The large lakeside auditorium buzzed in anticipation as the door to the hall was closed. Representatives from Hedelseskabet, the City of Aarhus and VisitDenmark sat in the front row. On the previous day they had presented three business cases to a total of 34 cross-disciplinary teams.

Earlier in the day, nine teams had been selected to go on to the final, and they had spent the day refining their presentations and preparing for the judges' questions.

Talented students

"The students are fantastically talented, and all the projects have been at an incredibly high level. We’ve already been challenged and inspired by our own ideas about plastics and recycling. We hadn't expected that we would get so much more out of this process," says Henrik Seiding, director of the Municipal Department of Technical Services and Environment at the City of Aarhus.

He stresses that the City of Aarhus believes it is vital to contribute to setting an agenda for sustainability, and this is why the City of Aarhus is taking part in AU Challenge.

"We’re delighted to be here together with Aarhus University and the students. Our presence means we can profile ourselves as an exciting workplace, working with a high-level sustainability agenda – and as I said, we’re also getting a lot out of hearing about the students' ideas," says Henrik Seiding.

Academic differences fuel progress

In the case competition format, participants have to work and deliver under pressure. The interdisciplinary aspect is a further challenge. A team that has never met has to develop high-level solutions in just 24 hours. And this is both the strength and the learning aspect in an interdisciplinary case competition such as the AU Challenge.

"Close collaboration with the business community is extremely important at AU. Case competitions create specific value for our partners and our students. They enable the university to enter into close partnerships, and in this case specifically, to put sustainability on the agenda," says Birgit Enevoldsen, Head Coordinator for the AU Challenge, and she continues:

"We see here how the students deal with their differences in academic field and nationality, and they use them to fuel progress and raise the level of innovation in their ideas and solutions."

Interdisciplinary communities

Sebastian Scott Engen is on his fifth semester in Cognitive Science, and sustainability was crucial when he decided to participate in the AU Challenge. The same applies for Freja Nana Dowa Rohde Monney, who is studying psychology on her seventh semester. Both of them emphasise the importance of working with cases that make sense for society in the long term. They also point to the interdisciplinary approach as the most positive element in the experience.

"The best thing about being part of the AU Challenge has been to meet other students. The interdisciplinary approach has given us an understanding of what other disciplines can do. The most important thing I've learned in the process is to trust my own expertise and trust that the others’ academic skills can contribute what mine can't," says Freja Nana Dowa Rohde Monney.

"The most important thing I've learned is to focus on incorporating all the aspects of a business case. Having several academic fields in the group has also been crucial. This broad knowledge has pushed things forward when we’ve been working in depth with a business case," says Sebastian Scott Engen.

Won with a recycling label and textile made of wood fibres

Both Freja Nana Dowa Rohde Monney and Sebastian Scott Engen felt that it was a great challenge to be on the stage and present their case after 24 hours of intense work under time pressure and with very little sleep.

"Not only did we have to make a sharp presentation, we then had to be ready to give detailed answers to the questions from the judges. This has required us to stand by our idea, even though it was not fully developed, and we risked getting egg on our faces if we had problems with a question," says Sebastian Scott Engen.

The two students won the AU Challenge, each in their own category: Freja Nana Dowa Rohde Monney’s team with an idea to increase plastics recycling in the City of Aarhus by, among other things, including private companies in collection and recycling and by introducing a 'recycling label' at the same level as the existing Ø label on organic products. Sebastian Scott Engen's team with an idea for a partnership between Hedeselskabet and the clothes manufacturer, Bestseller, to use wood fibre in textile production.

Facts about the AU Challenge:

142 students from 55 fields of study, of whom approx. 42% are international students, divided into 34 teams. They participated in three introductory workshops (team building, case solving, case presentation) to provide them with knowledge and competencies to solve a business case. Three companies presented cases, and the students visited each company to gain a deeper understanding of their challenges and business areas.

The students were presented with the case on the day before the final, on Thursday at 9:00 a.m., and after a preliminary round, nine teams were selected for the final. Each company chose a winner of their respective case. The prize is DKK 10,000, and the students will also visit the companies for a period of time to work on transforming their case into reality.

Sustainability was also an aspect in practical execution of the AU Challenge. Among other things, vegan food was served, and the students received refillable water bottles and goodie bags with recycled gifts. At the award ceremony, the students received a trophy made of wood residue from a carpenter’s workshop and a small pine tree with roots for them to plant.

Rambøll Management Consulting contributed with workshops i case solving and case presentation. Tuborgfondet supported AU Challenge with funding.

The three business cases:

How do we make planting trees a common agenda for all Danes? Asked Hedeselskabet in their case. They wanted perspectives on how and through which partnerships they could achieve their goal of sequestrating 200,000 tonnes of CO₂ into trees on Danish soil within 30 years.

VisitDenmark asked for ideas that shed light on the socio-economic effects of tourism and opportunities to spread visits throughout the year, as well as attracting more tourists to less frequented areas.

The City of Aarhus wanted to see concrete and innovative initiatives to reduce production and increase the recycling of plastics.