This summer the University Centre  had like previous years the pleasure of hosting a field school group of  the Iceland: Renewable Energy, Technology, and Resource Economics programme. The group spent the last three weeks here in the Westfjords. The programme is organized by the School for International Training (SIT) in Vermont, USA.

To get better acquainted with the culture and to get a good chance to practice speaking Icelandic, these 19 students stayed with local families during their first two weeks here. The third last week was spent at the Holt Lodge, a former countryside boarding school some 20 km´s from Ísafjörður, which is very popular with field school groups. There a farewell barbeque was arranged for the students and their host families. The evening ended with students and hosts singing together some Icelandic songs that the students had learnt in language class.

During their stay the students had classes in energy technology as well as in other related topics.They have also done field trips and other excursions. During their stay at Holt, they made a visit to one of the farms in the area to learn about the family´s small-scale hydropower production. The also got introduced to the customs of the Ásatrú, the old Nordic religion by a member of the Ásatrú society. A viking ship brought the students to Geirþjófsfjörður,  a remote fjord and one of the sites of the well-known Saga of Gisli the Outlaw. There on the spot a monologue based on the saga was performed. The day ended back at Holt, where the students celebrated the 4th of July with a barbeque.  

The SIT group will spend the last weeks of their stay in Iceland in Reykjavik making visits to authorities within the field of energy and environment. The Centre was happy to accomodate these students and we are looking forward to receiving another SIT group in a year´s time.