Last week, around 50 students from all over Europe stopped by DTU as part of a summer school focusing on innovation that can counter climate change. This is part of Europe's biggest summer school ever with focus on climate.
Visiting Denmark for the first time this year, the five-week summer school is organized by Climate-KIC—a European platform for innovation, addressing climate change and the challenges it entails. The summer school encompasses 18 locations across Europe and includes a total of approximately 300 students from 40 different countries.
The students in Denmark were introduced to presentations on climate research and pay visits to companies working with climate-relevant projects. The students' work translates into a number of business ideas that are judged by Europe's leading venture capitalists, start-up entrepreneurs and scientists.
Alessio Mattera, one of the students attending the summer school, is an MSc student at DTU working on a project that offers a sustainable, modular solution to furnish an entire apartment.
"During the summer school we have, e.g., been assisted in choosing sustainable materials and preparing a business plan for our idea. So the summer school has been an excellent opportunity to learn from someone who knows about sustainability and start-ups. I have also learned a lot from working with students from other countries with very different engineering backgrounds," he says.
The University of Copenhagen and DTU have opened their doors to the students who have learned about business development at Scion DTU and been visiting VELUX and Novozymes.
The summer school is the first activity with an outward focus for Climate KIC's Nordic centre, which is based at DTU Lyngby Campus and has eight employees. Established in February this year, the Nordic centre represents a strong partnership of universities, leading businesses and public authorities that will work closely together to develop permanent new climate solutions with a view to creating sustainable growth.