Over the course of a two-week training module, participants are introduced to key sustainability topics, facilitated by subject-matter experts.
Afterwards, participants engage in four-week internships in groups of about five, where they support a company with a sustainability case. This structure enables participants to immediately apply their new skills in a real-world context, contributing to areas that are significant to the company’s sustainability efforts.
The programme is created to accommodate a wide range of technical backgrounds among participants – including architecture, communication, design, data science, journalism, and more.
During the internship period, the groups delivered directly applicable products and solutions of a high professional and technical standard. Pia Hammershøy Splittorff, Corporate Affairs Director at GoCollective, shares her enthusiasm:
“We gained significant value from hosting the internship group. They contributed with fresh perspectives, strong motivation, and an analytical approach to our case, which provided us with new insights and concrete suggestions for improvement. Their final report was both relevant and highly practical. The group demonstrated a strong understanding of our complex business and delivered solutions we can build upon. Several of their recommendations are already being considered for implementation in our future planning.”
Sustainability is a field that is experiencing growing demand for qualified professionals. The participants have built new knowledge and skills in sustainability on top of their existing expertise. The participants also gained experience in applying their individual competencies within interdisciplinary teams, learning how their specific skillsets can contribute effectively to collaborative sustainability projects.
The companies benefited from fresh perspectives and received actionable deliverables that could be directly implemented to enhance the sustainability area they had chosen to focus on.
Heidi Reynolds, ESG Manager at Enemærke & Petersen,, explains:
”The group possessed strong professional competencies and worked very well together, supporting and elevating one another. Participating as a case company was by no means too resource demanding. We knew we had to invest some time, but the group was highly resourceful and capable of working independently. Their deliverables validated our own assumptions and helped us identify a prioritised direction.”
”I definitely acquired new knowledge and skills by participating in the programme. The combination of theory and practice made the experience particularly rewarding. Our deliverable was well received by the company representatives, who emphasised that the organisation intends to use our work and recommendations in their ongoing efforts. It gave us a sense of contributing real value and demonstrated that our impact was both relevant and applicable in a business context.
We were an interdisciplinary group with competencies in communication, marketing, journalism, and project management. This created a strong collaborative dynamic with diverse perspectives. Our varied backgrounds enabled us to analyse the case thoroughly and from multiple angles – strategic, legal, and communicative.”
– Participant, Spring 2025
”The programme enhanced my competencies in strategic work related to sustainable transition. In particular, I gained insight into sustainability reporting based on the VSME standard and had the opportunity to apply this knowledge in practice during the internship.
I found it incredibly meaningful that our cases were based on companies already engaged in sustainability, yet in need of support with specific tasks or focus areas. It was rewarding to see that a company with deep knowledge of sustainability from a production and data perspective could still gain new insights from us – especially in terms of translating data into clear and meaningful communication. We ultimately delivered concrete formats and improvement suggestions that they can use in their reporting and overall narrative. The company greatly appreciated receiving something tangible that built on the many initiatives they already had in place.
Our group had strong competencies in areas such as graphic design, marketing, strategy, and data – all of which were essential in making the final product as practical and usable as it turned out to be.”
– Participant, Spring 2025
In the first run of the programme, a total of five case companies and 25 participants took part. All provided positive feedback on the experience. The case companies included Enemærke & Petersen, GoCollective, STARK, Beck & Jørgensen & Mannaz.
Green transition has become a central element in the strategies and core priorities of many Danish companies. This project was initiated in response to the growing demand for employees who can support various sustainability initiatives. As a way to better be able to meet this demand, the Employment and Integration Administration in Copenhagen has launched upskilling programmes for unemployed university graduates, in collaboration with Mannaz and the Confederation of Danish Industry.
If you are curious about this project, please get in touch with Berit or Anne to hear more.
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