Changing of the guards

According to the Härnösand lads Tommy and Göran, the CERE core will remain intact: - It is an incredibly stimulating environment to work in and it has been important to me, says Tommy. Göran reminds us of the early days of CERE and what contributed to the success: - The extremely competent and driven Post Docs that we recruited, and the active international exchange with, among other things, short intensive courses by prominent researchers, was two of the main things that initially boosted CERE.

As Tommy puts it, there are some “big slippers to fill”. Replacing Runar Brännlund and Bengt Kriström is an impossible task as they have been crucial for the creation, development, and success of CERE. Tommy and Göran however, are not afraid of the task and even if they want to find their feet first, there are ideas on increasing cooperation, internally, inter-disciplinary and internationally: - We at CERE have, and have had, several researchers from developing countries, and we can make better use of the knowledge and interest they have for environmental and resource issues in their home countries, says Göran Bostedt.

Regardless, everyone will recognize CERE, says Tommy and Göran, it will still be a collaboration between researchers in Economic History, Economics at the Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics at Umeå University, and Forest Economics at SLU. The focus will continue to be on the environmental, resource and energy economics. Both speak highly of the “CERE gang”, the commitment and drive that exists and they believe that the upcoming return to the workplace following the pandemic will provide an opportunity to push forward. CERE's gatherings have been sorely missed during the pandemic: - Especially good memories I have from my time at CERE are the inauguration in 2009, all Ammarnäs and Ulvö meetings, the many seminars with researchers from different disciplines and the 10th year anniversary in 2019 which nicely summariezed CERE's first decade. Now we move on and create new memories! Tommy concludes.