News about Sustainability

Boosting umami flavour to get us to love green food

With an advanced degree in food science in her back pocket, Charlotte Vinther Schmidt has secured two dream jobs as an independent food entrepreneur and a researcher at the University of Copenhagen. We interviewed the…

Plant-based foods: New specialisation in the MSc Programme in Food Science and Technology

We have to get better at processing plants into climate-friendly foods, while at the same time focusing on nutrition, health, and taste. That’s why we, at the University of Copenhagen, are offering a specialisation in…

PurpLE Launch Seminar Overview

On the 9th September 2022, the Purchase Power – Sustainable Public Procurement Through Private Law Enforcement PurpLE project was launched with an international seminar introducing the project's main themes at the…

Bio-what? Half of Danes don’t know what biomass is

Nearly half of Danes have never heard of Denmark’s largest source of renewable energy. The finding, reported in a study from the University of Copenhagen, is the first to explore Danish attitudes to woody biomass as an…

Katherine Richardson receives honorary doctorate

For her years in research and her scientific contributions, Professor and Leader of Sustainability Science Centre, Katherine Richardson receives an honorary doctorate at the Arctic University of Norway.

Hologenomics viewed through a mathematical lens

A recent paper published by researchers from Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics (CEH) and collaborators on a strategic model of a host-microbe-microbe system not only reveals the importance of a joint host-microbe…

When you Google the word 'tick', you're helping science

Knowledge about the spread of tick-borne diseases is extremely limited and notoriously difficult to acquire. A new study from the University of Copenhagen demonstrates that internet searches just might be the way to kee…

New biodiversity report: The value of nature should be included in Danish economic decision making

Denmark is miles away from meeting its agreed targets for nature and biodiversity. To remedy the Danish and global biodiversity crisis effectively, we need to improve how the value of nature is measured to allow…

Phages to fight bacterial infections

A team of researchers from England, Scotland, Norway, and Denmark have joined forces to develop a safe and efficient phage therapy approach to control the bacteria Pasteurella in Atlantic Salmon farms.

How do we ensure local support for green energy production?

Huge Power-to-X investments in new hydrogen-based fuels shall propel the green transition in Denmark towards 2050. But how do we prevent local conflicts over new production plants?

How to see the forest and the trees

PhD student Mar Moure shares learnings and impressions from this year's IUFRO Risk Analysis conference "Socio-ecological conflicts in forest management: risks of (not) adapting?".

Starch from plants is key to bioplastic that is actually degradable

Professor Andreas Blennow’s research group experiments with bioplastics, nutritionally healthy crops and antibiotic multiresistance, but sustainability is the bond that ties Starch together.

Wildfires: When nature strikes back politically

With support from the Independent Research Fund Denmark, anthropologists will investigate how the extensive rainforest wildfires in 2019 in Amazon politically affected Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru.

Phenomenal raw materials will get Danes to fall in love with plant-based diets

Phenomenal raw materials and ingredients are the way forward if more people are to replace meat products with plant-based alternatives and Denmark is to become a world leading producer of plant-based foods. Today, the…

Large, economic wheels must be turned to make way for green cars

Which economic levers do the politicians have to pull to move people from fossil driven cars to electrified cars? That is the main question for the GREENCAR research team at the Department of Economics.

Professor inspired by housewives and schoolchildren

University of Copenhagen professor Dennis Sandris Nielsen has been awarded SCIENCE’s Dissemination Award 2022 for his willingness and ability to communicate research about the broader societal perspectives of bacteria,…

Why the food crisis will pass

Even though the food crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine is now causing acute problems, there is no reason for panic, according to University of Copenhagen food economist Henning Otte Hansen. High food prices will no…

Caroline Bertram admitted to European elite research program

In connection with her PhD project, which examines sustainability considerations in EU trade policy, Caroline Bertram has been selected for the Europaeum Scholars Program.

290 million new city dwellers benefit China's climate balance

Contrary to popular belief, China’s massive emigration from rural areas to cities has been shown to have a positive effect on China's carbon stocks. Urbanization can even play a role in attaining climate neutrality. Thi…

Pharmaceutical residues in sewage sludge and cattle manure do not have the feared effect

Pharmaceutical residues and chemicals from personal care products in sewage sludge and cattle manure do not have a detectable toxic effect on nematodes living in agricultural fields, according to 14-year-long experiment…

Researchers make non-alcoholic beer taste like regular beer

Finally, researchers have found a way to brew non-alcoholic beer that tastes just like regular beer. Even more, the method is far more sustainable than the existing brewing techniques. “It’s a game changer for…

After thousands of years, an iconic whale confronts a new enemy

The iconic tusked whale of the Arctic has a new enemy – noise. A unique study from the University of Copenhagen and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources shows that narwhals are highly affected by noise from ship…

Millions for research into green transition on the roads

The Independent Research Fund Denmark has allocated almost 12 million to the project GREENCAR, which will show the way to a green transformation of the car sector.

Research project will crack the code behind green neighbourhood communities

With support from THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS, new research anchored at the Department of Anthropology will examine how to create green neighbouring communities in housing associations.