After more than 30 years in Skåne, Anna Burstedt strengthens the SUA team
She has researched the restaurant as a social arena, served as director of studies at Lund University and lived most of her life in Skåne. Now Anna Burstedt is back in Skellefteå. In her new role as innovation lead, she brings both a researcher’s eye and a strong focus on students.
After 34 years in Skåne, she describes coming home as exciting. And a little strange. Even though she still has muscle memory of certain hills she cycled up as a teenager, Skellefteå feels like a completely new town.
“So much has happened. When I moved away, I thought the town was quite small. Now there’s a completely different pulse, a strategic drive and a life that I didn’t appreciate in the same way back then.”
The fact that she has also taken over a family farm in Byske, an 18th-century house that needs care, makes the move home even more special.
“When you’re young, you often long to get away, but now I value completely different things in life. I suddenly realised that I want to grow potatoes come spring.”
“The fact that Skellefteå doesn’t have its own university can sometimes be an advantage. We’re not stuck in old structures. Here, universities can come together in new ways.”
Since the mid-1990s, Anna has worked in the university world, including as director of studies at Lund University, ethnologist, researcher and teacher. As SUA’s brand-new innovation lead with a focus on the public sector, Anna wants to explore how education can become a key to a sustainable society – culturally, socially and economically.
“There seems to be a real appetite for learning and further education here. And the fact that Skellefteå doesn’t have its own university can sometimes be an advantage. We’re not stuck in old structures. Here, universities can come together in new ways.”
She sees her academic background as an important asset in her work. With insight into how universities make decisions and what strategies and challenges they face, she can help SUA develop its ways of working and its partnerships.
But what drives her above all is the student perspective.
“I’ve always had a strong focus on students. Seeing people grow through education is the best thing there is.”
