Students from SDU have won an international competition about sustainable campuses
150 students jump-started the year with an international competition for sustainability, when Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) hosted the Green Campus Challenge 2021 alongside The Confederation of Danish Industry
Many students from i.a. University of Southern Denmark (SDU), the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), University of Copenhagen (KU), Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Aalborg University (AAU) and MIT allotted a week in January to find solutions to make their campuses more sustainable. Students from SDU were on the teams that took both first and second places.
Green-(In)-Spire: A platform for better knowledge sharing
Erik Koors, who has completed his education as Master of Science in Engineering (Production) recently, and his team took first place for their idea ”Green-(In)-Spire".
- All the knowledge behind the walls of the universities must be available to the students and the public, says Erik, who thinks that research and student projects far too often disappear into websites like Scopus, where they are lost in the crowd of millions of other articles.
”All the knowledge behind the walls of the universities must be available to the students and the public
The digital platform must be used for dissemination of existing and future research projects. The platform must be supplemented with a physical designated space on campus to showcase new inventions and give lectures about sustainability. These measures must improve the opportunity to share knowledge about sustainability and inspire the students to choose educations with focus on sustainability.
FreeCyclers: A physical space for recycling and community
Shristi Rijal, who studies public health science, participated on the team that received runner-up honors for their idea “FreeCyclers”. Shristi and her team have experienced that many students, especially exchange students, have many things left, when they return home after their stay in Denmark. The team came up with the idea to create a space at campus, where the students can hand in used items for the benefit of other students.
According to Shristi, an app could be a good tool to strengthen the circular economy among the students. However, she emphasizes that the physical space at campus is important. According to her, the students need a place to meet and create social communities.
Thereby, the idea of the group does not only take climate sustainability into account but also social sustainability
”It was pretty wild
New perspectives and an exciting network
A lot of new knowledge about sustainability, inspiration for creative project management and new tools for “upgrade of my PowerPoint game” are just a few of the things, Erik learned from the Green Campus Challenge.
Moreover, both Shristi and Erik talk enthusiastically about the network, they have gained through their participation and will undoubtedly reach out for them in case they need to co-operate.
- It was pretty wild. That is how Erik Koors describes his co-operation
with his teammates and mentions one particular teammate who made a huge
impression on Erik, when he led the team through their development process in a
creative manner.
Training of idea development and pitch
Throughout the week, the students received feedback on the development of their ideas and advice on the good pitch from mentors from i.a. Danfoss, Rambøll, SPACE10, Blue Lobster, EcoTree and DTU Skylab. They also received several presentations from sustainability experts.
They both hope that their ideas can be used somehow at campus and contribute to a more sustainable university.