We started the day by having each of our groups from the respective colleges present their team projects. Each group was assigned a country along with designated landmarks or cultural points of interest. The teams had to research their assigned areas and prepare a presentation on these locations to the rest of the class.
Sinclair’s team. Left to Right: Katie Herring, Celeste Henandez, Shuli Li, Charles Dunn, and Vicki Shuler
After the group presentations, Danish professors, Carsten Nielsen and Erik Staunstrup, provided an overview and discussion on the European Union and its culture. They asked students to draw a map of Europe. Students worked in groups to draw the map. The results were interesting!
Students worked with students from other colleges to draw maps of Europe.More map drawing!Students presented the results of their map drawing exercises. It was an interesting exercise as the RBC professors asked the teams to reflect on their process for drawing the maps; not just focus on the results. This was a very good learning experience!
Following the map exercise, the RBC professors began an intriguing discussion on European consumers and the marketplace. In particular, the RBC discussed the recent World Values Survey and facilitated an insightful analysis of the survey results as well as the Inglehart-Welzel Cultural Map.
Image is courtesy of http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSContents.jsp According to the survey, “people’s beliefs play a key role in economic development, the emergence and flourishing of democratic institutions, the rise of gender equality, and the extent to which societies have effective government.”
RBC Professors offered an interesting presentation that compared cultural values between Europe and the U.S.
The discussion was perfect preparation for our next presentation on Experience Economy and Innovation. Esben Danielsen, Director of Innovation at Orange Innovation of Roskilde Festival, was our speaker. He provided a valuable overview of the Roskilde Festival, the business model that is used and the marketing strategy. Roskilde is the 3rd largest music festival in Europe and approximately 130,000 people attend per day during the festival. It is a massive operation and it was intriguing to learn about the business model that is used. There is much we can learn from Esben!
Esben discussed the role in leading, managing the marketing the Roskilde Festival as well as the company division called “Orange Makers”.
Professors Jim Myers from Pikes Peak Community College and Chrissann Ruehle from Sinclair Community College presented a workshop on the 4 P’s of Marketing and launched the team projects which included developing a marketing plan for a new product.
Professors Jim Myers and Chrissann Ruehle presented on Marketing.
One of the main objectives of our Study Abroad Program included studying Danish culture. Roskilde Cathedral plays a significant role in the history and culture of Denmark. We walked through the center of the city towards Roskilde Cathedral and passed through some beautiful shopping areas.
The shopping district in Roskilde was quaint! Caution, shopping in Roskilde and Denmark in general is very expensive.
Roskilde Domkirke (or Roskilde Cathedral in English) is an amazing monument to and showplace of Denmark history. Since the 12th century, Roskilde Cathedral has served as a royal burial place for nearly 40 Danish Kings and Queens. It has at least 11 chapels and crypts that branch off from the main cathedral area.
Roskilde Cathedral is very old. It was built in the 12th century and has been expanded many times over the years.The interior of Roskilde Cathedral was stunning! Our tour guide gave us individual headsets so we can hear the dialogue despite our position in the group. This allowed each tour group some privacy as we progressed through the cathedral. When you have multiple tour groups moving through the cathedral, it can be distracting. The Danish were focused on using innovative technology to ensure tourists have a positive experience.Here is the monument to Christian III in Roskilde Domkirke.Here is the sarcophagus at Roskilde Domkirke for King Frederik V.Here is the sarcophagus of Danish Queen Margrethe. Margaret was the first queen of Denmark, although Danish law did not officially recognize her as a queen. She ruled over Denmark, Norway and Sweden and she fought to win back terrorities that Denmark has lost previously. She was a powerful woman and fought strongly for the country.
As you can see from the photos, the Danish pay a great deal of attention to detail. Creativity and artistry are key artifacts of the Danish culture.
We proceeded to walk down the steep hill to the Viking Ship Museum and the Roskilde Fjord. It was a beautiful journey through a lush, green walking path. Roskilde has invested significant resources in ensuring they have plenty of green space available for residents, students and tourists.
The Viking Ship Museum was built in 1969 as a monument to the five ships that were sunk at Skuldelev in the Roskilde Fjord. Around the year 1070, the king ordered the sinking of five viking ships to protect Roskilde from enemy attacks. Excavations began in the 1960’s and all five ships were successfully excavated and restored.
This Viking Ship is ready to set sail in the Roskilde Fjord!These two ships have been repaired and are on display in the museum.
Roskilde’s Viking Ship Museum was impressive. It is interesting to think that these ships that were built around 1070, spent years sitting at the bottom at the Fjord and yet they were able to be successfully restored. It is a true testament to Denmark’s focus on and commitment to high quality building processes and supplies. How many products that are produced now could withstand this test of weather and time?
We began our second day in country with a walking tour of the City of Roskilde. It quickly became evident that the Danish walk everywhere which is a sharp contrast to our American culture of driving everywhere. Our tour guide was Kirsten Graversen and she did a marvelous job orienting us to the city. She walked fast also so our group had to hustle to keep up!
We began our tour with a discussion on Denmark’s bicycle culture. She discussed the Danes’ love of bicycling and discussed the efficiency of this past time. She said it has cut down tremendously on traffic congestion because many people bike to work and school. We observed many places around the city where people could safely store their bicycles while they were working, shopping and dining.
There were many bicycle storage places like one this around the city.
Rabalder Park was the next stop on the tour and was located close to RBC. Due to recent climate changes, Roskilde has had a problem with storm water and flash flooding. We have a similar problem in Cincinnati, although not to the extent that the Danish experience in Roskilde. In response to this problem, architects and engineers from a Danish firm, Nordach, developed a storm water harvesting system that has the ability to collect up to 23,000 cubic meters within 3 basins which equates to the amount of water that 10Â standard swimming pools can hold. In addition to its practical function, the park serves as an outdoor entertainment complex with a skate park, trampolines, swings, jogging and cycling trails. The complex even won an international design award in 2013 for its innovation and creativity!
Our group toured Ribalder Park. What an innovative solution to a long standing problem!Two applications – storm water management and skate park/entertainment complex. Brilliant!
The skate park and recreational areas are part of a larger complex called “Musicon”. Serving as a creative district or complex of sorts, Musicon is a new hot spot of growth for Roskilde. In all my travels throughout the U.S. and internationally, I have not seen this type of culture and business incubator. Musicon is situated in a former concrete factory that covers a very large area and 39 organizations are currently located on the complex. The long term goal for the area is to develop housing and workplaces which will result in a vibrant, thriving creative community.
Musicon is intended to be the center of innovation and creativity in the future.
After our walk through the innovation park and swinging on the swings, we proceeded to walk through some beautiful, quaint neighborhoods on the route to downtown Roskilde.
The houses were charming and the neighborhood was idyllic.
Our tour guide discussed the upcoming EU elections and pointed out the election signage. We encountered a significant amount of political propaganda throughout our tour of the city. The European Union elections were scheduled for Sunday, May 25th and there was heated discussion about whether Denmark should remain part of the EU.
There were political signs on just about every street corner.
Walking, walking and more walking. We arrived at the Roskilde Kloster.
The Kloster was originally built in 1200’s and changed ownership over the years. It has a special place in Roskilde history.
We stopped at a local restaurant and had a nice Danish meal together, family style. The Danish like to include candles at mealtimes, so we frequently had candles at our tables. It was interesting to note that the Danish regard dining events as a time for social gathering and they focused on making dining a memorable event, This was a nice contrast to our dining experience here in the U.S. In our country, dining often tends to serve a utilitarian function in our dine-and-dash culture.
We had lunch at a local Roskilde diner. A local band played which created a nice atmosphere for our group.
During our lunch, our U.S. faculty had a chance to do some bonding and sat together to have a photo taken of our team.
Left to Right: DeAnn Hurtado and Chrissann Ruehle (Sinclair Community College), Jim Myers (Pikes Peak Community College), Brad Fox (Roane State Community College) and Carmen Daniels (Columbus State Community College)
Roskilde Business College (RBC) Faculty provided a wonderful overview of RBC and the program for us. It was a pleasure hearing from Benny Hermansen, Erik Staunstrup and Carsten Nielsen. RBC is a very modern education setting. The college places a high emphasis on innovation and that focus translates well into the educational setting.
Our students had a chance to learn about the history of the college from RBC faculty.
After RBC faculty finished sharing the mission, history and goals of the organization, they moved directly into some icebreaker exercises. In our U.S. classrooms, we often begin classes with traditional icebreaker exercises to help students get to know one another. The RBC faculty had a similiar philosophy, but they believed it was important to integrate some physical activity and exercise into the tasks. Our teams walked to the gymnasium and proceeded to engage in a number of team-oriented and truly hands on exercises.
Students and faculty engaged in hands on exercises to get to know one another.More icebreaker exercises
Blindfolds! Trust building was a key part of this activity.Listening skills and being able to take direction was another area of focus within these activities.
Our students were laughing and joking as they worked together on these different exercises. They were having fun! It was apparent that they formed a bond and looked forward to traveling together. Groups that laugh together find it easier to work together.
When traveling with a group, it is important to cultivate relationships which will make the trip more enjoyable. In addition, these students have the opportunity to form lasting friendships that extend beyond the study abroad experience and can potentially boost their ongoing professional development.
RBC Faculty took our students and faculty to a welcome dinner. It was a fabulous meal!
After the group finished the icebreakers, the RBC faculty organized a welcome dinner for us at San Remos which was a Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Roskilde. I almost forgot to mention, we walked from the college to downtown Roskilde which is 2.8 km or 1.74 miles one way.
Wonderful dinner with RBC faculty!
Dinner was served family style – meaning the server would deliver a plate of items and our group passed the items around the table. I believe this was another part of the icebreaker component of the program as it was a good way to continue getting to know your travel companions. Brilliant!
Denmark is known for the high quality and innovation in its cooking. Our meal tonight was no exception! It was very, very tasty!The Danish eat lots of meat and potatoes.
Prior to traveling, it is always advisable to research dining etiquette for the country you are visiting, especially if you are traveling for international business. There are many good resources available on the internet that discuss dining etiquette and customs.  As a study abroad student, it is important to do your homework and research the customs of the country or countries where you will be traveling.
Management students traveling to Denmark, Germany and Sweden
Sinclair Community College Study Abroad in Europe 