After traveling the world to study and explore, and living in the pulse of city centers, I have felt a strong urge to get back to my roots. To seek stillness and to reconnect with the wisdom of nature and my long line of family heritage as farmers. I have moved out of the city and to the country, to an open ocean space in Jæren, Norway. It’s like my life intuitively is doing a circular loop – grounding myself with the wisdom of my heritage and my diverse insights, finally aligning with the values I have developed over the years.
I am not alone in doing a circular loop. On a global level governments and businesses are transitioning from a linear to a circular economy. A circular economy is a system where materials never become wasted and nature is regenerated. Driven by design, it aims to tackle global challenges through three main areas; eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials at their highest value, and regenerate nature and our broken global food system. The EU’s Green Deal,“The Circular Economy Action Plan”, aims to support these areas, and big industry players like H&M and IKEA are now investing heavily in infrastructure, new business models and scalable technology that secure a future circular value chain for the greater good.
In Bjella Investments we believe a circular economy underpinned with a transition towards renewable energy and materials supports a sustainable future and community. We also believe partnerships, co-creation and working alongside municipalities and regulators leads to the greatest long term sustainable impact. Our business model, investment portfolio, and focus have been reallocated over the years to support this needed circular change.
In my private garden I have started to grow my own vegetables. Not a lot, but finding the joy and fulfillment in seeing things grow and being self-sufficient. Gardens are our connection to nature. Across time and cultures we have had very different ideas of the way a garden should be organized. As time has changed, our perception and relationship to nature and our gardens have also changed. From decades of being disconnected to nature we now sense an increasing need to reconnect to nature’s circular flow. In our gardens we reimagine the world we want to create, and in many ways they represent our collective vision, values and dreams for the future. Our transition to a circular economy is also dependent on these qualities – to reimagine our future, lead with vision and create sustainable and diverse gardens that lead the way forward. Porsgarden and ByAuk are two examples of Bjella Investments projects that represent future gardens both symbolic and hands-on.
Porsgarden with its partners are leading the way on our global challenge to eliminate waste and circulate products and materials. At Porsgarden we are transforming an old industrial area and car retail house from the 80’s to a circular shopping- and competence center. The center, R:Elsk (eng: re-loved), is owned and operated by IVAR IKS, a non-profit governmental owned company in Norway. R:Elsk will open in August 2024 and it will be the largest of its kind in Europe and a future role model both in terms of circularity and social sustainability. On the top floor of Porsgarden, Loft 3, we are creating a space for creativity, circular workshops and conferences. Our mission is to create a space for global leaders to share hands-on wisdom for sustainable transformation, reimagine the future and co-create a clear direction forward.
Along with a team of external partners we started working on a new vision for Porsgarden and the surrounding industrial area when I entered my family company seven years ago. We initiated creative workshops, involved the local community and municipalities, but also involved global partners and diverse insights before setting the long term strategy for transforming the area. Bjella is “a one woman company”, but my business model is built on the collective strength of external partners and my local and global communities. Reflecting back on the journey so far it’s been a lot of hard work with numerous failures and setbacks. One thing I know for sure, it’s the collective wisdom, resilience and compassion rooted in my project partners that got us here. Notwithstanding the courageous hearts from our local community and governmental partner, IVAR IKS – also reflected on their symbol of R:Elsk in the front entrance of Porsgarden. Opening R:Elsk is an important milestone in transforming this area. Proving the impossible is possible when we work together for common long term sustainable goals.
The other future garden project is ByAuk, an non-profit urban community farming project that commits to restoring soil and ecosystems, but also to strengthening human connection, learning and mental health. Bjella Investments is a partner alongside other stakeholders and Family offices. The business model is built on the competence and co-creation of partners and the local community. Government is also an important partner, giving ByAuk access to transform public unused land to biodiverse and beautiful community farming areas and parks. This project will hopefully lead the way in building a scalable and sustainable business model for urban farming, strengthening local food sovereignty and delivering on shared social sustainability goals.
Both Porsgarden and ByAuk aim to inspire, create joy and deliver hands-on actions for a circular future. On a global scale Norway is highly underperforming in terms of transitioning towards a circular economy. Our circularity rate is way below average (2,4% vs. average of 8,6% globally), and we still keep on making linear decisions and regulations. For example this year the Norwegian government, as one of the first countries in the world, decided to continue the process of opening up for deep seabed mining, despite strong global criticism and scientific advice. Do we have the business culture and competence in Norway to actually make a circular shift? Or do we need to look outside our own garden – to other countries, mindsets and ways of working? A circular transformation is dependent on our global collective knowledge and co-creation, balancing ancient global wisdom with innovation and acceleration of change. One of the countries Bjella Investments looks to for insights and partnerships is India. India is experiencing an impressive growth and rapid changes. Its huge melting pot of complexities and contradictions – along with a global market of 1,4 billion people, is in many ways Norway’s opposite. This year an historic trade agreement was reached between Norway and India, strengthening long term cooperation between two countries with complementary strengths, but equal internally underlying foundations of trust and openness. I gain valuable knowledge from India’s entrepreneurial mindset, their agility to change and proven resilience. Our Venture Partner in India, Anthill Ventures, brings insights from the early phase ecosystem in India, new dealflow, latest trends in urban tech and healthcare, but also cultural wisdom I can implement in my own projects.
Our world today feels more wild and untamed than ever. Geopolitical disruptions, climate change and A.I. are rapidly changing the way we live and do business. On global levels stress, anxiety and conflicts are increasing at a concerning rate. In my last posting I wrote about the wisdom of the untamed wild forest, but humans also need limits and structure in order to feel safe, be nourished and grow. Our gardens can be valuable sources to create the balance we need between the untamed and structured – a space to care for our own wellbeing. Social sustainability, inclusion and strengthening mental health are one of the main goals in our future gardens projects, Porsgarden and ByAuk. As a leader in the difficult times we are facing, I have learned through trials and failures that taking care of my inner garden and wellbeing is essential for staying both resilient and holding the long term vision.
Our future depends on our ability to reimagine and set a clear direction toward a world where we take care of our surroundings, use less resources and learn to regenerate with the cycle of life. To get there we need brave visions, the collective strength and compassion of nourishing partnerships, ancient and new ways of working, and beautiful gardens that symbolically can inspire the needed way forward. I am excited to nourish my own inner garden to flourish and season by season learning to adapt to a lifestyle supporting our generations to come.
References
Gardens future: Designing with nature, Museum of Finish Architecture and design
EU Circular Economy Action Plan
Global Food systems, WFP.org
Porsgarden sustainability report 2023, bjella-investments.no (in Norwegian)
Norway gives green light for seabed minerals, government.no
Norwegian trade agreement with India, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign affairs
Photo by Line Owren at ByAuk
