Vandra: Connecting the Magic of Rotary, Sweden, and Our Planet

G reetings everyone!  This next blog post has been a long time coming.  As you may know, I am studying an  MSc in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation at Lund University in Sweden as a Rotary Global Grant Scholar for the Environment. Part of my studies deals with disaster response management and climate risk reduction.  Many of our professors come from the MSB (think Swedish FEMA) and the Swedish Defense University. So, we have a little of the Swedish military and civil defense perspective in our program!  But that aside, we have talked about how NATO can respond to future challenges. As Sweden has recently joined NATO in 2024, this conversation is especially important to Swedes. Both the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the growing impact of Climate Change are making this part of everyday discourse.  So, as part of my cultural exchange, I will share a little bit about events "on this side of the pond" and introduce you to my jou...

I am pleased to introduce to you a Tale of Two Cities: Copenhagen and Stockholm. Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark. Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Both are major cities in Scandinavia. Copenhagen is 35 minutes away from Lund by train. Stockholm is 4 hours away by train.  Copenhagen is on the left. Stockholm is on the right.  While they are both fantastic cities, they have a small rivalry both in history and modern times. Many times in history, the Kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden were at war with each other. They even fought each other in the battle of Lund.  The Battle of Lund in 1676.  COPENHAGEN Copenhagen was f ounded in the 12th century as a fishing village. Copenhagen became Denmark’s capital in 1443. It played a key role in the Hanseatic League and later in Scandinavian conflicts. Denmark had a powerful monarchy, once ruling over Norway, Iceland, and parts of Sweden (this includes Lund, which was part of the Danish Kingdom for many years). Copenhagen has...