CityLoops inspires the cities of the future

Young city builders in action during the Curious Days in Stormen library. Photo: Leo Plaketti

The EU project CityLoops challenged Bodø's sixth graders to build the cities of the future by reusing building materials.

Over a hundred sixth graders in Bodø got to try their hand at city building during the Curiosity Day at the end of September. The event is part of the Research Days and CityLoops has a habit of contributing. Since 2019, the project has spread knowledge and inspiration about recycling, also to sixth graders in Bodø. 

– The most challenging and most valuable part of our work in CityLoops is influencing how people think, says senior researcher Jens Ørding Hansen, who leads Nordland Research's part of the project. 

– Our long-term legacy is that we have raised awareness of the importance of circular economy and reuse, especially among the municipal decision-makers we have worked with in the project. Children are the decision-makers of the future, so I am very happy that we have had the opportunity to convey the values ​​of CityLoops to them through events like Nysgjerrigperdagen.

Recycling in focus

To successfully engage sixth graders, Nordland Research Institute allied with Re, a resource and competence center in recycling and creative processes. Re designed a workshop, where students could choose a variety of materials to build a city, or rather a model city. In true CityLoop spirit, the materials had of course been used in other contexts before.

– We gave them materials from the construction industry. Wood, metal, pipes, cables. Then they were told to build a better world and create cities that they themselves would want to live in when they grow up, says Nina Morvik, CEO and founder of Re innovasjon.

With about 15 minutes to spare, the young architects got to work. Within minutes, the floor of the meeting room at Stormen Library was filled with futuristic constructions, all built with a better future in mind. 

Energy and air purification

Morvik praises the sixth graders' ability to build exactly what they want.

"They're fearless. Middle school students are afraid of what others think, but this group isn't," she says.

Which means that the cities that rise on the library floor reflect what the builders are actually concerned with.

“Many people focus on power generation and energy. Some built windmills that also cleaned the air,” says Morvik.

Examples to follow

This edition of Nysgjerrigperdagen will be the last to which CityLoops will contribute. The project will end this fall. Nordland Research Institute has been one of the partners and Bodø one of seven European cities with leading roles in CityLoops. In the north, the focus has been on the military airport area.

– We have developed knowledge and tools that can stimulate waste reduction, reuse and recycling of loose materials, infrastructure and structures in this enormous urban development project, says Jens Ørding Hansen.

– What we have learned here, and what we are developing in CityLoops, will be applied in several places in the EU.