Accompanied by their two professors, Prof. Dr. Judith Mayer and Prof. Dr. Markus Caspers, 18 second and third semester students on the Master's degree course in Communication & Design for Sustainability (CDS) at Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences traveled to the Danish capital Copenhagen from 22-26 April 2024.
In addition to visiting various design museums, such as the Design Museum Denmark and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, the program also included a visit to Ramboll: The company is internationally recognized in the fields of (landscape) architecture, urbanism and environmental protection and has set itself the task of developing places that strengthen social cohesion and closeness to nature.
With a tour of the harbor area and Örestad as well as a boat trip to CopenHill, there was no shortage of sightseeing activities. CopenHill is a sustainable and multifunctional facility in the middle of the city: in addition to waste incineration and waste management, the hill also offers recreational opportunities with a ski slope and hiking trails.
Sustainability at a high level: Visit to the ØsterGRO Roof Gardening farm
The highlight of the week was ØsterGRO Roof Gardening: ØsterGRO is an urban and sustainable farming initiative located on the roof of a building in Copenhagen. The project was founded to explore innovative solutions for the use of roof space in urban environments and to enable the organic production of fresh food in the middle of the city. It is the first rooftop farm in Denmark and a showcase project for sustainable urban agriculture. ØsterGRO educates people about the benefits and techniques of urban agriculture and teaches visitors about sustainable farming.
The students were particularly impressed by the sustainable approaches of roof gardening: “The creative use of limited space and the direct involvement of the community have inspired me to consider similar concepts in future projects. Overall, the many inspirations and the time we spent together not only deepened our professional understanding, but also strengthened our cohesion as a degree course enormously,” says Merlin Mößle, second semester CDS student, summing up the excursion.
The HNU group was able to impressively experience the pioneering role of the Danish capital in terms of sustainable transformation during the various activities, as course director Prof. Dr. Markus Caspers also describes: “In Copenhagen, many examples of a successful transformation can be observed, the benefits of which are communicated positively to the general public and are therefore accepted by everyone.”
Contact persons:Prof. Dr. Judith Mayer (opens in a new window), Prof. Dr. Markus Caspers (opens in a new window)
