Wiebe Wakker
June 1, 2016
When I woke up Line & Keld already left to work.I needed to be early in Vejle today so I made breakfast and started driving.
I was invited by Charlotte & Jette in Vejle. Vejle is a resilient city. Resilient cities are founded by the Rockefeller Foundation and is dedicated to helping cities around the world to become more resilient to the physical, social and economical challenges that are growing part of the 21st century. The city of Velje is the only resilient city in Scandinavia and the first in Europe to come with a strategy. Other resilient cities around the world include Washington, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Rotterdam and Singapore. I was welcomed with a giftbox which are given to all new citizens of Vejle.
Charlotte & Jette showed me around the exhibition which explained all of the aspects of resilient Vejle. The main problem of this city is water. The city is surrounded by mountains and is build around a lake. When it rains a lot the water rises and this can lead to floods. They don’t see this as a problem but as an opportunity. The exhibition is very well designed and interactive. A 3D map shows the history of the city, by sliding through the different years on an iPad the model changes form and shows the growth of the city throughout the years. Also the level of water is indicated and shows how it affects the city.
This day has been very informative, I had never heard before of the resilient cities and I believe the way they handle sustainability is something to learn from. They don’t just inform or try to keep everyone to strict rules. They involve the whole community and let everyone have their say in all the projects they are working on. All the gathered input is used in the endproduct.
One of these projects is the Green Tech Center. I was welcome by an very enthusiastic woman named Jeanette. Wat really strikes me is that everyone in the community is very proud of the resilient city and all the projects. The Green Tech Center is a startup accelerator in the green energy industry. Jeanette introduced me to some to the companies who are working here on innovative ideas. For example she showed Orogenic ApS who makes batteries for electric cars and there was a company who made the solar panels for the award winning new headquarter of the United Nations in Copenhagen. I had a short talk with the CEO of the Green Tech Center who is also an inspiring guy, later more about this.
This is just a short review of my day in Vejle, an extended review and interview can be seen later on this website.
After Vejle I drove back to Thomas & Annette in Åbyhøj, where I slept last Saturday. I left my toilet bag there and there was to many important stuff inside so I had to pick that up. Luckily I didn’t need to drive the same route back and loose a few days but as I made a circle through Denmark it was on the route.
I spend the night working and went to bed early as I got a call in the night from Radio 1.
