Denmark
Lund University
On Monday June 5th, we got up early and hopped on a bus to take the group from Copenhagen, Denmark to Malmö, Sweden. The main reason why we had done this was because Monday was a holiday in Denmark and not much was going on. As a bus was chartered for us, we were able to spread out amongst the bus and enjoy the views of the Baltic Sea and North Sea and were very intently looking to see if we could see any Russian submarines or naval ships. Once we got across the bridge and were back in Sweden, our first business visit was at Lund University.
When we arrived at Lund University, we were greeted by Klas Nilsson, founder of Cognibotics AB. Klas was generous enough to give us the background of the university and then walked us over to his office. His office is in the university, and this is where they can create their lightweight robot designs and bring them to life. Throughout Klas’ presentation you could see how enthusiastic he is about the future of robots and what they can accomplish. His goal for the company is to improve society’s quality of life in the workplace while driving sustainability. Towards the end of his presentation, Klas allowed our group to view one of the robot prototypes and see the intricacies that came along with it. Even though this particular robot looked intimidating, Cognibotics goal is to have these robots be easily integrated into people’s everyday life.
Skandinavisk
The next morning, we were up and back in Copenhagen to visit a fragrance company called Skandinavisk. As we approached the office there was a beautiful courtyard that was setup for us to enjoy the sunshine and learn more about this Scandinavian company. Shaun Russell, founder of Skandinavisk was the one who led the visit and started out introducing himself to us. He is from the United Kingdom and ended up in Denmark because he met a Danish girl while living in Australia. For a majority of his corporate career, he worked at McDonalds in marketing for the Scandinavian region. He wanted to pivot and start his own business and first started out writing a blog called “Being Nordic”. After his blog did not take off, he then wrote a book called “Being Nordic” and this book garnered more towards academics.
He then came up with the idea of creating a fragrance company centered around the smells and looks of Scandinavia. This idea then turned into the company that he has had for over 10 years now called Skandinavisk. The first three products he offered from this business were three original scents that came from different places throughout the region. Shaun had stressed that since sense is so subjective, he needed to get different perspectives from his team. He stated that when a new fragrance is created, he asks his team three questions and with the most important one being “Do they even like the scent?” Shaun also stated that when he started this company, he thought a majority of sales would be direct to the consumer, not through retailers. Now with data collection, he can see where most of their sales are, and those countries are in Nordic countries, United Kingdom, and China. After the business visit, they had a popup shop in their building, and we all were able to walk around and buy a variety of candles, diffusers, lotions, and hair products.
End of the Day
After our business visit at Skandinavisk we had the rest of the afternoon to explore Copenhagen. It was the most beautiful day, and we were able to walk around and finally get some sunshine! We first started at the parliament building which was extraordinary. As we walked through the building you could tell how much history was within the walls. Once we exited, we decided to hop on the Metro towards the King’s Garden. Like I had mentioned before, it was the most beautiful day and when we approached the garden there were dozens of people enjoying the sunshine. Many were eating, and many were also sunbathing as well. We walked the garden and many of the stunning streets of Copenhagen that afternoon and I believe we were able to see the true beauty of Denmark!
Denmark was such a cool experience and we were able to see and do quite a bit in our free time! We spent much of our time walking around and soaking in all the city had to offer! One of the best experiences we gained was just people watching whether it was sitting in the park or the garden. We enjoyed an amazing meal at Goldfinch where we had some of the best Chinese food we’ve ever had! Something we did not expect from Denmark but were nonetheless very pleasantly surprised. Denmark had many beautiful sights to see and the best way to get around is just by seeing the city on foot or bike! Can’t wait to continue the next leg of our trip at our final stop, Gothenburg!
