“The winner of this year’s communication prize is no newcomer. Through an impressive career, the candidate has distinguished herself as one of Norway’s leading researchers and communicators in her field,” writes OsloMet’s jury about Ingun Grimstad Klepp, professor of clothing and sustainability at Consumption Research Norway (SIFO).
“Congratulations on the prize! How did you react when you received the news?”
“I was surprised – not that I received the prize, but that I received it now, since I do less public communication in Norway now than before. However, I spend a lot of time giving input to those who develop the instruments of the EU’s sustainability policy.”
“Why do you communicate less in Norway?”
“Because I have become too difficult, and Norwegian environmental journalism too simple. We need to talk about other things than young people shopping second-hand or a new second-hand store opening. Environmental problems are serious and require solutions, not cozy talk.”
We create a world that is too small, even though we have such great possibilities. This applies to everything from methodological problems in research to small challenges in everyday life.– Ingun Grimstad Klepp
“What motivates your engagement?”
“I already understood as a child that resources were poorly used. The most striking example was when I joined a shrimp trawler and saw all the bycatch they threw away. I thought that this had to be wrong. When it comes to clothing, I have been interested in it for as long as I can remember, and especially in thread. It is incredible what you can do with a single thread!”
“Who are you, apart from that?”
“I am energetic, and I can probably also be perceived as quite original. This is partly because I am very, very dyslexic, and also dyscalculic. I have some absolute barriers, and it is difficult for others to understand what it is like to live with them. For example, I would never have been admitted to upper secondary school. I completed upper secondary as a private candidate.”
“How have these barriers shaped you?”
“I have never been clever, and I never will be. I am, however, unusually creative. That means I have found other solutions. And I enjoy working! I catch all the fish our family eats, I sew both my own clothes and other people’s, I knit, forage, and do farm work.”
“What are you most proud of?”
“I am quite a proud person, perhaps because there is so much, I cannot do, and then I become proud and happy when I manage things. I am proud when I stand in front of an audience, because I often manage to capture their interest. As someone who is severely dyslexic, I am also equally proud every time something I have written is published. I am proud when I feel nice in one of the dresses I have made. But most of all, I am proud of my son.”
“Why have you spent so much time on communication?”
“I want to contribute. It may also be that I am proud that I have something to contribute. It might also be that I, at least partly, do it because I think it is fun.”
“Which advice would you give others?”
“It must be to raise your gaze. It is as if we are constantly building fences and boxes that are far too narrow. We create a world that is too small, even though we have such great possibilities. This applies to everything from methodological problems in research to small challenges in everyday life.”
“What’s next for you?”
“I have just finished two research projects and received funding for a new one, ‘Green Blood’. There we will work with one of the Norwegian minorities, Forest Finns, and investigate how clothing can help us experience nature and landscape in a different way. This means that I will stop banging my head against a policy that will not budge and instead start building knowledge that may lead to change in the long term.”
