Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland

In the years 1992 to 1998, Sverrir developed and introduced independently strategic propositions on establishing a very large protected nature conservation area or national park, on and around the Vatnajokull glacier in the eastern part of Iceland. The purpose would be to establish a “cornerstone in Iceland’s image, to enhance the country’s image, strengthen the market position of certain business sectors, and to create new jobs. At the time, Sverrir was a university student, studying business administration. Sverrir was the first and only to introduce such ideas in a comprehensive way, in Iceland’s history. Between 1998 and 2000, the Icelandic parliament and cabinet of ministers discussed and agreed on establishing a national park in this area. Preparatory work was done between 2001 and 2008, and the national park was established in June of 2008. Between 2001 and 2014, Sverrir has added various studies and projects on the subject, but wasn’t involved in the government’s work on the issue, which was lead by politicians, which again hadn’t participated in Sverrir’s original creation of the concept. In addition to his ideas being the first time that anyone presented proposition for nature conservation based on the viewpoint of marketing and business, the ongoing issues in the area have been great tension and occasional skirmishes between the large scale electricity production and heavy industry projects, and nature conservationists, which affected Sverrir’s position in this field and also his subsequent participation in society’s affairs.