Amanda is passionate about sustainability – both at work and at home

Sustainability is Amanda Östman’s driving force. In her work at Länsförsäkringar Skaraborg, a regional insurance company, she helps ensure the company’s strategic focus is in line with sustainable social development. On her farm in Falbygden, she and her family also run a number of small but very tangible sustainability projects such as keeping grazing animals to preserve the cultural landscape and using farming methods that create conditions for biodiversity.

Amanda’s job as a sustainability coordinator at LF Skaraborg means working with a clear focus on the future. She wants to help develop a society that husbands all of its resources responsibly.

“LF Skaraborg is a customer-owned company, which I think is a good thing, and this is clearly visible in our strategies and company culture. We work for our owners, Skaraborg’s residents, and we’re eager to help develop all of Skaraborg. What’s good for our residents is good for us, too.”

LF Skaraborg works with banking and insurance. Amanda’s job is to support managers and company management in decisions and measures related to sustainability, and to work with them in driving the company in a sustainable direction. 

Amanda tells us that the issues that land on her desk can be both big and small. And that they can impact everything from a few colleagues to all of the company’s customers.

“The things that end up on my desk could be about how we work internally with e.g. our vehicles and properties, but could also be offers to our customers. Our goal is to make it easy for our customers to make sustainable choices. Providing both insurance and banking means we can work with matters on a broad front and support our customers in the green transition. We also do a lot of prevention work to reduce the risk of damage occurring, and to limit its extent should it occur. Fire or water damage is not only particularly tough for the customer, but also very negative for the environment due to the emissions and all the materials that have to be torn out and replaced.”

Found her dream house in Falbygden

Amanda knew early on that she wanted to work with sustainability, so she moved to Gothenburg to study. She met her husband there, and stayed. After her studies, she worked in various municipal undertakings. The couple moved to the outskirts of the city, swapping apartment living for a villa. But little by little, a dream of an alternative daily routine began to emerge.

“We couldn’t grow as much as we wanted in our backyard, and even though we were lucky enough to borrow part of a field that neighbored our yard, it never seemed quite enough. I didn’t always know that living on a farm was what I wanted, but after a few years in our villa, my husband and I realized that a farm was what we yearned for.” 

The couple began looking at farms near Gothenburg, but finding the right place for the family proved difficult.

“What we wanted we couldn’t afford, and what we could afford we didn’t want. It was outrageously expensive.”

Neither Amanda nor her husband had links to Skaraborg and they knew very little about the land between the lakes. But when Amanda visited Lake Hornborga to attend a course in scythe mowing, Falbygden and Skaraborg caught her eye.

“We added Falköping municipality to our search list on Hemnet just before Christmas. In January, ‘our’ farm came on the market. We were hooked before we’d even been to see it!”

Amanda tells us there was a lot of interest in the farm and that the bidding was intense. But the couple were happy with the final bid price. And compared to the prices that Amanda and her husband had grown used to in Gothenburg, they got a great deal for their money.

“When we bid on the farm, an average villa in Gothenburg would fetch SEK 6.5 million. We bought a 22-hectare farm for less than that!”

Sustainability in theory and practice

Amanda tells us the move went smoothly and that the family soon fell in love with their new home.

“We were smitten by the cultural landscape with its drystone walls and signs of everyone who has gone before us – there are graves and cairns everywhere! This was no fertile arable land, but more like barren pasture. But since we keep sheep, it suits us perfectly.”

Amanda’s interest in sustainability has blossomed on the farm. She enjoys conserving all the historical, cultural aspects of their old wooden house, being able to grow her own food and raise sheep. 

She feels stewardship of the things on the farm and preserving them for posterity is important.

“Sustainability is my driving force. Sustainability issues in my job are about movements in organizations, and while they’re really important they’re not always tangible and we’re constantly dependent on factors we cannot influence such as events in the world at large. When I’m at home, I can do real, concrete things that are good for the environment and biodiversity. Knowing that I’m doing all I can to create a sustainable future is very important to me.” 

Today, Amanda, her husband and their three children are all enjoying country life to the full. But Amanda admits that her children sometimes think it’s a bit too far to friends of the same age.

But the pleasures country life has to offer are utterly different and Amanda says her children think taking care of the family’s sheep is cool, especially in springtime when the lambs arrive.

Her dream of a more sustainable life has become a reality. And Amanda loves life on her farm.

“I always look forward to coming home, it’s such a great feeling!”