One year after taking part in the EIT Climate-KIC Journey Summer School, Amanda Griniece’s career path has taken a turn towards sustainability. Before joining the Journey, Amanda worked at Liepāja City Council in Latvia, but she wanted to get hands on experience and a deeper understanding on climate politics. She wanted to turn her career path to fight climate change.
During the Summer School, Amanda connected with people from all over Europe and discovered many opportunities that broaden her horizon. Being part of the Journey made such a profound impact on Amanda, that she took a gap year to take part in multiple Erasmus+ projects after graduating from her bachelor’s degree. She also decided to quit her job, in order to gain experience from another perspective. This new insight on climate and innovation empowered her to take a new path, and work with environment and sustainability topics.
“The Journey eventually led me to discover more opportunities and projects provided by the European Union and gave me a sense of belonging to a community and Europe as a whole” she said. “All these initiatives and programmes provided by European Union are a real investment in our generation, I feel thrilled and thankful to discover, learn and experience that I can make a difference as European” she added.
To craft her career, Amanda took part of projects like “Marine environment” in Croatia and “Sustainable Society” in Slovenia and ROOF – Routes of Our Future. She went on a one month cycling tour through Europe to bring a message to society about EU, solidarity, democracy to encourage active citizenship and voting in EP elections. She also completed an internship as a Junior Sustainability Consultant at hospitality business “Le Chalet Mont Blanc” in France. These experiences also made her realize that individuals and young professionals can achieve a lot, as long as they stand up for what they believe. She is now planning to start her Master studies in Circular economy.
