By Susanne Togeby, AAU Communication and Public Affairs.
Photo:  Lars Horn, Tobias Nicolai and Trine Dalsgaard Rasmussen

The sustainability festival Aalborg 2024 was held from 1 to 5 October 2024. Aalborg Municipality hosted the festival, while the Department of Sustainability and Planning (PLAN) participated both as a partner and co-organizer prior to the event and with presentations and dialogue during the festival and conference.

During the festival, Assistant Professor Emilia Ravn-Boess from the Danish Centre for Environmental Assessment at PLAN presented a presentation focusing on sustainability and science. In order to achieve the green transition, we need development that supports our political objectives and that actively contributes to promoting sustainability. The presentation highlighted the role of practitioners in integrating the SDGs into a more targeted environmental assessment and highlighted the importance of good practices.

Three PhD students from PLAN participated in the PhD Pitch event against other PhD students from Aalborg University to make the best 3-minute pitch about the latest knowledge in their field. The award for the best Ph.D. Pitch is awarded to a researcher who can communicate his or her research clearly and convincingly, while effectively engaging the audience in sustainable research.

Kristina Tornbjerg Eriksen, robotics researcher at PLAN, controlled the course of the battle in both the Danish and English versions of the PhD Pitch. Here, Kristina Tornbjerg Eriksen drew on her experience of pitching her PhD research from participation in DR's PhD Cup in 2024.

Aksel Bang from PLAN presented his pitch in Danish, while Diana Moreno and Lasse Schytt Nørgaard presented their presentation in English. Diana Moreno impressed the judging panel with her pitch and was named the winner of the English competition to present her PhD research.

On the grass in Kildeparken, PLAN rolled out its dialogue bike. Here, students within sustainability talked about their education, how they are prepared to lift the sustainability agenda of the future and about being students in a time where sustainability has such a big focus.

Peter Sorknæs, who is an associate professor at the Department of Sustainability and Planning, participated in the conference Aalborg 2024 with a presentation on cities' energy consumption for heating and cooling in the future. Read more (in Danish): Hvad skal byer og kommuner overveje i omstillingen af deres energisystemer til vedvarende energi?

In addition, festival guests could experience students' thesis that dealt with one or more of the sustainability development goals, which provided insight into current issues within the green transition.

Read more about students' contributions to the sustainability exhibition

Translated by: Tanja Sørensen, AAU Communication and Public Affairs.