Bæredygtig Herning was host and facilitator when Climathon came to Herning. The global event took place in 200 cities at the same time, and, in Herning, students were challenged to find sustainable solutions for the textile industry.
”People buy too much and don’t keep things long enough.” That’s how Lukas Lindberg, 20, summarized the textile challenge that was the focus of Herning’s Climathon from the 28-29 of October in 2021. Lindholm is a Business Development Engineering student at AU Herning who worked alongside about 30 other students from AU Herning, VIA University College and Erhvervsakademi MidtVest during the event. Herning Municipality and the three educational institutions challenged the students to produce ideas for how to collect and reuse the tons of textiles that are thrown out each year.
Laila Johansen, a Development Consultant for Herning Municipality, explained: “Herning is known for its expertise in the textile industry, and we want to be a leader in finding solutions to the sustainability challenge, too. We believe in working together in the city and so it made sense to bring a group of students together from different areas of technical and business studies. Our hope is that it will be the start of successful network, where students work together to create lasting change.”
Bert Meijers, Program Manager for Bæredygtig Herning and co-organiser of the event, says the students showed energy and dedication during the two-day event. “The students may not have known what to expect in the beginning, but they were filled with excitement once they learned it was about finding ideas for reducing waste and increasing trust and transparency in the textile industry – that is something that really speaks to their interests,” he says. “The local connection is important to us, so it was a real success to focus on a subject so close to Herning’s profile as a textile city.”
"The students were filled with excitement once they learned it was about finding ideas for reducing waste and increasing trust and transparency in the textile industry"
Bert Meijers, Program Manager, Bæredygtig Herning
Climathon is a global climate action programme aimed at cities and citizens. Climathon organisers bring citizens, students, companies, politicians, and others together for two days of innovation and engagement. In Herning, a business project called Tekstilsymbiose will work to implement the students’ input into a number of local sustainability initiatives. Bæredygtig Herning organised the programme in cooperation with Herning Municipality and with implementation help and consulting from circa cph.
"Herning is known for its expertise in the textile industry, and we want to be a leader in finding solutions to the sustainability challenge, too"
Laila Johansen | Udviklingskonsulent, Herning Kommune