"The most important thing we teach is to keep learning"

In Södertälje, Sweden, a short train ride south of Stockholm, Campus Telge prepares safety engineers for working life through hands-on learning and a partnership with Consilium Safety Group.

At Campus Telge, learning and working are designed to bleed into each other. What happens here will matter the day you step onto a job site. Each course is steered by an industry committee – a constant feedback loop between employers and educators to keep relevance front and centre.

Mónica Cardozo saw this as both an opportunity and a challenge when she started at Campus Telge as Head of Programme for Safety Engineering two years ago. The ties were there, but they needed tightening.

“We can teach the theory,” she says. “But it’s the industry that shows how the work is done in reality.”

That insight drove a new partnership with Consilium Safety Group, first sparked by the programme’s in-depth workplace training in the company’s offices and worksites. In those meetings, Mónica rebuilt her steering committee, inviting Fredrik Ek, Head of Project at Consilium Safety Sweden, to join.

The committee reviewed the curriculum and identified areas where students needed a clearer grounding. Some courses were rebuilt, others merged or refreshed, and a new application went in – expanding hands-on learning at the heart of the degree.

“When we joined, it was clear the programme had room to grow,” Fredrik says. “Our role was to bring in real work perspectives. It’s been a joint effort to align education and practice.”

One profession, many paths

Safety itself, Fredrik notes, is a world of specialities. On one floor, students might be mastering technical systems: on another, regulatory compliance, risk analysis, or project planning.

“There isn’t one kind of safety engineer,” he says. “The education must allow for different strengths.”

Students reflect that diversity too. Some are fresh out of school, others are in mid-career, and some are returning from parental leave or shifting professions entirely.

“What’s special here,” says Anders Holm Brisenheim, a student in the programme, “is that the teachers are fantastic, you can always ask for help. We learn things we’ll use – and you really feel that jobs are waiting for you after this.

Take Nasir Adan, 26, who arrived after a spell in telecom sales, not planning on safety engineering – but finding a world he hadn’t expected.

“The programme prepares us for the private or public sectors,” he says. In hospitals, municipalities, or high-tech companies, the field is constantly changing. It’s no longer just locks and alarms, it’s complete systems that prevent, detect, and document incidents in real time.”

Skills for a changing industry

During work placements at Consilium, students join real operational work – sometimes shadowing engineers on service visits, supporting documentation, and working on analysis and preparation.

Consilium has hired students in previous years, and from this programme, one student is now completing her second placement, a pathway that can lead to employment.

“There’s a shortage of people who are both engaged and willing to develop,” Fredrik reflects. “Meet the students early, nurture their curiosity, and you’ll see them grow, finding confidence and belonging in industry.”

That curiosity is needed. The profession is evolving, driven by digital tools, data-driven insights, and predictive analytics that redefine what’s possible in safety. Yet core skills remain as old as the field: judgement to see risk, anticipate consequences, and take responsibility.

Mónica makes no empty promises. “You don’t leave here fully formed. The most important thing we teach is the habit of continuing to learn.”

When industry and education move together, graduates step into the world with real, needed skills. Companies like Consilium secure the capability they need. Society itself gets the ultimate reward: safer workplaces, safer hospitals, safer streets.

“Safety is everywhere,” Mónica says. “When education and industry work together, we build the knowledge that supports it.”