Jacob Munch is originally from a small Danish island in the Baltic Sea – Bornholm – but since he began his European studies at the University of Southern Denmark back in 2012, he has moved around not only Denmark but also Europe.

“I have lived in Prague as well as Brussels, and over my last three years in Brussels, I’ve worked with EU project development. This has been my main focus – along with the Belgian chocolate and waffles!” says Jacob.

However, Jacob’s curiosity about energy originates from Bornholm too. In other words, this island is not only where Jacob himself is born, but also his energy interest.

“My interest in energy began in 2017 when I got a temporary job at the regional municipality of Bornholm. There, I had the chance to work with the Bright Green Island strategy – an overall strategy for the island to become more sustainable. The work included pursuit of a CO2 neutral island, and the strategy was the first work done before the introduction of the energy island that has been established today,” says Jacob.

Solutions for a better tomorrow

At Nordic Energy Research, Jacob is mainly involved in the Call Management Team for the Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP). He will be working closely with other colleagues in forming the calls and in the selection of projects that will gain funding through the programme. This is a challenging yet rewarding task.

“On the one hand, the biggest challenge of this work is having to find common ground among the many partners. The CETP contains a lot of different partners from more than 30 countries with various wants and needs. We in the call management team must combine all of these interests into the launched calls. On the other hand, the most rewarding aspect is seeing that the co-operation works! It is very gratifying to see how people across cultures and nationalities are working together to create solutions for a better tomorrow,” says Jacob.

In this way, Jacob is able to fulfill his ambition of combining some of his professional interests at Nordic Energy Research.

“I have become part of Nordic Energy Research because I want to build a sustainable society for the future through international co-operation. The Nordic region has for many years been a driving force in terms of not only international co-operation, but also the green transition. Therefore, I believe in working for an organization such as Nordic Energy Research, that is at the forefront of such essential parts of both my and the world’s future,” says Jacob.

Not the biggest, but one of the best

The Nordic countries take part in co-operative activities on various international levels, but the co-operation between ourselves is one of the most meaningful ones, according to Jacob.

“I believe that the Nordic co-operation is one of the best and most important co-operations we engage in. It allows a rather small region to work on bigger and better solutions that benefit both the individual countries and the region as a whole. If we look at the Nordics, it is fair to say that we are not the biggest – but when we pool together our resources, it helps the region to make an impact in the world. This is also the case for Nordic Energy Research – with energy becoming a more and more important aspect of many different areas, it’s important that Nordic Energy Research gathers the Nordic actors to create common ground across borders,” says Jacob.

  • Name: Jacob Munch
  • Nationality: Danish
  • Education: MA in Development and International Relations from Aalborg University & MA in Political Sciences from the University of Southern Denmark
  • Leisure: Hiking, badminton, football, food, travelling