"16 weeks in Costa Rica is an investment - in your education, and in your understanding of the world"

This tiny country contains 5% of the entire world's biodiversity. Kulturstudier offers studies in Spanish and Sustainability, where language learning leads to a deeper understanding of climate and environmental challenges in Costa Rica and the rest of the world.

– Spending a semester in Costa Rica gave me a unique opportunity to study sustainability and conservation in a country where a quarter of the land areas are protected nature.

Here I got to experience not just spectacular nature, but also explore how sustainable solutions work in practice, and what challenges arise when the theory I had read about in articles and books meets reality.

Through excursions and outings, you can make acquaintances with people who experience the effects of climate change firsthand.

– An experience that particularly struck me was learning about projects for energy transition. For example, we learned about the introduction of dams, and how these have contributed to conflicts, such as by infringing on the rights of indigenous peoples. It's easy to think that all climate-friendly measures are a step in the right direction, but this highlighted the importance of asking 'for whom?'.

– Seeing these issues up close, and meeting people who are directly affected, made the learning much more vivid and nuanced than what I have experienced by reading the curriculum in Norway.

I am left with a deeper understanding of what sustainability truly entails – not just as an ideal, but as a complex balance between environmental considerations and social justice.

Conflicts of interest arising in energy transition processes are a hot topic in Norway as well, where conflicts between traditional Sami reindeer herding and wind farms have dominated the news in recent years. Expertise on the many different interests and values at stake in sustainable development processes will become increasingly relevant in the years to come.

• Learn more about the opportunities the study can offer you

For Pernille, the semester in Costa Rica was much more than a break from everyday life as a student in Norway:

– The experiences from my semester with Kulturstudier have been very useful in my ongoing master's degree in Development, Environmental, and Resource Economics. As an economist, it is important to make good trade-offs between cost and benefit in economic analyses.

– The experiences from Costa Rica have clearly illustrated how challenging it is to include non-priced impacts in such analyses – for example, how the rivers represent a cultural value for indigenous groups, while also having an economic value for the state.

Global climate, nature, and environmental challenges require global solutions – and society needs individuals who have the expertise to look beyond their local environment and see sustainability and green transition in a broader perspective. A semester abroad will undoubtedly broaden your horizon.

– If you're looking for an experience that combines academic learning, practical experience, and personal growth, I would highly recommend taking a semester with Kulturstudier!