Planet Mundus

The fashion retailer H&M burns tons of usable, unsold clothes every year in Sweden and Denmark. What is causing this waste of resources? Pia Behme talked with Else Skjold, Assistant Professor for sustainable design at the Kolding Design School, about recycling, the quality of garments and the consumer’s responsibility. Author: Pia Pehme Photo copyright: Ogiyoshisan CC BY-SA 3.0 www.planetmundus.com

Author: Miriam Karout www.planetmundus.com

Author: Miriam Karout, www.planetmundus.com

A reading group in Aarhus is trying to start interesting conversations using feminist texts and building a safe space for discussion about this still-controversial issue. One of our reporters got a chance to attend a reading session and talk to Sophia Kier-Byfield, the initiator of the reading group. Tune in to listen to how the group started, what a reading group session looks like, and the kind of feminism they want to associate with. Author: Shubham Kaushik, www.planetmundus.com

Author: Shubham Kaushik www.planetmundus.com

In today’s section on good news, you can hear about two balinese sisters enforcing the prohibition of plastic bags on Bali, the UN trial of Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic, and the EU sanctioning Poland for logging its primeval forest. Author: Lisa Urlbauer www.planetmundus.com

As the current mandate of the UN Peacekeeping mission comes to an end on March 31st, and the Security Council needs to decide what to do with its longest and most expensive mission ever, violence is quickly escalating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). President Joseph Kabila is in the seven year of a five-year term, and has been finding excuses to postpone the elections since late 2016. In the meantime, there are over 120 rebel groups operating in the mineral-rich eastern part of the country, and more than 4.5 million people are displaced from their homes. Author: Cecilia Arregui, Mário Braga, www.planetmundus.com

Beate Zschäpe, Günter Grass, Holger Apfel – and the list goes on: Published in 2014, the song “Beate Zschäpe hört U2” (Beate Zschäpe listens to U2) mentions not only the German extremist but also politicians and artists who expressed antisemitic or racist thoughts. It also stresses the everyday phenomenon of xenophobia: It is Max Mustermann (the German equivalent to John Doe), who attacks a refugee camp in the song. Author: Pia Behme, www.planetmundus.com/Photo credit: ©Robert Eikelpoth

Author: Shubham Kaushik, www.planetmundus.com

Author: Miriam Karout, www.planetmundus.com

Brazil just faced its worst recession in 30 years. From 2014 to 2016, the country’s Gross Domestic Product fell 8.2%. In the meantime, inflation spiked to 10.6% and unemployment hit a record high of 13.7%. In 2017, however, the Brazilian economy grew 1% boosting hopes across the nation that things will get better from now on. But will they? Slow News explores why the economic recovery is not a sure thing for South America’s largest country. Foto: Pixabay //Author: Mário Braga, www.planetmundus.com

Author: Melanie Raidl, www.planetmundus.com

The streets of Perugia, a small city in the heart of Italy, were filled with journalists from the 11th to the 15th of April. It was the 12th edition of the International Journalism Festival: 301 events, 710 speakers and participants from 50 different countries. “I think this is my favourite festival”, said Mark Frankel, the social media editor for BBC News. Planet Mundus’ reporters Shubham Kaushik and Ceci Arregui were in Perugia as volunteers, and in this segment, they both talk about some of the highlights of this massive event.//Authors: Shubham Kaushik, Ceci Arregui, www.planetmundus.com

One of the core activities in Danish society is volunteering. The tradition dates back to the 19th century, where people started collaborating during the evolvement of the Danish Folkehøjskole. Since then, a lot has changed in Denmark - but volunteering is still ingrained in society. Official statistics say, that 35% of the Danish society do voluntary work, that means that 1.9 millionen Danes volunteer at least at some point of the year. Often, events are collaborations between public institutions and association - like last year’s food festival. During the first three days of September, around 900 volunteers helped out at the festival, selling food or washing dishes. All of them needed to be coordinated - which was done by Ellen Emilie Madsen, a 25-year old political science student who chatted with us about her experience on this episode.

Working hard for the money, as Donna Summer's well known song says, is something we all have experienced at some point, which means that high levels of stress have likely occurred at work as well. Lisa talks with Patrick Buggy, a mindfulness writer and coach, about his company Mindful Ambition, which is tackling this issue head on.

One aspect which will continue to follow us in the future of work is the risk of unemployment. In Denmark, the approach to hiring and firing is coined as the Danish Model, or "flexicurity," which has already found recognition by the European Commission in 2007. Our reporter Xiyu Chen takes a closer look at what it means. Photo credi: Pixabay

Our work of the future will most likely be shaped by automation, artificial intelligence and robotics. Nonetheless, certain factors will be still determined by us humans. In this episode, we will take a closer look at three different topics to explore our relation to work - now and in the future. For our first segment, we welcomed Ellen Madsen, student at Aarhus University, who told us about her experience as the volunteer coordinator at last year’s food festival. After that, we explore "flexicurity," Denmark’s approach to employment and unemployment, which is often discussed as a model for European labor markets. Finally, Lisa explores mindfulness in work with Patrick Buggy. Jingle credit: Xiao Liang with music by Simon Mathewson.

For Forward Forward Aarhus, our reporter Laura Galante has spoken to Søren Rasmussen about the renovations of The Occupation Museum. But the ongoing work is more than simply replacing old bricks: Through means of technology, the museum is go tell the stories of the past in a new way.

Future Forward Aarhus reporter Karis Hustad sat down with Annette Markham, founder and director of the Creating Future Memory project, to talk about how the project raises citizens' awareness about each and everyone's own "big data" through means of art and participation.

Future Forward Aarhus reporter Lisa Urlbauer has met Wulf Kansteiner, history professor from Aarhus University, to talk about the impact of the digital on how we perceive the past. Because if one thing is sure: How we remember history is not set in stone.