Consumption, Recycling and Repairs

We are looking for curious and motivated bachelor and master students who would like to take part in a multi- and interdisciplinary student-driven research project about sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the spring of 2021. The theme of the project is "Consumption, Recycling and Repairs" and the project is open for students from the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Theology at the University of Copenhagen.

The academic field of the theme “Consumption, Recycling and Repairs” provides various opportunities for the students to work with the project from various perspectives, dependent on the students’ interests. Such aspects would be e.g. tax law incentives and challenges within sharing economy, second-hand shops, packaging material etc.; sustainable collaborations and consumption using libraries; sustainable environment protection in the North and South involving the corona and climate crises; sustainable fashion (repairing and reuse of clothing) etc. There are many possibilities!  

The research project is conducted in collaboration with other students across academic fields and disciplines and in close dialogue with researchers and external collaborators from the industry. The project will take place as one large study group with a main theme from which the students will choose their subgroups/sub-themes in accordance with the students' interests. It is possible for the students to get ECTS-points from the participation in the project. See below for the possibilities.

The students’ findings of the projects must be communicated in an optional way e.g. through a podcast episode, a YouTube-video, a blog post, a feature article, a debate piece, an article, an academic report, a co-publication in a booklet, a debate series, a webinar, a presentation at a seminar, an exhibition, a start-up/business case etc. The options can be limited for students who get credits from their participation.

All students will receive a participant's certificate at the project’s closeout, which can be included in the student’s résumé.

The project is funded by the funds of research integration of the University of Copenhagen. The project is conducted in collaboration with the Greenhouse for Tax Sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Human & Legal Innovation Hub, The University of Copenhagen, and the Museum of Copenhagen.  

The following seminars are held:

  • 24th February 2021 at 9-12: Kick-off, inspiration and group division
  • 10th March 2021 at 9-12: Knowledge sharing, sparring and choice of dissemination activity
  • 21st April 2021 at 9-12: Knowledge sharing, sparring and start-ups
  • 26th May 2021 at 9-12: Presentation, feedback and evaluation with an external expert panel
  • June 2021 or later: Implementation of dissemination activity.

In addition to participation in the above, the students should expect to allot time for obtaining empirical data, data collection, searching for sources, readings, preparing presentations, writing, planning and working with dissemination activities, additional group meetings, etc. In addition to the seminars, the research team offers three voluntary 'open office' sessions (3rd March, 7th April, 12th May, all days Wednesday at 9-10). Physical attendance is a priority, but Zoom- and hybrid meetings will substitute when necessary. During Zoom-meetings, it is required that the participating students have their camera on. The project will be conducted in Danish/English.  

Students who want to participate in the project as an extracurricular activity (without getting credits) must register through the link below. Students who want their participation in the project to be ECTS-awarding must both register for the relevant ECTS-awarding course in The Course Catalogue and register through the link below. However, there may be other options for students to be able to work with the theme in other ECTS-awarding courses – contact the relevant study administration, teachers, course coordinators or research team for more information about the possibilities.

If the project sounds interesting and you would like to participate, please register here no later than 10 February 2021. There is a maximum number of participants of 40 students. The selected participants will receive a reply no later than 15 February 2021, and everyone will receive a reply. If you have any questions about the project, you are very welcome to contact karina.egholm.elgaard@jur.ku.dk, monica.sarah.brink@jur.ku.dk or anyone from the research team.


We look forward to hearing from you!

Best regards

The research team, consisting of:

Associate professor Karina Kim Egholm Elgaard, FIRE – Fiscal Relations Research Group, The Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen

Associate professor Henrik Jochumsen, Department of Communication, The Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen

Associate professor Stig Jensen, Centre of African Studies, The Faculty of Theology, University of Copenhagen

Professor Marie Louise Bech Nosch, the Saxo Institute, the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen

Associate professor Marie Riegels Melchior, the Saxo Institute, The Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen

Project student Monica Sarah Brink, FIRE – Fiscal Relations Research Group, The Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen