying in the group has enabled them to grow in confidence and feel comfortable in their surroundings. It was also great to hear they are all well and feel safe, which hopefully means I wont be a grey as I thought on my return.
I feel our afternoon activity will be another one that will have our colleagues back home screaming at their pc screens and scrambling to volunteer for any future projects. We had the opportunity to have a
guided tour around Gothenburg Opera house which I am sure you will all agree from the photo's is definitely one of the major attractions of the city. The setting couldn't feel anymore impressive with the building sat on the harbour as the sun started to shine.
We met our guide Suzanne Albertus who explained she had worked in the arts for the last 28 years with many of them as a singer for the Gothenburg Opera house that was built 21 years ago. A great moment followed when Alex asked if she could still sing and without any further encouragement Suzanne gave us an impromptu demonstration that she certainly could with a voice that left the whole group in amazement - she could easily still be on stage if she wanted to.
The tour was amazing and we had the chance to see both the huge auditorium that seats around 1300 people and also where the real work takes place backstage from the set design to the costume department and even the warm-up rooms where we could hear some warm ups taking place for tonight's opening performance of ' Crazy for You' with 'Notorious' taking place tomorrow. Suzanne
proceeding to explain there are over 220 performances throughout the year of a variety of shows.
A great way to end the week, we are off to dinner with Robin tonight which will be nice as he has been an absolute star this week and if the programme so far is anything to go by then we cant wait for next week as he has gone above and beyond to maximize our experience during our stay.
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Ray Brewis
non-member comment
Peters very interesting but some input from the rest of the group would also be nice
Whilst Peters commentary is amusing, informative and very, very well written (more reports will be coming your way when you get back) it would be nice to hear the views and experiences of the rest of the group. As it looks as though you are continuing to get the royal treatment i expect you have lots to relay to your friends family and colleagues in Durham. I love to hear from you all even if its just the funny bits. Keep enjoying it. Ray