From Exeter to London

By Miranda Kincade

Research comparisons:
The last few weeks we have spent in England. For a while we were in Exeter, then we moved to Bristol and then finally we ended up in London. That was an amazing experience. The contrast of English priorities as discovered by our research is quite different than Danish priorities. We discovered that the Danes have community gardens more for the social connections as well as the enjoyment of being in a green space. The English on the other hand have a strong history of food producing allotments and that is the main function of their urban agriculture. Both ideals increase resilience of the cities as well as the citizens.

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Sustainability in Copenhagen and Aarhus

By Miranda Kincade

We visited a garden that was on top of a roof. It was beautiful and amazing. Nearly the entire roof was covered with connected beds of vegetables. There was an aisle right down the middle and there was also a building structure that worked as a seating area and a seed sprouting room. While we were there they were in the process of building a kitchen extension onto that structure. The garden is for members only but they do host social events for their members. For example, we were told that one of the members had her wedding reception up there. This has a strong connection to sustainability because spaces to grow fresh produce for yourself and your family is something that is in short supply in urban areas.

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Exploring the New and the Old in Denmark

By Miranda Kincade

Our first event in this unfamiliar country was to partake in a tour of a local marketplace. It was a large indoor/outdoor combination of locally owned shops. On our tour, we learned about the history of the city and how the process of food production has changed over the centuries.

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Less Than 36 Hours Until My First Out of Country Experience

By Miranda Kincade

Preparing for my first trip abroad has been exciting and a bit nerve racking. My faculty leads, Dr. Jennifer Hodbod and Dr. Scott Cloutier, have both been hugely beneficial. They encouraged and facilitated social exercises to get my peers and I opening up to each other and bonding prior to departure. As a result, we are all comfortable with each other and can begin our journey with relative ease. I know that beginning a trip, especially in a foreign country, with a group of strangers can be a great source of stress. I am grateful that the instructors took that into consideration and actively mitigated it.

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