Sustainability in Copenhagen and Aarhus
We visited a garden that was on top of a roof. It was beautiful and amazing. Nearly the entire roof was covered with connected beds of vegetables. There was an aisle right down the middle and there was also a building structure that worked as a seating area and a seed sprouting room. While we were there they were in the process of building a kitchen extension onto that structure. The garden is for members only but they do host social events for their members. For example, we were told that one of the members had her wedding reception up there. This has a strong connection to sustainability because spaces to grow fresh produce for yourself and your family is something that is in short supply in urban areas.
Every week members get to take home a box full of vegetables. It also provides a cheap way to socialize with community members and contribute to an active lifestyle. Sustainability is the combination of three circles – social, economic and environmental. The gardens that we are studying in these cities seem to contribute to the social circle the most and the environmental circle second due to the increase in biodiversity and overall green space.
We have now moved out of Copenhagen and into Aarhus. The trip was a four hour bus ride. The ride was fun. We had two birthdays in our group that day and our faculty lead, Jenny, bought us all Danish pastries for the bus ride to celebrate. After that I slept for a couple hours. Sleeping on long rides is highly recommended. Almost everyone fell asleep and when we woke up for the last 45 minutes we were all energetic and jazzed to get to the new city. Aarhus is quite different from Copenhagen. Copenhagen is a larger city and has high rise buildings even though they are diverse and colorful. Aarhus on the other hand is more like a large village. There are a lot of neighborhoods with single homes and yards. The houses are old and do not look the same, which is quite enjoyable. They have character. We are close to the ocean and the houses on the beach are so adorable with perfectly cute gardens. More exploration will be taking place soon.