Aalborg University offers education and research within the fields of natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, technical and health sciences. Aalborg University is currently taking steps to expand its reputation as an internationally recognised leading university in problem based learning and sustainability which is led by its UNESCO Chair.

Aalborg University Centre was inaugurated in 1974, and a Faculty of Humanities, a Faculty of Social Sciences and a Faculty of Engineering and Science were established. In 1994 the university changed its name to Aalborg University. In 1966, the Department of Architecture and Design was established, in 2008 the Department of Law was established, and in 2010 a Faculty of Medicine was established. From the very beginning, Aalborg University was characterised by its well-reputed education form of problem based project work – also known as the Aalborg model, and by extensive collaboration with the surrounding society. Today more than 14.000 students are enrolled at Aalborg University, ranging from students at preparatory courses through doctoral-level candidates, and Aalborg University employs approximately 2,850 within the scientific and administrative fields.

Department of Development and Planning at Aalborg University has a long tradition for research and teaching in sustainability and problem based learning (PBL). The two research groups, involved in this network application, are the Danish Centre for Environmental Assessment that chairs the sustainability work of Aalborg University, and the UNESCO Chair in Problem Based Learning that hosts the Centre for PBL & Sustainability.

The overall objective of the UNESCO Chair is to create a global society for researchers and academic staff working with PBL. At the UNESCO Chair we are working with research, PhD training, master programs, training and consultancy activities. The activities of the centre relates to PBL in relation to sustainability (The programme approach), integrate sustainability into engineering & science curricula (The contextual approach), sustainability discourses into HE PBL institutions within the field of Engineering & Science (The sociological approach), primary school to the working life of scientists and engineers (The lifelong learning approach) and ESD in developing countries (The development approach).

DCEA's main activities are focussed on challenges concerning the development of methods and competences that are relevant for carrying out environmental assessments, and on the development of processes that address the use of assessment results for planning and decision support. Research focus on assessment of technological and organisational systems, and critical assertion and improvement. The basic research raises questions like: •How can we conceptualise effectiveness of impact assessment? •Why is uncertainty avoidance taking place in impact assessment and decision-making? •What is power dynamics in planning and decision making, and how does it impact effectiveness?

Role of AAU in the project:

Coodinate the mapping exercise in Denmark and complete the template for data collection.

Assist in the development of an online platform of resources as well as get familiarised and review the online tool.

Write a case study for the leading practice publication.

Contribute to the bi-annual newsletters.

Translate project materials into the national language.

Provide feedback to the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework.

Contribute to the dissemination and exploitation of the project outputs, outcomes and future network activities.

Participate and actively contribute to the discussions generated in regional and annual meetings, seminars and conference.

Operational and financial management:

The project team will coordinate the above administrative and academic project activities.

Financial administration will be handled by the project team who will liaise internally with the institution’s finance department.