#GROMEETSNORDICS (3): AALBORG

The (Province)?Provincie Groningen?and (Municipality)?Gemeente Groningen?took the initiative to jointly organize two innovation missions in 2022 to Scandinavia. Last week we traveled to Denmark and Norway. This is part 3 of our brief travel report.

PART 3: AALBORG

After our visit to GreenLab in Skive in the morning we continued by bus to Aalborg, the capital of northern Denmark and one of the most digital and vibrant cities in Denmark with a top quality 丹麦奥尔堡大学 and rich cultural and student life. We parked the bus at the Musikkens Hus (House of Music) for a short walk through the old town to the beautiful old City Hall from Aalborg Kommune . For an introduction to Aalborg please watch the video below.

At the old City Hall our delegation was warmly welcomed by the Mayor of Aalborg Thomas Kastrup-Larsen for a networking lunch together with Danish partners. Mayor of Groningen Koen Schuiling introduced the Groningen delegation and thanked the Danish hosts and Dutch Ambassador to Denmark Nienke Trooster for joining our delegation in Denmark. The many similarities between Groningen and Aalborg and shared interests were expressed. And to go a bit deeper into that 3 side-programs were organized after lunch to see and explore cooperation opportunities in the fields of #energy #mobility and #humancapital.

Picture: Mayor of Aalborg Thomas Kastrup-Larsen , Mayor of Groningen Koen Schuiling, Commissioner of the King for Groningen René Paas , Dutch Ambassador to Denmark Nienke Trooster and Regional Minister for Groningen Melissa Kashiku van Hoorn .

The first group visited #energy and #mobility initiatives in and around the Port of Aalborg , green sites to see how modern cooling is delivered to the new Aalborg University Hospital, district heating by Nordv?rk , Norbis Park, how surplus heat is converted to district heating at Aalborg Portland A/S and the Greenhopper ferry, the first autonomous driven, zero emission passenger ferry in Denmark.

The second group visited 丹麦奥尔堡大学 to discuss #humancapital issues. After the welcome and introduction to Aalborg University, Deputy Mayor for Groningen Carine Bloemhoff and Dean of Internationalization Paul Ganzeboom presented the Groningen education institutions Rijksuniversiteit Groningen , Hanze and Noorderpoort and the time was used for an interactive discussion about training & education programs, how to prepare the new generation for a career in the energy transition, student exchange opportunities between Groningen and Aalborg etc.

The third group stayed in the city center to discuss #tourism and #economicdevelopment . This session was organized by Tonny Skovsted Thorup CEO by Destination NORD , showing us different parts of the city and the green transformation of an old coal power plant right in the city center into a new and vibrant meeting place for culture, art, music and office space. Great to see how an old industrial site can get a second, new life as a vibrant meeting place in the heart of the city. The rooftop views from the office space on the highest floor offer amazing views over the fjord and the city, making the once old and dirty coal plant building now the most wanted office space.

A special word of thank you to Helena Peyron , S?ren Kuch Svenningsen from Invest in Aalborg and Alex S?gaard Moreno for the excellent organization, without your help we could not have realized this great visit to Aalborg!

Pictures by Martijn Heemstra