Campus puzzle falls into place — except for one piece

The large-scale campus reshuffle at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) is now moving into a new phase, which over the course of several years will reduce its total floor space.

In a new plan, published on the UCPH intranet, management outlines how a number of departments and units are to be moved so they can terminate leases and consolidate activities into fewer square metres of floor space.

UCPH leases its buildings from the Danish state, and the goal is to balance its building finances and reduce its climate footprint.

University Director Søren Munk Skydsgaard said in an article in the University Post in December 2025,  that 75,000 square metres need to be cut from UCPH’s current building stock get rid of a deficit in the university’s building finances from 2028.

We really need to bring our competences together to strengthen our research, teaching, and collaboration across disciplines

Vivian Kvist Johannsen, head of department at IGN

Karen Dilling is deputy director of UCPH Buildings and is responsible for planning the relocation reshuffle. She confirms to the University Post that a total of 75,000 square metres will be cut.

READ ALSO: UCPH to cut 75,000 square metres to eliminate ‘unmanageable deficit’

The relocation plans include: The Faculty of Social Sciences moving from the old municipal hospital CSS building complex to South Campus, the lease for the Geocentre building at Øster Voldgade 10 being terminated, and the Globe Institute and the Natural History Museum of Denmark being brought together in the the museum complex by the Botanical Gardens. At the same time, work has begun on a long-term campus plan for North Campus.

But even though the plan is now taking shape, questions remain unanswered. One of them is about the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management (IGN).

Move without an address

The geologists and geographers from IGN are to move out of the Øster Voldgade 10 location. But where they will actually go remains to be seen.

According to head of department Vivian Kvist Johannsen, the decision-making process on IGN’s future location has been reopened.

»We did have some proposed solutions, but some of them turned out to not be possible after all as they conflicted with other decisions. So we’ve had to start again from scratch,« she says to the University Post.

According to Vivian Kvist Johannsen, earlier scenarios included bringing the geoscience disciplines together in the area around the museums quarter and parts of the old municipal hospital CSS campus complex. But when UCPH decided to abandon the CSS complex entirely, that option disappeared.

Hope to unite the department

IGN was set up in 2013 through the merger of the Department of Geography and Geology at Øster Voldgade 10 and parts of the Department of Forest & Landscape at Rolighedsvej 23. The hope was, eventually, to be able to physically unite the department’s disciplines.

In connection with the overall relocation reshuffle at UCPH, IGN submitted a consultation response to university management in November in which the department wrote that it was »puzzled by the last minute cancellation of the plans« and argued that the consolidation of the department aligns with both the UCPH documents Strategy 2030 and 2030 Masterplan.

IGN points out that a physical unification would strengthen research, interdisciplinarity, and improve the teaching environment.

We need clarity. But whether special consideration should be given to us, I don’t know

Vivian Kvist Johannsen, head of department at IGN

According to Vivian Kvist Johannsen, the core argument is that it would strengthen research and teaching.

»IGN is characterised by having a large diversity of disciplines. We cover everything from mineralogy in geology, to design and aesthetics in landscape architecture. We really need to bring our skills together to strengthen our research, teaching, and collaboration across disciplines,« she says.

The department’s current distribution across two addresses has both practical and academic consequences, according to Vivian Kvist Johannsen.

»I spend a lot of time cycling back and forth. And many people at IGN do. You can’t just meet over coffee or get the whole department together in the same way, and that has an impact on collaboration,« she says.

A game of Tetris

Vivian Kvist Johannsen emphasises that the dialogue with UCPH Buildings has been constructive, and that she expects the current timeline of reaching a final outcome before the summer holidays to hold.

»I feel that we are being listened to, and that there is a willingness to find solutions,« the head of department says.

She does not want to point to specific requirements for a new address:

»I’d rather not say, because our department cannot be brought together without someone else having to move. In that sense, this is like a game of Tetris,« she says, continuing:

»But to put it bluntly, the most important thing for us is that we are brought together. Alternatively, at most across two addresses. Where that ends up being is less important.«

Our guiding principle is that we work equally with all departments

Karen Dilling, deputy director of UCPH Buildings

Karen Dilling does not wish to comment on which addresses are being considered for IGN’s future location due to the ongoing negotiations.

The uncertainty surrounding the IGN address is in the wake of the large round of layoffs at the Faculty of Science in December, when the faculty’s staff count was cut by 124 employees. IGN was one of the hardest-hit departments, with more than 10 staff members laid off and more than 25 staff taking voluntary redundancy.

READ ALSO: Faculty of Science loses 124 staff members. Now several warn of consequences for both research and education

»The Faculty of Science has been through a tough process in 2025, and this contributes to the fact that we need to be able to work even more across disciplines than we have done before,« says Vivian Kvist Johannsen.

Do you think greater consideration should be given to you in light of the scale of layoffs you have been through?

»It’s difficult to say whether we should receive special consideration. But I will say this: We have been challenged ever since we began in 2013, when we already wanted, and planned for, us to be brought together. So we need clarity. But whether special consideration should be given to us, I don’t know.«

So it’s not because you are demanding that something special should now be done for IGN because you have been through a lot?

»No.«

According to Karen Dilling, no special consideration will be given to IGN or other departments that have been through major rounds of layoffs.

»Our guiding principle is that we work equally with all departments,« she says.

This article was first written in Danish and published on 2 March 2026. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.