Who am I?
My name is Albin and I work as an Environmental and Permitting Specialist at Holmen Bergprodukter in Örnsköldsvik. I have a degree in Environmental Science from Linköping University. I am originally from Östergötland, but I moved north almost six years ago to try something new. My background is varied in terms of jobs, ranging from agriculture to environmental consultancy and environmental inspection, and now to my role at Holmen.
In my spare time, I spend a lot of time hunting, fishing and enjoying the outdoors. I am involved in an outdoor organisation where I am a trained kayak leader and take groups out on rivers and lakes to experience nature.
It’s great that you want to follow along and learn more about my work at Holmen!
My workplace
I work at Holmen Bergprodukter, one of Holmen’s smaller subsidiaries, which is organisationally part of Holmen Energy. There are only two of us, my manager and I, which means we work closely together and take on a high level of responsibility across all parts of the business.
Our daily work is varied and involves a lot of contact with colleagues within the business area, the wider group, and external stakeholders. What I appreciate most is meeting people and being able to follow the work from idea to finished solution.
Our mission is to ensure that there is access to aggregate materials where they are needed within Holmen. This can involve anything from building wind farms to upgrading forest roads or developing our industrial sites. Even though our work takes place somewhat in the background, it is an important part of making the whole operation function.
At Bergprodukter, we usually say that “gravel is the foundation of everything” – and that is actually very true.
A typical day at work
My working day varies greatly depending on the season, and right now I am in one of the most intensive but also most enjoyable periods of the year. At the moment, my days often start early as I get in the car and head out on the roads to visit our quarries, which are spread across large parts of the country.
During this time of year, the pace is high. Our production of aggregate materials is in full swing, while we also have many inspections from authorities. A lot of my time during this period is therefore spent out in the field, where I meet contractors, colleagues and authorities. This is also what I appreciate the most – the variation, getting out, moving around and meeting many different people. No day is quite the same, which suits me very well.
When it is not the field season, I work on permitting processes for new and existing rock quarries. This is often done in collaboration with colleagues from other business areas, such as Holmen Skog. Together, we look for new locations where there is a need for materials, which requires both analysis, dialogue and quite a lot of problem-solving.
What makes the job extra enjoyable for me is the combination of hands-on work out in the operations and the more strategic, long-term work in the office, as well as all the people I get to meet.
Why Holmen?
When I started at Holmen Bergprodukter, I had no idea how many different operations Holmen actually consists of. As someone from Östergötland, I had always seen Holmen as the forestry and sawmill company up in Norrköping that used to sponsor the football team, Peking (IFK Norrköping) in the Swedish top division. But it is so much more than that, with its paper and pulp mills as well as all the energy production that Holmen fully or partly owns.
The first thing I noticed when I started at Holmen, and which still holds true two years later, is the friendly and welcoming atmosphere among colleagues wherever you go. It feels unpretentious, and that we all want what is best together, which I really appreciate. It creates such a great sense of community.
Top 3 things I appreciate most about my team:
- Lack of prestige
- Open and honest atmosphere
- All the laughter we share every day
That’s all for now
Thank you for taking the time to read about me and what I do in my daily work at Holmen.
Have a fantastic summer!
