Nordic Sustainability Partnership

About this course

This course is a high-level, interdisciplinary, project-based elective, focused on students passionate about and committed to facilitating both the green transition of our economies and mitigating the effects of the environmental challenges we face. To participate, you must be enrolled in at least one of the stated pre-requisite courses.

Building on your knowledge from these courses, you will work closely with DIS faculty on a real-world sustainability project for a third-party Danish commercial sponsor. This course involves the design of creative and innovative solutions to a complex challenge demanding in-depth knowledge, critical thinking, and the ability to tailor your solutions to a Danish business context. Your class time will include a mixture of site visits to the corporate sponsor, meetings with a project liaison from the sponsor, mentoring from DIS faculty, and class sessions tailored to particular elements of the project (e.g. aspects of strategy, sustainable finance, social entrepreneurship, etc.).

Previous semester partnership projects have included:

• DSV A/S, one of the largest logistics and transport service providers in the world. They provide a wide range of services, including road, air, sea, and rail transport, we well as warehousing other logistics solutions. Most net-zero efforts have been focused on transportation and energy, and thus, with a lack of attention on warehousing, DSV A/S has the ability to gain an advantage over competitors by looking towards a book and claim system applied specifically to their warehousing services. Students assisted the company in developing a CO₂ Bank based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
• Ørsted, a renewable energy company with a clear vision: to create a world that runs entirely on green energy. During the past ten years, they have transformed from a coal-intensive utility to a green energy major. The purpose of our project was to ‘stress-test’ Ørsted’s strategy around scrap steel, partnering, and development of supporting tools. (click on the Ørsted tab to get all the details on our very successful project.)
• GoodWings, an online travel management company that helps businesses calculate, reduce, and report travel emissions. Students helped GoodWings explore market opportunities from the EU taxonomy’s new reporting requirements and ass the future of biofuels as “avoidance offsets” and also Outsight International, a consultancy firm providing research, strategy, facilitation
• Outsight International, a consultancy firm providing excellence in research, strategy, facilitation, and M&E — primarily in humanitarian, environment, health and social justice settings. Students provided Outsight with research into the new European Sustainability Reporting Standards, helping them understand the changes and developing a business proposal for how to seize the market opportunity and lead the change.

Successful completion of the course and evaluation criteria will result in your accreditation as a DIS Sustainability Scholar and receipt of a digital badge demonstrating your achievements through the project. The digital badge can be attached to your LinkedIn profile.

Faculty

David Possen

Ph.D. (Philosophy and Social Thought, University of Chicago, 2009). Formerly at Yale University’s Whitney Humanities Center and the University of Copenhagen’s Søren Kierkegaard Research Center. External Lecturer of philosophy in the University of Copenhagen Department of Communication. With DIS since 2014.

Emmanuel Gentil

Ph.D. (Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2011). Independent environmental consultant. Senior Consultant at Copenhagen Resource Institute and for the European Environment Agency on waste management policy in EU. Ph.D. School Manager and Ph.D. researcher at DTU, Denmark 2006-2011. Master of business strategy and environmental management, Bradford. With DIS since 2013.

Daniel Karpantschof Reece

Master of Laws (International Taxation, St Thomas University Miami, 2005). Founder and Managing Director of Nordeq Management A/S. CEO of the Equinor Group, 2005-2014. Expertise in cross border corporate structuring, private equity, and leadership. With DIS since 2015.

Adrian Mongan

Master’s in Economics (International Macroeconomics), UW Madison, Wisconsin. Master’s in Economics (International Trade), University College Dublin, Ireland. Worked in multinational conglomerates for over 10 years with roles as company macroeconomist, strategy director, and in strategic communication. Experienced university lecturer in international trade, macroeconomics, and microeconomics. With DIS since 2019.