The 2025 Spring exchange cohort, standing in front of the Memorial Union
The 2025 spring exchange cohort from Aalborg university standing in front of the memorial union, before a data collection exercise on E-mobility on the campus - moderated in collaboration with the UCD Department of Transportation Services (DoTS).

AAU–UC Davis Exchange: Climate Resilient Planning on Campuses


IFrom March 31 to April 12, 2025, UC Davis welcomed a delegation from Aalborg University’s Cities and Sustainability (CiSu) specialization for a two-week collaborative workshop focused on climate-resilient urban development. The exchange, grounded in over a decade of partnership through the ARGTREE project, brought together 13 students and two faculty members from Aalborg university (Prof. Martin Lehman and Prof. Lars Bodum) for an experience that went far beyond the classroom.

This immersive program aimed to:

  • Provide experiential learning for CiSu students through fieldwork and applied projects
  • Deepen institutional collaboration on sustainability, mobility, and urban planning
  • Support UC Davis’s Living Lab approach to campus-based climate action 

Program Highlights

  • Academic Workshops & Lectures
    Students engaged with UC Davis faculty and staff on topics like food waste and circular economy, vehicle electrification, climate action planning, and environmental justice.
  • Integration with UC Davis Courses
    AAU students joined the Zero Net-Energy (ZNE) course, exploring doughnut economics, degrowth, and transformative climate strategies—often through co-taught sessions with faculty from both universities.
  • Field-Based Activities
    Students conducted a Micro-mobility Observation Exercise and a Collaborative Campus Mapping project, and visited the Yolo County Central Landfill to understand regional waste systems. 
  • Project Development
    Small teams developed user personas, conducted interviews, and proposed interventions, culminating in final poster presentations to UC Davis faculty and planners.
  • Cultural Exchange & Community Building
    The experience extended beyond the classroom, with students biking across Davis, attending Picnic Day, and bonding over a community potluck hosted by Professor Kurt Kornbluth.
AAU students posing for picture at YOLO landfill
AAU grad students on a field trip to the YOLO county landfill, Spring 2025. 
AAU students collecting data during the collaborative mapping exercise -Walker hall UCD.
AAU students collecting data during the collaborative mapping exercise -Walker hall UCD.

Outcomes

Described by participants as “more than an academic exercise,” the exchange fostered a deeply human experience of learning and living sustainability across cultures. Students gained hands-on experience with urban design, participatory methods, and climate planning in a real-world context. Their final projects sparked valuable discussions on campus mobility and planning. 

This exchange strengthened the transatlantic partnership and set the stage for continued collaboration—including a potential return visit by UC Davis students to Denmark in Fall 2025.

studdent discussion
Group discussion during the workshop 'The University of California's framework for Environmental Justice in Climate Action Planning'. The students reflected upon their findings from the collaborative mapping data collection and discussed issues in the context of Env/Climate justice. 

 

Documents