"Everybody knows everybody"

Meet the Kiruna Section, the highest and smallest student association within the student world of Luleå University of Technology. The Kiruna campus is home to a close-knit group who are passionate about space navigation, while also navigating a historic city move.

Tell us about the Kiruna Section!
"We have six associations here at campus in Kiruna, all of which are sub-associations of the Kiruna Section. There are nine of us in the board who manage everything from our labor market fair "Lift-off", to education administration and social events. We only have 150 students under us, but we are also somewhat isolated. We have to do a little more work to create a good student life up here," says Johan Manske, chairman of the Kiruna section.

"What also makes us unique is that we have many exchange students, almost half of all students here come from another country. So we are good at taking care of foreign students who do not know much about Sweden and who come to this different environment," Johan continues.

How do you work to include the foreign students?
"To offer an insight to the Swedish culture, we organize, for example, a Christmas table and try to highlight other holidays. But it also works the other way around. We have a lot of Indian students, so we had a Diwali dinner to celebrate this Hindu holiday. So, we try to avoid groupings between international and Swedish students and have expanded our welcome work. We don't take part in Luleå's nolleperiod, but we do our own little thing with a tour of Kiruna, pub nights, board game competitions, barbecues and camping trips," says Casper Holgersson, Vice President.

The students in Kiruna study the first semesters at campus Luleå. Casper Holgersson describes the contrast when you move up to Kiruna.

"As a student in Luleå, you are spoiled with so much going on, you don't have to be involved in anything and there will always be people who organize things. Since there are so few of us here, a high percentage must get involved in order to have a good student life. It's a high percentage who get involved because we have less resources."

What do you think it does for the community?
"The extra work we get increases the community. It's an everybody knows everybody feeling. We can also do many more events here where all students are involved. It is never possible to have an event in Luleå for all students on site. But we can," says Johan Manske.

What is life like in Kiruna as a student?
"The campus is outside the city, so if you want to go into town you have to take a car or a bus. We hang out a lot at the student bar SLUSK and a lot on campus. We have free coffee for all students and it's a great community. You can just sit down at a table and talk to someone. Everyone here also has the same interest in space, so it's a nice community," says Johan Manske.

What activities do you have for your members?
"Every Wednesday we have a board game evening at SLUSK as a standing item. We also have another event at least once a week. In a month we have for example Space Games, a one-day competition that ends with a sitting that we try to encourage Luleå space travelers to come and participate in,"says Casper Holgersson.

You live in the middle of a historic city move, how does it affect your students?
"There are two major challenges, firstly, housing. We are working on trying to improve the situation. The second is our local SLUSK which is also located in the demolition area, but it is unclear when it will be demolished. We are in meetings with Kiruna municipality quite often and do as much as we can to secure this. These are really our biggest challenges," says Johan Manske.

What is the best thing about studying at campus Kiruna and at Luleå university of technology?
"How close you are to the industry! The Swedish Institute for Space Physics is in the same building as us and we have teachers who come from there. We are so close to where you actually do the real development", says Johan Manske.

"You are also closer to the environment and nature here. If I go out on the street, I can see ten miles. We have Luossavaara close by, you can just walk or take the bus there. Here it feels easier to get out into nature, being in Kiruna gives a more pleasant winter feeling compared to living in Luleå", says Casper Holgersson