5 Lessons from the 2026 Climate Hub Summer School

Frida studies the brand-new undergraduate programme 'Climate, environment and humanity' at the University of Oslo and got a chance to listen to academics really debating each other.

“The panel discussion ‘From Climate Risks to Hope: Empowering Action and Adaptation’ we had on the first evening was very special. The lecturers all brought their perspectives from their different backgrounds to the topic: Dan Banik, who is a political scientist, hosted the session. Then there was Marnik Vanclooster, who had given us a lecture on sustainable agriculture; Marcel Robischon, who is teaching us a lot about ecosystems; and also Wendy Morel, who was speaking more about the social dynamics of climate action. It was fun to not just get a lecture from one professor, but to hear them talk together and ask each other questions, including really difficult ones. You could see how there is not just one answer from science, but they disagreed on some things. For example: Vanclooster was quite critical of social media, whereas Banik thought that it can be a useful tool. And they were all open to disagreeing, to voicing their opinions and challenging each other. That was really great to witness, especially because they were all so knowledgeable.”

Anna Plunkett is a lecturer in International Relations at King’s College London. At the Climate Hub summer school, she facilitated an empathy walk. 

“What I wanted to do at this summer school was to equip students with an understanding of the uncertainty that comes with climate change and with policy decisions more broadly.

One of the exercises I taught was an empathy walk, where students had to decide the fate of people living in a climate shelter. They had to take on the roles of different institutions and were put into the difficult position of discussing and deciding which four individuals out of 40 would continue to receive aid. 

At the start of the day, there were a lot of students who said they really wanted to work in policy and parliamentary positions, including the European Parliament. After doing the exercise, they maybe still want to do that, but are far more aware of what a hard job that is and how tough it is emotionally. They saw that when you make a decision, there is a cost, and that cost is to a person.

The exercise helped them be way more reflective and learn how to navigate that space; to be comfortable with being uncomfortable in those decisions and know that they don’t have full information, that there is uncertainty and they’re going to have to deal with that.”

Isabelle Mensching is the Climate Hub coordinator at Humboldt and, together with the teaching team, developed the summer school’s programme.

“This was the most interactive school we have had so far. We have noticed that many students are now accustomed to using AI in their studies, which was more noticeable to us than in previous years. Our interactive sessions, however, encouraged our participants to actively engage with the topics, share their perspectives and deepen their understanding through discussions and group work. A good example of this is a workshop where they couldn’t use the internet at all – no phones, nothing. Instead of AI, they could ask the lecturers a limited number of questions. The students were genuinely euphoric and completely immersed in the activity – they did not even want to take their break! While the lectures during the online phase and the group research projects for the UN simulation will remain, we will definitely keep the interactive approach for the coming years and probably take things even further in that direction.“

As a recent Bachelor’s graduate in Philosophy at Humboldt-Universität, Jakob recommends Circle U.’s short-term mobility formats as a social self-experiment. 

“What amazed me was this feeling of being on a school trip with such a large group of students. The fact that we went through these three weeks together as an internationally diverse group and got to know each other better and better was a really lovely experience. I now have contacts in all the Circle U. countries, and I’ll definitely be saving a few phone numbers.

I think that to get the most out of a programme like this, you should be open to exchanging ideas and also have the courage to step out of your comfort zone. Although, having said that, there was also one person who felt kind of uncomfortable speaking in front of the whole group during the UN simulation. And ultimately, politics doesn’t just need the person who stands at the front and is in the public eye; it also needs lots of people working behind the scenes and supporting their cause. Perhaps the important thing is simply to be interested in the topic and willing to expose yourself to a new environment. A summer school like this is a great way to try that out. I mean, it’s a week, not half a year of Erasmus. I would definitely recommend it.“

Amarti, a second-year BA History of Ideas student at the University of Oslo, came away from the programme with a sharpened awareness of how climate change and adaptation play out locally.

“The summer school has changed my understanding of what climate change looks like at the local level. For example, during our online sessions, we learned about urban heat island effects. Then we got to Berlin, and walking around where Humboldt-Universität is in the summer, you experience exactly those effects because the streets are so wide and there are very few trees.

We also had one group assignment where we had to look into climate adaptation measures for our own universities and municipalities. For us students from Oslo it was about how to deal with or avoid flooding. Oslo itself is quite prone to flooding and this year we have had much more rain than usual. Through the summer school I have become more aware of climate adaptation that is already taking place. From my dorm window at the University of Oslo I can see a pool of water in the meadow. It has been channeled there on purpose because the grass can hold more water than concrete. That’s adaptation! I am on the student council and we are more focused on social issues, but I reckon we could advocate more for green issues. At the end of the day, it goes hand in hand.”