Klimatorium - Unique architecture leads to empowering climate solutions
The Klimatorium is the Danish international climate centre. Built with striking architecture, situated in the small city of Lemvig on the danish westcoast, overviewing the water and the elements. Klimatorium brings together stakeholders on all levels: knowledge institutions, businesses, the public sector and citizens, to create innovative climate solutions, as well as communicating these solutions to children and youth through the amazing climate exhibition.
National
Denmark
Region Central Denmark, Municipality of Lemvig
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
Yes
EU LIFE 2017-2022 (through Coast to Coast Climate Challenge)
No
Yes
2022-12-31
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Klimatorium Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Isa Last name of representative: Schipperheijn Gender: Female Nationality: Denmark Function: Project Manager Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Havnen 8 Town: Lemvig Postal code: 7620 Country: Denmark Direct Tel:+45 61 62 83 25 E-mail:isa@klimatorium.dk Website:https://klimatorium.dk/
What’s the essence of New European Bauhaus? Step across to Klimatorium and find out. Learn the secrets of its success – how stunning architecture has galvanised an entire town to climate action.
Klimatorium is based on the west coast of Denmark in the small town of Lemvig. The area is extremely exposed to climate changes, with the sea- & fjord level rising, rainwater, groundwater and land settling. The low densed area had trouble attracting qualified people and forces to overcome these challenges before, but Klimatorium changed this big way. Established in 2020, it’s headquarter is an inspiring and award-winning building designed by world-renowned architects 3XN. Even before the building opened its doors, Klimatorium had received global media coverage; today it is certainly a ‘must-see’ location, with its wave-like form right next to the sea. The set-up has full backing from the so-called quadruple helix: universities, the private sector, public sector and civil society. It has become the beacon for civil climate change action across the entire region, nationally and internationally.
This EU LIFE, REACT-EU and IURC project has also become an incredible hub promoting connection. Collaboration and knowledge sharing are the core of Klimatorium’s raison d’être. It convenes parties to explore climate solutions: municipalities often face climate challenges; universities have knowledge and research; industry can come up with cost-effective innovations; and civil society adds perspective and helps drive uptake and change. Klimatorium bridges the gap between theory and action.
Young people are also key to developing and delivering solutions for our Earth in balance. Klimatorium is therefore hosting events for schools, universities, kindergartens to support young people to engage in deliberative action. The climate exhibition in the Klimatorium is free for everyone who wants to visit and learn more about the opportunities our changing climate gives us.
Attracting qualified young people & families to low-densed area
The Klimatorium works actively on creating climate solutions in the now, as well as educating the people for the future to take a part in this. Projects are established around main climate challenge such as holistic ressource management, holistic water management, CO2 reduction, climate adaptation, circular economy and so on. At the time with around 50 projects, the work steadily continues and solutions exponentially grow. Projects think lifecycles, circular and green. For example some projects such as:
- Using high groundwater due to climate change as a ressource for the new green energy source called Power-to-X.
- Recycling plastic in the whole watersector, and collaborating with all nordic countries to do the same.
- Preventing the western part of Denmarks biggest fjord, Limfjorden, of flooding by crosssectorial climate solutions.
- Using satellite data to solve climate challenges around land settling and ressource management.
- Nature Based Solutions to solve heat islands in cities, water draining into the ground and biodiversity to improve.
- And so on.
Furthermore, Klimatorium supports a sustainable future of the local area by attracting young people & their families to an otherwise very low densed area with few academic jobs. Klimatorium already now made up to 10 people move to the local area or stay in the area and can in the future make less threated schools (because of reduced inhabitants) close down and make an example of rural areas to bloom up again.
The aesthetics are reflected in the Klimatorium building itself. The building catches the attention locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. The design and architecture incorporates the shape of a wave which is seen inside and outside of the building and used in a practical way where it can be used as a seat outside where you can enjoy the surroundings, sheltered by the wind. The building is located right next to the water and therefore you are right in the elements of Mother Earth whether it be a beautiful calm day where the visitor sees the building reflected in the water or a rough windy day where the visitor sees the waves and the sea wall needs to be closed off to protect the building and the area from flooding.Some days the visitor will even see the seals sunbathing right outside.
The architecture has made a building that expresses climate change with a wooden ‘wave’ that rises above the main entrance and had made Klimatorium an easily recognisable landmark. The undulating landscape around the building is called the Climate Wedge and is structured along meteorological isobar lines representing prevailing wind conditions in Lemvig. This design also interacts with the soft lines of the nearby skate park and forms an intuitive route through the landscape. Furthermore, interactive design inside the building, where you can walk through a rain installation and experience real climate solutions, makes Klimatorium a special place to visit.
Due to the aesthetics the building has become a showcase in the town which all visitors must pay a visit. In this way the Klimatorium has created the perfect platform for sharing the information about the many climate projects – right in line with the Bauhaus way of thinking.
Klimatorium works with the Quadruple Helix model, this means that in all projects all four elements are incorporated; universities, private sector, public sector and civil society. Knowledge sharing and collaboration is key and everyone is welcome. The building is open to the public and free of charge. Furthermore, it is open for members and partners to use for conferences or events. The educational sector uses the building frequently for school projects, study tours and excursions. And all companies and institutions working with climate solutions can use the building.
The building is exemplary because it has highly professional daily objectives, and meanwhile is so open for every part of the society to experience and to be a part of, at the same time of actively seeking new project partners of all society's categories to every single climate action.
Klimatorium sits on the harbor front in town, drawing tourists and locals in with its compelling architecture. Entrance to Klimatorium is free, and once inside, everyone can feel free to walk around and enjoy the exhibition on climate change solutions and ask questions. The spaciousness and openness in the architecture of Klimatorium is mirrored in the way employees work and is mirrored in the way Klimatorium hopes to have people feel when they are inside. The high ceilings and light create space for creative and innovative ideas.
Because Klimatorium welcomes all, because it has a strong focus on education and communicating to children, and because the local skater park is right next to Klimatorium, there are almost always children in the building, learning about solutions to climate change or just hanging out and playing with the hands-on part of the exhibition. An atmosphere with children’s laughter around, creates the best possible environment for working with climate change – reminding everyone of the reason and the importance of making lasting solutions.
Klimatorium and all the activities happening in and around Klimatorium have brought new life to the town of Lemvig. When Klimatorium was built, most of the contractors were hired locally. After it opened, Klimatorium started receiving many guests, not just from the local area, but from all of Denmark and many international guests as well. Last year, Klimatorium reached 27.000 guests. ; this all creates new opportunities for small business owners in town, breathing new life into a small town that has trouble keeping the younger generations around and attracts new-comers. Furthermore, Klimatorium’s activities and projects draw knowledge to the town, helping to overcome the many challenges of climate change, facing a small municipality surrounded by water.
The idea of Klimatorium was born from local stakeholders that needed help to overcome climate change challenges. It was especially the local utility and local politicians that were the driving force for making it happen. The further development of the idea was made possible through EU funds in the regional project “CC2CC” where the objective was to find climate adaptive solutions regionally in Denmark. The involvement of local stakeholders and small companies, basing the project on local challenges of climate change, made the project possible, because even though the development of the idea and the drawing of the building was funded by EU-funds, the actual building was funded mainly through local stakeholders. Regional stakeholders became involved by municipalities working together on finding climate adaptation solutions across the region. Involving these stakeholders has made it easier to collaborate on projects together, as it has made these partners feel at home in Klimatorium. E.g. they host events there and participate in much of Klimatorium’s work on climate adaptation through projects. National stakeholders became involved as architects from all over Denmark were invited to pitch their idea of a design for Klimatorium. This approach made it possible to find the most striking design for the building which has resulted in it becoming a landmark for the region&Denmark. Furthermore, universities from outside the region were involved in developing the concept behind Klimatorium and have later also been included in the board, which has added value by breaking down the barrier between Klimatorium and the knowledge available in universities. It has created a platform where universities can be involved in Klimatoriums projects quite easily, which helps implement the knowledge from universities into society. Lastly, it has been in an EU context from the beginning, as it was part of an EU-funded project, where it had to meet standards and goals set by the EU-LIFE call.
Klimatorium is a hub for climate, science, water, environment, green energy and circular economy supported by the EU and the Danish State. To make Klimatorium successful, great architecture and landscape architecture has been used strategically to create attention of the center both local, national, and international. The architecture has made a building that expresses climate change with a wooden ‘wave’ that rises above the main entrance and had made Klimatorium an easily recognisable landmark. The undulating landscape around the building is called the Climate Wedge and is structured along meteorological isobar lines representing prevailing wind conditions in Lemvig. This design also interacts with the soft lines of the nearby skate park and forms an intuitive route through the landscape. Furthermore, interactive design inside the building, where you can walk through a rain installation and experience real climate solutions, makes Klimatorium a special place to visit.
The starting point for Klimatorium is to see the climate crisis in an optimistic way by focusing on the possibility of creating new climate solutions with knowledge and technological development, working closely together with universities, public organizations, citizens and private companies. Klimatorium wants to minimize peoples fear and anxiety of climate change. This differentiates from other climate approaches, where moral and ethical action more often is highlighted. What makes Klimatorium special is that it is not only an organization that works with projects, but also has an exhibition. By having a free public exhibition about climate change, where people can explore science, push citizens and other partners to come visit Klimatorium, learn about climate change and finally try to find solutions by becoming part of the Klimatorium projects.
The projects always combine science, society, nature, aesthetics, technology, innovation, business and cooperation between various levels of people.
Klimatorium has today become a hub for climate and water research and put the local city Lemvig on the landmark. Tourists, schools, associations, business groups, politicians and university students flock to Klimatorium to see high-class architecture and mainly to explore innovative climate solutions and ways of cooperating and breaking boundaries around these challenges. With the establishment of Klimatorium, many new climate projects have been created in Denmark, nationality and regionally. This has helped especially local companies in the Lemvig area to find new business opportunities in water and climate change and help them to grow export opportunities. When Klimatorium was established, the goal was to have 10,000 visitors per year. From April 2022 to December 2022, there have been approx. 27,000 visitors. A few samples have shown that the Klimatorium has had visitors from all over the world. Both families, the elderly and young people want to spend time in Klimatorium. Families especially benefit from the child-friendly activities in the Klimatorium and the playground outside. And it is a big plus for them that the exhibition is free. The older target group enjoys the optimism that the exhibition creates. Many mention that they have a revelation that climate problems can actually be turned into climate solutions and many come out with a hope and appetite to learn more about what they can do themselves. Also organizational, there is a great deal of national and foreign interest in Klimatorium. E.g. AUDI Germany has traveled to Lemvig to take pictures of their new hybrid cars in front of Klimatorium, and also many universities, public organizations, water companies want to focus on climate challenge together with Klimatorium. Finally, a sister-Climatorium is being built in New Zealand with the Maori Society as the driving force. The Netherlands and Italy have also shown a great interest in establishing a like minded building/organization in their countries.
The innovative character of Klimatorium is:
- Using architecture for the purpose of:
1. Drawing knowledge to a local area with climate change challenges
2. Engaging stakeholders both locally, nationally and internationally
- Creating a non-profit NGO that involves politicians, universities, private companies and civil society, by including them on the board, involving them through memberships and inviting them to participate and learn by using our free exhibition. This all facilitates a neutral space where stakeholders can meet and focus just on one goal: finding positive solutions to climate change.
- Klimatorium’s way of communication through an interactive exhibition mainly intended for children. The focus when communicating projects and solutions is on creating hope and looks for silver linings when talking about climate change. Klimatorium thereby creates less fear around climate change and facilitates more action.
- Bringing projects to life by using the quadruple helix approach.
- Highlighting the importance of a physical space when wanting to bring partners together across sectors, where people meet face to face and work on climate change solutions, as opposed to online partnerships.
- Creating new jobs and attracting young people to a rural area with an earlier tendency of aging / more and more people moving away.
The methodology in all Klimatorium related projects has been using the “quadruple helix model”- approach from the start. This was deliberately done to create the best possible foundation for creating solutions with impact. Quadruple Helix means always involving :
- The public sector: they have the challenges
- Universities: They have the solutions
- The private sector: They can put the solutions into practice
- Civil society: by involving private citizens, especially through educating children and youth in the challenges and solutions that are on display in Klimatorium, Klimatorium is self-sustaining in this way, by creating more awareness and interest around making solutions to climate change in a “bottom-up” approach.
Furthermore, it has been an important factor to approach climate change with a positive attitude, looking to solve and communicate in a way that creates hope for the future instead of fear. Looking to create action and impact by bringing together the right people on projects and focusing on knowledge sharing and technological advancement when finding solutions.
Also, every started project has to end up having a physical outcome, instead of being put in ‘the desk’s drawer’. The theoretical ideas from universities are brought out in the open and used as a resource for all society.
Using striking architecture to bring attention and focus to a local challenge (or the worldwide challenge of climate change) as well as attracting qualified people to help in overcoming this challenge, can be replicated in all other places/contexts. For Klimatorium, many factors made it possible but engaging local stakeholders and building Klimatorium to help solve local challenges was a strong driving force, also to help secure the funds necessary. Another reason why Klimatorium has become such a success has been that the local challenges fit into a global agenda of solving climate change, and therefore the interest both locally, nationally and internationally, to become part of Klimatorium’s work, has been steadily increasing since the beginning.
Creating a “neutral” space which has only the agenda to work on making solutions to climate change and to educate the young generation through an exhibition that communicates mainly to children, can also be easily replicated in other places. It does not need to be in a new building, the concept could be transferred to say an existing museum for example, or any other building. One of the key factors in creating this neutral space has been to build Klimatorium as a non-profit organization, and to create a board with stakeholders that are both local, regional and national and who support both the mission and the quadruple helix approach.
The Quadruple helix approach that unites the public sector, private sector, universities, and civil society on projects, has proved very efficient in creating strong solutions that become implemented in society at a quick pace. This approach can also be replicated in other places/contexts within other fields, not just in relation to climate change adaptation.
Furthermore, Klimatoriums positive approach and belief in finding solutions to climate challenges communicating actions instead of fear, can also be adapted in any other place, as it is a matter of attitude and mindful communication.
Klimatorium is born out of local challenges. Though, by assembling national stakeholders to create concrete solutions that solve the local challenges, they get all these different hats and inputs and create solutions that are suitable for other places nationally and ultimately for export globally. Klimatorium projects address both climate adaptation and mitigation. Local challenges with water, as well as national challenges around circular economy and CO2 reduction. The national Climate Meetings .
Solve climate solutions in national partnerships, that solve local climate problems and put people into work locally in countryside areas. The national partnerships create both specific local and big global climate issues, and can be exported and shared globally.
Last but not least, the Klimatorium addresses the broad challenge of inhabitants moving from rural areas to the bigger cities, by creating a movement the other way around of attracting qualified young people and their families back to the rural areas.
