Photobomb: Climate summer school at UCPH

40 international students from all over the world visited the University of Copenhagen for 10 days of intensive focus on climate and innovation as part of their Climate-KIC summer school called 'The Journey'. Several professors gave lectures on climate change and inspired the students to take action and create solutions to help tackle the challenges ahead. Below is a photo montage to give you a glimpse into the many experiences the group of students had in Copenhagen.

Head of Studies at Environment and Natural Resources Søren Bøye Olsen gave a lecture on The climate conscious consumer.

Taking time to celebrate a birthday in between lectures by Eigil Kaas and Claus Felby and discussions about natural and human impacts on climate change, greenhouse gases, rising carbon emissions and temperatures, volcanoes, Earth’s atmosphere, ocean levels and personal CO2 emissions.

We had an inspiring visit at the organic flower production Flor. They told us about their startup, the polluting and unhealthy conventional flower productions and how their startup is innovating the industry. Karoline studies at the University of Copenhagen and the startup is part of SCIENCE Innovation Hub.

As means of transportation we had provided the students with bikes, which we used daily. Below is a picture from when we biked through Copenhagen to KADK to learn how the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts have incorporated the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in their educational programs. Three students gave presentations of their graduate projects and the project's relation to the SDGs.

The startup Copenhagen Surf School gave the international students an amazing and super fun experience in the canals of Christianshavn. The startup is part of SCIENCE Innovation Hub and one the founders studies Environmental and Natural Resources at SCIENCE.

Throughout their time in Copenhagen the students discussed and worked together to create climate change solutions.

We were fortunate to be given a special guided tour by Sam Bruun-Lund in the exhibition ‘Fashioned from Nature’ at the National Museum of Natural History. Great perspectives on the climate footprint from the fashion industry, inspiration on new types of textiles and reusable materials. The museum does research on geography, botany, natural history, biodiversity and much more.

A visit to the Botanical Garden in Copenhagen sparked discussions on biodiversity and especially on what role botanical gardens and zoos play in society and in research. We touched upon discussions of philosophy and nature in captivity, the importance of awareness and knowledge of different species amongst people living far away from tropical regions as well as those whom live close by. One of the big questions was "Why do we import butterflies from Costa Rica instead of showcasing danish species? "
The Botanical Garden is part of the National Museum of Natural History.

From pure enthusiasm to skepticism - insects as a food source and the chance to taste crickets and mealworms really fired up interesting discussions. Can the low carbon footprint and low water usage in the farm production of insects replace some of the more resource heavy meat production in the future? Can we change our perspective on insects and see them as great, healthy and sustainable resources for protein rather than just as bugs? Syngja Beverages gave us much to think and talk about regarding food production in the future. The startup has roots at the University of Copenhagen and the team has also created an organization for insect foods in Denmark called Bugging Denmark. 

Head of studies in Climate Change Anders Svensson gave the students a hardcore ice core lecture and provided them with insights into what actually lies behind the climate models that teaches us about climate in the past and predicts the consequences of our actions to the climate of the future.

On the last day in Copenhagen the students were working hard to define and decide on their design questions. Luckily we had inspiration from Professor Ida Theilade whom has developed an app that enables indigenous people to track logging and deforestation in Cambodia. Tangible innovation that can help create changes and a technology that tackles huge problems in many areas of the world.

Frederik Nygaard, Business Developer in  SCIENCE Innovation Hub, also stopped by and gave the students feedback on their projects.

After Copenhagen the Journey summer school students continues to Zürich and Hamburg - traveling by train of course to lower the CO2 emissions.

For more pictures from the Journey in Copenhagen go to SCIENCE Innovation Hub facebookpage.

Want to know more about the Climate-KIC summer school go to the official webpage.