Last week 60 of us piled into a bus and headed 5 hours West into Denmark. Our first night we landed in Rosklide (pronounced Raskilda), which is about and hour outside of Copenhagen. It is a quaint little town, presumably full of money judging the expensive shops and enormous yachts in the harbor. The hostel that we stayed at was a beautiful expression of contemporary architecture (the first pic)- the only downfall was sharing a room with 7 other girls, 2 of whom snored, but that is another story.
The next morning we visited the eco community of Svanholm which was extremely interesting. It was pouring rain outside so the tour was cut short but we spent a few hours talking with some of the members. The community was started the year I was born and has grown into 60 members who live and work together in the most sustainable means possible. They farm their own organic food, they raise their own animals and they are completely self sufficient in terms of energy. The experience has inspired me to contemplate; how can we integrate the principles and concepts from this small eco community into the already existing suburbs in the US - how can we transform suburbia into a sustainable society? Potential thesis project, perhaps, but the topic is so broad and intimidating that I'm not sure I would see any feasible results after a mere 5 months of research. It was an eye-opening, compelling day and I encourage you to check out their website for more info http://svanholm.dk/en.php.
Next we were off to Borrevejle, about 30 minutes outside of Copenhagen, where we spent the next 2 days in workshops. The hostel was in a very secluded, wooded site along a lake and the air was brisk - perfect weather for a campfire which is exactly what we did that evening. When we walked into the rooms I immediately felt like I was in summer camp - what better way to get to know your colleagues than to share a room with 12 of them! I can't complain, my tuition is free and the school funded most of this trip. It was so ridiculous that it was hilarious - the bunk beds were stacked 3 high so I naturally climbed up top. It was no suprise when I woke up in the morning, tried to sit up and banged my head on the ceiling - that caused a good laugh amongst everyone! It was not all just fun and games, we held another 'open space' session and discussed numerous topics - I hosted a conversation regarding my potential thesis topic and was pleasantly suprised that so many people were interested. We also had a 'world cafe' in which you sit in small groups and discuss a topic, then after a certain amount of time you switch tables and continue the conversation with other people. This occured several times throughout the morning, after which each table presented their ideas and collectiviely we came to some conclusions. It is a very effective way to foster communication and has been used strategically throughout the world to bring people together of different backgrounds to share new perspectives, insights and ideas. It was an interesting few days, but I was ready for some city time.
I spent most of the weekend exploring Copenhagen with some of my classmates. I really loved this city, and it was nice to be back in an urban environment again - if you think Madison is small come check out Karlskrona sometime! Copenhagen has a great bike rental program where for a small deposit you can take a city bike off the rack and when you return it you get your deposit back - problem was there were no bikes! We assume they were all stolen since they were essentially free - sounds good in concept but not quite realistic. Either way, we spent the weekend on foot, wandering through the town square, down Stroget (the world's longest pedestrian street), through Nyhavn where all the pretty, colorful buildings are, into Chistiana, to the Danish Architecture Center and the Design Center...and so on.
I really enjoyed Copenhagen and will be returning in 2 weeks to meet Joe for our 1 year anniversary!!! I am very much looking forward to spending a long weekend with Joe in such an amazing place.
The next morning we visited the eco community of Svanholm which was extremely interesting. It was pouring rain outside so the tour was cut short but we spent a few hours talking with some of the members. The community was started the year I was born and has grown into 60 members who live and work together in the most sustainable means possible. They farm their own organic food, they raise their own animals and they are completely self sufficient in terms of energy. The experience has inspired me to contemplate; how can we integrate the principles and concepts from this small eco community into the already existing suburbs in the US - how can we transform suburbia into a sustainable society? Potential thesis project, perhaps, but the topic is so broad and intimidating that I'm not sure I would see any feasible results after a mere 5 months of research. It was an eye-opening, compelling day and I encourage you to check out their website for more info http://svanholm.dk/en.php.
Next we were off to Borrevejle, about 30 minutes outside of Copenhagen, where we spent the next 2 days in workshops. The hostel was in a very secluded, wooded site along a lake and the air was brisk - perfect weather for a campfire which is exactly what we did that evening. When we walked into the rooms I immediately felt like I was in summer camp - what better way to get to know your colleagues than to share a room with 12 of them! I can't complain, my tuition is free and the school funded most of this trip. It was so ridiculous that it was hilarious - the bunk beds were stacked 3 high so I naturally climbed up top. It was no suprise when I woke up in the morning, tried to sit up and banged my head on the ceiling - that caused a good laugh amongst everyone! It was not all just fun and games, we held another 'open space' session and discussed numerous topics - I hosted a conversation regarding my potential thesis topic and was pleasantly suprised that so many people were interested. We also had a 'world cafe' in which you sit in small groups and discuss a topic, then after a certain amount of time you switch tables and continue the conversation with other people. This occured several times throughout the morning, after which each table presented their ideas and collectiviely we came to some conclusions. It is a very effective way to foster communication and has been used strategically throughout the world to bring people together of different backgrounds to share new perspectives, insights and ideas. It was an interesting few days, but I was ready for some city time.
I spent most of the weekend exploring Copenhagen with some of my classmates. I really loved this city, and it was nice to be back in an urban environment again - if you think Madison is small come check out Karlskrona sometime! Copenhagen has a great bike rental program where for a small deposit you can take a city bike off the rack and when you return it you get your deposit back - problem was there were no bikes! We assume they were all stolen since they were essentially free - sounds good in concept but not quite realistic. Either way, we spent the weekend on foot, wandering through the town square, down Stroget (the world's longest pedestrian street), through Nyhavn where all the pretty, colorful buildings are, into Chistiana, to the Danish Architecture Center and the Design Center...and so on.
I really enjoyed Copenhagen and will be returning in 2 weeks to meet Joe for our 1 year anniversary!!! I am very much looking forward to spending a long weekend with Joe in such an amazing place.
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