From 15th to 16th of May Coolcrowd had its kick off meeting hosted by the Centre for Rural Research in Trondheim. All project partners participated in the kick off meeting including the overseas partners from Australia and New Zealand. The first day of the project provided the participants with the opportunity to get to know each other. The project leader Pia Otte started with a short introduction to the project, which was followed by short presentations of all work package leaders to establish a common knowledge base in the project. The afternoon was dedicated to crowdfunding. The group learned more about existing types of crowdfunding and current research. This session was led by Natalia Mæhle(HVL) and Natalia Drozdova (NHH). The first day finished with a discussion on the further work plan and a project dinner in town that provided another opportunity for mingling.
The second day was in the light of agriculture. It started with a presentation by Sissel Hansen (NORSØK) presenting the group with possibilities for environmental- and climate-friendly dairy production and providing and introduction to Skaun Økomjølk, which will closely collaborate with Coolcrowd. In addition, the project had a visit by Gulliaume Majeau-Bettez (NTNU), who will assist in designing an emission-measuring template within the project, as one of the objectives in Coolcrowd is to measure our own GHG emissions caused in the project. This data will be communicated to the Norwegian Research Council by the end of the project period. Finally, the project members got the chance to get a real life glimpse of Norway’s agriculture by visiting Skaun Økomjølk and learning more about their agricultural work.
The kick off meeting was a big success and a next project meeting is planned for November 2017. This time online via skype or zoom to test the feasibility of online meetings as a more climate friendly alternative.
Project and external participants at Skaun Økomjølk
Photo taken by Sander