Meet Nordic Energy Research’s Senior Communications Adviser, Jan Andersson, who has extensive experience as a radio correspondent, analysist and commentator. During the last 25 years, Jan has been covering conflicts and war such as the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008, the war in Gaza in 2009 and other conflicts in the Middle East for the Swedish Radio. Originally from Lysekil, Sweden, he lived in Brussels from 2014 to 2018, where he monitored the European Union and NATO. After returning to Sweden, he continued to cover the same subjects. He will primarily work with the Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETPartnership).

Despite the serious nature of Jan’s work, he is a family man who enjoys coaching his children’s local team in both handball and football. Cooking and baking are two other hobbies of his.

“Nobody makes as good of a Pavlova as I do,” says Jan.

Jan Andersson, Senior Communications Adviser at Nordic Energy Research.

“Energy has taken a geopolitical role”

According to Jan, energy plays a crucial role into everything.

“All I need to do is look at my children and their friends to understand how essential energy issues are for future generations’ actual ability to live on this planet,” he says.

With Jan’s background in international relations, it does not come as a suprise that he is keen to look at energy from the perspective of geopolitics.

“Lately, energy has taken on a geopolitical role due to changes in supply routes and production. Sometimes this shift is fundamental, and I think about how the EU countries are, more or less, no longer dependent on gas and oil from Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” says Jan.

“Energy is a commodity, and such commodities also give rise to discussions, negotiations, and hopefully agreements and developments. But it can also lead to conflicts and, in the worst case, armed conflicts. This vast array of issues surrounding energy on a global scale is therefore incredibly interesting to work with.”

This central role of energy on the world stage is also evident in the Nordic region.

“The geographical position of the Nordic countries presents specific challenges but also different opportunities for energy production compared to many other countries,” says Jan.

“Just look at the world around us. Every day, I am confronted with news, analyses, or comments on decisions that in some cases impact hundreds of millions of people. Since we are about 50 million people living in this part of the world, it’s vital that we stick together. Therefore, the work and the hours we spend at the Nordic Energy Research office in Oslo are incredibly important, not least for energy research and for the possibility of heating our homes here in the North in a few decades. Nordic cooperation on various issues has perhaps never been more important than it is now.”

Jan addressing Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey, at the NATO Vilnius Summit in 2023.

Jan’s role at Nordic Energy Research

With Jan’s interest in energy and Nordic cooperation, joining Nordic Energy Research was a logical step for him.

“By nature, I am someone who always wants to develop and learn new things. The experience and expertise at Nordic Energy Research, along with the ongoing work within CETPartnership, have made the organisation a respected hub. Being able to work at such a place is a great privilege, while also a responsibility considering the important issues being discussed in our corridors.”

In his role as Senior Communitions Adviser, Jan is leading and shaping the strategic communication work of CETPartnership – one of the world’s largest publicly funded energy research foundations. Several hundred different research programmes, both within and outside Europe, have been and are currently supported by the partnerhsip to develop various technologies solving critically important energy issues.

“I have also become involved in some of the work surrounding geopolitical concerns related to energy security within the Nordic and Baltic cooperation,” says Jan.

While these new tasks are exciting for Jan, they certainly aren’t always the easiest.

“The most challenging part is, first and foremost, understanding the long-term work that some of the world’s most skilled researchers and engineers have dedicated themselves to and have formulated in a way that is familiar to them. Transforming this knowledge into information and communication for a broader audience – when you succeed in that, it gives a great sense of satisfaction.”

  • Name: Jan Andersson
  • Nationality: Swedish
  • Education: Journalism education at Ljungskile Folk High School as well as specialised courses on Political Science, International Relations, and Economics at Gothenburg University
  • Leisure: Coaching children’s handball and football, being in nature, hunting, gardening, cooking and baking