Annika Göran-Rodell

About Annika Göran-Rodell

Annika Göran Rodell - Academic Intrapreneur is a lecturer in Culinary Arts and Meal Science.

Annika's interdisciplinary background with studies in Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Meal Science, Expressive Arts, Pedagogy and Sustainable Leadership contributes to a broad research interest with several specializations, often with aesthetics as a starting point. Annika is part of the education group at the ORU Platform for a Sustainable Future (PSF), which develops new courses together with the Center for Higher Education Pedagogy.

Annika's research interest can be said to be at the intersection of sustainability, aesthetics, leadership and pedagogy. Annika was appointed Excellent teacher at Örebro University in 2012 and received the students' pedagogical prize in 2020.

Teaching and collaboration

Annika likes to work with complex issues and in the course Development of meal experiences 15 HP for year 3, the meal maker is challenged as a gastronomic change agent.

In close collaboration with chef Paul Svensson—who is also an honorary doctor at Örebro University—Annika has, through an iterative process over several years, developed a new educational method structured as a design process. As part of this work, a tool called HEPEC has been created. The acronym stands for History, Ecosystems, Primary Producers, Entrepreneurs, and Circular Systems. HEPEC can be understood as a universal tool that takes a local approach with a global perspective to promote a healthy natural environment and sustainable food development.

History involves recognizing the historical potential of a place for future innovation. By gaining a deeper understanding of the ecosystems that have shaped the place, a clearer sense of identity can emerge. Identifying the primary producers and entrepreneurs in the area provides insight into how local resilience can be fostered. The circular processes needed to build regenerative businesses offer solutions where no waste is produced.

The aim is to explore how a restaurant can collaborate with the system it is part of, based on the specific conditions of its location. By simultaneously examining gastronomic, cultural, ecological, relational, and aesthetic conditions, different kinds of maps and frameworks can be developed. How can a restaurant strengthen its own operations while also creating a win-win situation for other stakeholders and, in the long term, improve the conditions of the entire place?

Today, our food system lacks resilience. Too many products are sourced from far away, out of season, and are grown in ways that are unsustainable for ecosystems. A restaurant that works more locally with suppliers is better equipped to survive times of crisis. Moreover, new ingredients, producers, and entrepreneurs can emerge, increasing the marketing potential of a place.

The first course prototype using the HEPEC tool was titled: What does Grythyttan taste like in 2030? How does a place taste, and how can students gain an understanding of the entire food system and their role within it? Students learn to develop a horizontally broadened understanding of a place, while also vertically anchoring their sustainable meal experience in that place. Over the years, the course has explored various themes, such as: What could a self-sufficient municipality taste like in the future? What do purpose-driven meals taste like? What do uniqueness and storytelling taste like in a specific place?

The course can be viewed as an action research project, from which new research collaborations have emerged, generating funding from, among others, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and Vinnova. In the course offered in Autumn 2025, students will use the HEPEC tool in collaboration with selected restaurants in Örebro County.

Annika is also responsible for the basic course in aesthetic methods in grade 1 where she has worked for 15 years with method development in applied aesthetics in Culinary Arts and Meal Science. She also teaches performative presentation, presence training and sustainable leadership.

Other assignments

2020 - Member of the Committee on Education at undergraduate and graduate level.

2013-2015 Annika worked, alongside her work at RHS, as a pedagogical developer at PIL (Unit for University Pedagogy, ICT and Learning) and currently holds a pedagogical development assignment at RHS.

2016 -2022 Annika has been one of three course leaders on Konstfack's international master's course Back to the land - reconnecting Urban and Rural Through Food Systems together with John Thackara and Cheryl Akner Koler where Annika has been responsible for the educational process with a focus on social co-creation based on Theory U (Sharmer, 2007; Scharmer & Kaufer, 2013; Scharmer, 2018) and meal rituals.