This week, Sund & Bælt held Nature's Day on Sprogø on the occasion of the Great Belt Bridge's 25th anniversary – a competition for experts who compete to give the best bid for bringing nature into construction works. A student from DTU-Aqua was on the winning team.
This week, Tuesday 14 June, it was 25 years since the first cars drove over the Great Belt on the new bridge. On this occasion, Sund & Bælt had invited students & experts in nature and the marine environment to participate in Nature's Day on Sprogø - a biodiversity competition, where Sund & Bælt wanted suggestions on how to do even more for nature both on land and in the sea, when building infrastructure.
Two students from DTU Aqua, Freja Froberg and Emil Hoffmann Bohr, took part in the Nature's day competition, and Freja's team won! They received the first prize in the form of a basket of goodies and a snow globe with the lighthouse from Sprogø presented by the Minister of Transport. The winning project's core idea is partly focused on nature measures on Sprogø, partly nature protection in the area around the bridge's mooring on Zealand. The minister calls the winning project visionary.
Professor and member of the government's Biodiversity Council Karen Timmermann was on the judging panel together with a number of other experts from Denmark's Nature Conservation Association, AAU, Rambøll, Slagelse Municipality, Banedanmark, WWF, DHI, Denmark's Fisheries Association, Aage V. Jensen Foundation and Sund & Bælt.
"Freja's team won because they had a focus on both protection and restoration and exciting new thinking that could benefit biodiversity both on land and in the sea," says Karen Timmermann, stressing that she was not biased ;)
"All the groups' proposals were visionary, holistic and with original elements. The ideas were largely realizable - not 1:1 for both ecological, technical or economic reasons, but all ideas contained realizable components.”
Best idea of the day
Sprogø became four times larger during the construction work with the Storebæltsbroen 25 years ago, which, as you know, was to be built across Sprogø.
The new areas on Sprogø were barren and devoid of life. From there, a process of nature restoration and landscaping began, which has meant that Sprogø has today become a lush Natura 2000 protected area with various animals and plants.According to Sund & Bælt, that development is their starting point for Nature's Day on Sprogø. Five teams participated in idea development for the biodiversity competition.
The participants came from a wide range of large consultancy companies, green organisations, agencies, municipalities, universities, associations, foundations – but Emil and Freja were the only students.
The participants spent the night on the island, and the following day the best idea of the day was chosen by the panel of judges. In the overall assessment, it is said that the judges placed importance on whether the proposal promotes the interaction between the area's natural character and at the same time its use as a traffic facility, as well as placing high emphasis on the fact that the idea is innovative and also possible to implement, preferably on other similar facility.
According to the judging panel, Freja's group has thought visionarily, and at the same time their idea is also possible to realize and is envisaged when building new infrastructure where you cross the sea.
Important to consider nature and biodiversity from the start
When asked why such an idea competition issued by Sund & Bælt can be both interesting and important, Karen Timmermann says that it is important that our buildings, both on land and at sea, incorporate nature and biodiversity considerations:
"With a bit of consideration, buildings and especially construction processes can reduce their impact on nature and biodiversity. In some cases, it can even benefit species and habitats. But it requires a focus on it," Karen Timmermann emphasizes.
One of the goals of the competition is also that the ideas from the many competent people who participated can also be used in other large infrastructure projects to improve nature and biodiversity, when roads, bridges, tunnels and buildings have to be built and naturally will change the landscapes.
Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen seemed to agree when, among other things, he said to the winning team when he presented the first prize:
"It is my ambition that nature and biodiversity must be taken into account from the start when we plan infrastructure. It has been really interesting and instructive to see the many ideas that have come out of Nature's Day on Sprogø. It is crucial for our nature that we utilize knowledge and experience for the benefit of insects and plants throughout the country.”
Photos: award ceremony and people outside by Karen Timmermann. Photo of swan and Sprogø PR photo Sund & Bælt