DTU invites students, companies, and organizations to an innovation competition aimed at contributing to the reopening of a sustainable society after COVID-19.
DTU invites students, companies, partners, and organizations to participate in the innovation competition—Let’s Re-open a Sustainable Circular Society—which is to accelerate the creation of projects that can promote a sustainable development.
"Students are experiencing more than any other group that it’s urgent to create a sustainable world. We must support this commitment, and we’re therefore inviting students to participate as co-creators of the event."
Krestine Mougaard, Project Manager at DTU Skylab.
The innovation competition is held in a partnership with companies, organizations, and partners, and invites the University’s students, PhD students, and early start-ups across national borders to participate. Let’s Re-open a Sustainable Circular Society is designed as an innovation sprint and takes place on a virtual platform with special collaboration rooms for the teams which develop new solutions, further develop existing projects, or discuss future partnerships.
Kickstarting sustainability
Universities around the world—and DTU—have already shown how development groups and research are transformed into rapid action and development in a crisis. Let’s Re-open a Sustainable Circular Society will utilize these forces and this passion for a joint development of society.
“The innovativeness of students is a strong resource card to play in the reopening of society. At DTU and in our many study and innovation programmes, we often see how students can rethink and inspire established companies and organizations. I can’t wait to see how this can be brought into play with an exciting virtual kick-start,” says Marianne Thellersen, Senior Vice President—Innovation and Entrepreneurship at DTU.
Students are the driving force
Let’s Re-open a Sustainable Circular Society is being created in a community-driven model in which collaboration with participants, volunteers, companies, and organizations shapes the programme and activities. The problems that form part of the competition have been posed by companies that want to change course, or react to the climate crisis, and support the journey towards a climate-neutral 2050. It is an agenda that many companies have already hooked up with, and there is also great interest among the students in working with a sustainable reopening of society, explains Krestine Mougaard, Project Manager at DTU Skylab.
“Students have a unique commitment to a sustainability agenda. If anyone, they’re the ones who will be affected by the climate crisis. Students are experiencing more than any other group that it’s urgent to create a sustainable world. We must support this commitment, and we’re therefore inviting students to participate as co-creators of the event,” says Krestine Mougaard.
Webinar kicks off the competition
The first item on the programme in the competition is a webinar on 13 August, which highlights how universities can support the reopening of a sustainable society. The innovation competition is held in the days from 27 to 30 August 2020. The final and the prize ceremony are on 10 September.
Registration is open, and students, PhD students, and early start-ups can sign up for one of the four tracks of the competition:
• Green conversion—In companies and organizations (recreation of value chains and local production: Reliability of delivery and environmental solidity)
• New urban neighbourhoods and areas; Public areas and means of transportation.
• Changed work practices that incorporate learning points from the crisis: Virtual and physical working environments.
• Wildcard: Open to all COVID-19-related solutions.
All DTU’s BEng, BSc, and MSc students can participate. The basis for participation may be an existing project, or the desire to form a team and explore new possibilities. The first day supports the formation of groups, making it possible to create an inter-disciplinary group across cultures, national borders, and academic disciplines.
The deadline for registration for Let’s Re-open a Sustainable Circular Society is 20 August 2020.