“I am the one in the world who fits best”

She has worked in various places around the world – including in Germany, where she comes from, Dubai and most recently in the USA. There, she had a leading role in building a steel plant that has served as a reference project for what is now emerging in Boden.

– The difference is that what is being built in Boden is a green steel plant. I love the steel industry, but it is a dirty industry. Being involved in starting a completely new green industry here feels very good. But it first felt like a crazy idea, here, at the Arctic Circle, says Janine.

In the newly built apartment buildings in the Björknäs area of Boden, Janine Theele opens the door to the crisp winter morning. In the bright, airy stairwell, the nameplates on the mailboxes hint at an international and mixed group of neighbors. Several are colleagues of Janine, who, like her, belongs to the category of highly educated international specialists who have moved their entire lives to Boden.

With her just over two years here, Janine is beginning to belong to the veterans at the green steel plant Stegra, which is under construction in Boden. She very often helps to introduce new colleagues both at work and to life in Boden.

Passion for the project

She tells how, as an established professional in the USA and the steel industry there, she suddenly saw a job advertisement from Stegra, then H2GreenSteel.

– I am otherwise a fairly humble person, but when I read what they were looking for, I immediately felt that yes, that is my job. With the experience and references I have, I am the best person in the world for this. It was an easy decision to make, she states.

What attracted her most was the passion for the project. The belief that it is possible, which is shared with so many more from all over the world who choose to move their entire lives here to be involved in starting the world’s first large-scale green steel plant.

– It’s not just a job. We believe in this and in doing something good for the planet, in making the world a better place.

She takes the recent skeptical headlines calmly.

– We have a very transparent organization and I feel calm, we know what is happening and that we are doing a good job.

Until recently, she has worked with project planning for the construction of the steel plant. Recently, she moved to a position as Installation Work Package Coordinator.

– That means, among other things, being responsible for the mechanical installation of equipment in a steel plant.

Hiking, traveling and picking berries

The road here was relatively easy, even though she moved her entire life across the Atlantic.

– Everyone was so welcoming and it was very easy to move to a small town. I have always been a citygirl but now I can’t imagine living in a city with millions of people again.

What she loves most about her proximity life is nature. In the summertime, she takes her bike to Aldersjön outside Boden to swim. She hikes and has also explored both national parks and the North Cape by car and tent.

There has also been a lot of berry picking.

– I didn’t grow up with cloudberries, so I think it’s really fun to be able to find them here. And I pick blueberries and lingonberries, make jam and cakes.

Her biggest concern was darkness and cold, but she doesn’t think it’s a problem. What she was not prepared for, however, were the bright summer nights. Wonderfully magical, but initially difficult to get the signal to sleep when it is light around the clock. Today, she has adopted the typically Swedish window lamps in winter and regulates the light herself in the summer with curtains that can be drawn.

Knitting unites

In her spare time, she spends some time with colleagues at Stegra. Many, like her, come alone and together they have created various interest groups for everything from hiking to knitting.

– Wherever I have lived in the world, I have always met people who knit. I myself think it is very relaxing, a little mindfulness. I have friends in other parts of the world that I still meet digitally and knit with. Here in Boden, there are some of us who work at Stegra who meet and knit together sometimes.

Some of them have been together since they came to Boden. They meet in the creative power both on site where the large steel plant is growing, and at home on the sofa over knitting needles, patterns and pastries of different nationalities, with a touch of Swedish self-picked berries. That´s what we in Boden call Närhetsliv at its best!