Munkagårdsgymnasiet, Sweden has been cooperating with Landbúnaðarháskóli Íslands (Agricultural University of Iceland) for over 25 years, exchanging students for work experiences. The project is funded by Nordplus.
The Icelandic students travel to Sweden in the spring to take part in the spring farming, and the Swedish students travel to Iceland in September every year to experience the traditional réttir, when the sheep are brought back from summer grazing in the mountains.
The agricultural business in Sweden and Iceland are in some ways quite similar, but at the same time very different. Generally, Sweden has larger crop farms and the livestock animals are mainly cows and pigs. Iceland has more advanced greenhouse techniques using the thermal heat, and sheep farming where the animals are herded with horses – something that does not exist in Sweden.
At Munkagårdsgymnasiet we are currently hosting three students from Iceland who are doing an internship period of three weeks. All the students are working at dairy farms. So far they have experienced both winter and spring during their visit, and tried new things like riding a BIG horse (compared to the Icelandic horses).
We really enjoy hosting the Icelandic students and are hoping they will eventually go back home with some new knowledge and nice experiences from Sweden!
@munkagard @landbunadarhaskoli_islands
Ellekari Haraldson
Munkagårdsgymnasiet, Sweden
