Health, equality and financially responsible development
SDU wants to reach out to companies, public institutions, associations and interest groups in its work with the Sustainable Development Goals. Researchers from a wide variety of backgrounds have been collecting data and testing technologies and hypotheses for a number of years. They are now ready to translate their results into a joint effort towards a sustainable future. See the examples below.
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Engineering-based clothing design
Over the next few months, up to 100,000 citizens in Guinea-Bissau will be provided with cotton fabric face coverings. Designed by drone researcher Dylan Cawthorne, these are currently being manufactured by local tailors. The purpose is partly to limit the spread of infection with COVID-19, and partly to test the actual effectiveness of fabric face coverings.
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The swabbing robot
With a 3D-printed, custom-designed disposable tool, the robot holds a swab. With great care and precision, it swipes the area in the throat from which the swab sample is to be taken. The robot then inserts the swab into a glass and screws the lid on. With more swabbing robots, in-demand healthcare professionals can be exempted from other functions. The robot may also play a major role in a new strategy against more common types of flu.
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Just Society – everyone deserves a state they can trust
‘Just Society’ is an exchange project in which researchers travel with practitioners to collaborate with authorities, educational institutions, private companies and civil societies on constructing public administration and sustainable societal solutions. Internationally, nations in both Africa and the Middle East have shown interest in the project. Boards, authorities and civil societies that are passionate about making a difference can join the project.
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Philosophical dialogues with children
Which is our most important resource: water, knowledge or trees? And could we best do without gold or cows in our lives? Major philosophical questions have become a popular hobby among more than 100 children in the Municipality of Billund in the past year, during which philosophers from SDU, in collaboration with Capital of Children Playful Minds, have conducted philosophical experiments on the SDGs.
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Once the rainforest is cleared, it will never grow back
The rainforests are among the oldest biotopes in the world, but they are being cleared to make way for, among other things, palm oil plantations. Once the rainforest is gone, it will never grow back, and the people who live in the forest and whom we may learn from, end up as day labourers at the bottom of the industrial society. One of the reasons why the hunter-gatherer culture has not destroyed the biological environment of the rainforests is a careful involvement of nature in important decisions.
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Circular economy
In 2016, 44.7 million tonnes of electronic scrap were generated globally. That equates to 12 Eiffel Towers every day. 80% is scrapped via unregistered channels and rare elements are lost. The initial mining and refining of these elements poses a very high environmental impact. E-circle works to sort elements, plastics and other components, allowing them to be reused and for as long as possible. The project aims to develop an open-source knowledge platform for manufacturers, designers and waste managers.
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List of Experts
In this catalogue, more than 100 researchers from SDU present their various contributions and approaches to the work with the SDGs. The intention is to inspire collaboration across subjects and sectors. Everyone is welcome to contact the individual researchers if you want to know more about their work and have an idea for a collaboration.
Last Updated 21.09.2020