The one with the celebration
Lilac Route in Copenhagen, 20/06 - 24/06
Hej! from our final stop; Copenhagen!
On Saturday night, after a mildly chaotic travel day that afforded us plenty of time to discover the German-Danish border town of Flensburg, we finally arrived in Copenhagen. At the train station, we were met by the friendly smiles of the AEGEE-Copenhagen locals; Karol, Lukas and Virág. Whilst Karol and Lukas were new faces for us, we were already very well acquainted with Virág who had formed part of Europe on Track’s project team this year, and who had organised our entire route. They greeted us with a sign that said ‘Welcome Barbies’; an ode to our Lilac team colour and a nickname which we had earned ourselves much earlier in the route. Referencing old jokes, and meeting both old and new friends, we were finally ready for the last stop of our route.
On Sunday, after a well-deserved morning of rest and relaxation, Ewa and I went for a short walk with our host, Karol. Strolling around the Vestamager area of Copenhagen, we were struck by the area’s unusual combination of nature and modernism. Surrounded by high-rise apartment blocks, we didn’t expect to come across a number of free-roaming cows, who call the Kalvebod Fælled nature reserve their home. The cows were clearly used to human interaction, as they posed for the photos that Ewa and I took. Indeed, our tiny glimpse into life at Vestamager suggested that maybe our modern world and nature really could co-exist. And so, I headed to our workshops feeling a little bit more hopeful than before.
Soon we found ourselves in Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (the Technical University of Denmark), where our final workshops of the stop were to take place. First up, we had the workshop Slow travel, Slow living. It’s fair to say that even though we had delivered this workshop at many locations, we suddenly felt a little bit nervous in this large venue, which held our highest number of participants so far. Despite the nerves, a larger participant group also meant larger room for discussion, which was reflected in the many debates over the pros and cons of sustainable travel. In a conversation after the workshop, one of the participants mentioned how he expected us to preach about sustainability in our workshop, but felt much more at ease when he realised we too weren’t perfect in our sustainable practices. Letting go of eco-perfectionism is certainly helpful in normalising talking about climate.
After the coffee break we moved onto our Board Games workshop. With three small groups having already formed, we decided to separately facilitate one game with each group. So while Dimitris’ group embarked on a reflective journey with the Starving Artist’s cards, I facilitated several rounds of the Echoes of Gaia, and Ewa assisted some climate debates from The Elephant in the Room. Admittedly, we hadn’t played these climate-related games very often, therefore they presented a bit of a learning curve for both us and the participants. Once we eventually got into the flow of the games, however, I noticed how they provoked us to talk more deeply about climate. For example, a number of the participants reflected on sustainability from their perspectives of being immigrants to Denmark. It was insightful to think how even the act of following eco-friendly practices can be a privilege. We continued these discussions after the workshop, at a barbecue hosted by AEGEE-Copenhagen. With tofu and vegetable skewers as the main dish, I joked that this was the world’s first ever vegan barbecue. And since it was so delicious, I hope it won’t be the last.
On Monday morning, the three of us and Virág headed to GreenKayak; an environmental NGO that allows you to go kayaking for free under one simple condition – that you collect trash from the ocean floor. Since it was a beautiful sunny day, we had an amazing time while kayaking. Dimitris and I were very proud of the distance covered by our two-man kayak and were even considering forming an Irish-Greek kayaking team for the upcoming 2028 Olympic Games. Despite our superb ability to kayak, our ability to pick up trash was rather limited. Virág and Ewa did a much better job at finding and collecting trash – good job guys! All in all, this was a really enjoyable experience, and an initiative that could work very well in other European countries too…
In the afternoon, we joined Karol’s city tour, where we saw many interesting sites such as the iconic Round Tower and the statue of King Frederick VII on horseback. Other than the many historical locations, something that caught my attention during the city tour was the number of Greenland flags, bags and shirts that were being sold in the city centre. The next morning, we had the chance to discuss the topic of Greenland further in an interview with Asmus Vilster, National Chairman of Europæisk Ungdom (European Youth Denmark). This conversation about Greenland reminded us of how current political ambitions are so deeply intertwined with environmental exploitation. Moreover, Asmus explained how Europæisk Ungdom inspires Danish youth to become involved with European matters, especially those related to democracy and climate. It was very enjoyable to interview Asmus, and to understand how our values align.
After this interview, we all went our separate ways to soak up as much of Denmark as we could in our free time. Ewa’s efforts to soak up as much of Denmark as possible even led her to Sweden. Clearly, crossing national borders was no longer a big deal for us ambassadors. In the evening we all met back up for the final evening of our Action Tour, meeting several AEGEE-Copenhagen members for the Sankt Hans celebration. This celebration, held annually on June 23rd, celebrates the longest day of the year. We attended a bonfire in the city centre, a typical event for this celebration. Snacking on picnic foods, watching the bonfire, and chatting away with new friends – it really felt like a celebration of our Europe on Track journey. Though it was sad to see our journey come to an end, we had learned so much, met so many wonderful people, and understood that so many young people care about the future of our planet. That sure seemed like something worthy of celebration.
Waking up bright and early the next morning, Karol very kindly took us to the train station. Saying goodbye to Karol, it was hard to believe that we were already on our way to Brussels for the final conference; an event that would wrap up the entire Europe on Track journey. Sad to say goodbye to our life on the road, but excited to reunite with our friends from the Azure Team, we hoped that Brussels would help us to connect the dots of everything we had learned, experienced and felt in these past few weeks.
Written by: Sheenagh Rowland
(and the Lilac team)