Students at the Southern Denmark University Launch Campaign for Sustainable Food Systems

Students with the Danish Flag at the Plant-Based Campus Nordic Summer Camp 2026.

Students at Southern Denmark University (SDU) have officially launched a new Plant-Based Campus (PBC) campaign, urging their university to tackle its environmental footprint by transitioning campus catering to 100% plant-based food.

The launch marks a key milestone in the growing Nordic youth movement working to transform universities into models for sustainable food systems, as PBC SDU is the 3rd Plant-Based Campus campaign in Denmark, and the 17th globally.

As institutional food procurement forms a major part of campus emissions, student organisers emphasise that shifting toward plant-based dining is one of the most immediate and cost-effective steps SDU can take toward its sustainability goals.

This student movement directly aligns with SDU’s broader institutional commitment to cut absolute emissions by 57% by 2030 and address key Planetary Boundaries. While SDU has already introduced re-wilding initiatives on campus grounds and partnered with B Corp-certified vendor Jespers Torvekøkken to achieve a 60% organic threshold, a complete shift toward plant-based dining offers an essential next step. Transitioning away from animal products directly protects critical Earth system limits by reducing industrial land-system change and agricultural nitrogen and phosphorus runoff.

The campaign will engage directly with SDU leadership and Jespers Torvekøkken across campuses in Odense, Esbjerg, and Kolding. Rather than pushing for temporary awareness events, the campaign aims to secure concrete structural changes.

Campaign Coordinator Alexander Oestreicher says:

"Animal agriculture is one of the largest sources of global greenhouse gas emissions. Switching to a plant based diet offers one of the easiest and cheapest ways to cut emissions and is essential to combating the climate crisis."

Fill out the form (here) to get involved with PBC SDU, join another campaign, or start a new one.

Plant-Based Campus is a democratic student-led campaign working with universities and higher education institutions to transition to 100% plant-based catering to reduce environmental impacts.