This CTP is linked to the Aarhus Capital of Culture status in 2017. The theme of this was ‘Rethink something', so the project became about rethinking waste.
This was a CTP because it was the first time that Omstilling Ry had worked in partnership. It was the first time that they had partnered with a university which had approached them to collaborate.
The project that was proposed from the process was a biogas fuelled swimming pool which had other ecological elements (e.g. biological cleaning). If it is built, it will be the first one of its kind in Europe – and innovative in a number of different ways.
Co-production
The project involved the University of Aarhus, some architects and some departments of the municipality. They had some money to do this project. They got in touch with Omstilling Ry because the University wanted to involve ordinary citizens in order for the project to be citizen led. Their role was to help with the recruitment and organization of the workshops.
Omstilling Ry had been talking about a waste project for a number of years and had spoken to the waste collection company who suggested the separation of organic waste was one of their biggest problems.
The project comprised of three facilitated workshops in autumn 2015 which involved citizens and the various professionals. The workshops were about what would be needed for people to collect their organic waste. The issue of what to do with organic waste is a significant one in Denmark. Most people don't know how to compost or can't be bothered. In Denmark, they incinerate a lot of the waste. Organic waste is not good for incineration. The company who runs the waste collection would like the organic waste to be separated. So the challenge was how to get people to separate their waste - with the idea that Ry could act as a pilot.
From the workshop, the idea of an indoor swimming pool emerged. This could be fueled by biogas, including waste from local farms. The swimming pool would have biological cleaning. Thought that, it could motivate people to separate waste. The process included the possibility of applying for some funds to build it. The project is still ongoing.
Transition Ry isn't directly doing the project, but they are the reason that it is being done in Ry. E.g. because of their reputation. Some members of the group are really excited about it.
Related events
There were no particular events which were important in the development of this turning point.
The project is still in development so nothing concrete has yet occurred since the workshops.
Contestation
This CTP created several different kinds of conflict – including differences of opinion within Omstilling Ry.
These include:
- The municipality are not happy about having biogas near housing because it smells.
- Some people are not keen on the use of manure as a source of biogas. For example, if you grow biodynamically, then you use manure on the land. Organic farmers don't want to give away their manure for the same reason.
- Some people have questioned whether pig manure should be used by the project. Pig industry is a really big problem in Denmark and also in their area. But the biogas plants are expensive and not very efficient at producing energy. The development of a biogas plant might legitimize the pig industry. Therefore, some people question whether it is really renewable or a form of sustainable energy. They also point to the energy that has gone into fertilizers and pesticides growing soy beans in Argentina to feed the pigs.
- After the release of the documentary film ‘Cowspiracy’, there was also some of a controversy around cows too and the use of their waste.
- A conflict occurred in the organization of the workshops because Omstilling Ry were only given a short amount of time and were not involved in decisions relating to the organization and recruitment process. The organisers hoped to get 100 people at the workshop which proved to be difficult.
Anticipation
This CTP wasn't anticipated.
Learning
An important learning point involves the way in which they work with other partner organisations. What they have found is that organisations with staff and resources can work quicker than them. As a voluntary organization they are much slower.
This experience also confirmed previous experiences that they have had whereby they realised that you cannot just expect people to come to events at short notice. It reinforces the sense that Transition Ry is a ‘slow’ organisation. People have to take it in, think about it and talk about it and then they will participate. They are only volunteers.
If successful, it would be another visible project which Transition Ry played a role in developing. People could visit it and it would show that they are using their waste and not sending it to another place.
