SDU involved in plans for new media city in Odense
SDU and the other parties involved in Media City Odense (MCO) have signed a statement of intent with DSB Property Development to create a mediatech city at Jarlsberggade in Odense. The first phase of the new media city is to set new standards for innovation and collaboration across the education, research and media sectors.
For some time, the parties behind Media City Odense – SDU, TV 2 Danmark, Jysk Fynske Media, SDU, TV 2 Funen – have been exploring the possibilities of creating Media City Odense in physical form, bringing together a collection of media, tech and educational institutions in a single location. In this context, the media cluster is in dialogue with DSB Property Development (DSB EU), which owns the neighbouring site of Kvegtorvet by the railway line in Odense.
An agreement is now in place, and once an investor is found the next phase of the project – construction – can begin.
Media City Odense was launched in 2020 and has a mission to become Denmark’s most innovative and value-creating mediatech cluster. The aim is to build a community based on trust and interaction that strengthens local, regional and national Danish journalism, content production in a broad sense and dissemination/distribution.
Enormous value for SDU
The University of Southern Denmark has been involved with MCO from the beginning, and according to Rector Jens Ringsmose, the media collaboration has already demonstrated how it can help support the University’s core mission.
- At SDU, we strive to create knowledge and education programmes of the highest calibre. We do this because it is the core mission of the University but also because it ultimately creates value for and with society. The MCO collaboration and the visionary plans for a new collective domicile therefore hold great potential for SDU.
- The first few years of activity in MCO have already delivered numerous examples of something fantastically creative and interesting happening when researchers and educators from the University are brought together with journalists, developers and consultants from the media. We therefore look forward to the next phase of the collaboration,’ says Jens Ringsmose, Rector of SDU, in a collective press release from MCO.
Room for great and small
The house has the potential to accommodate more than 40,000 m2, and it is an important parameter for the parties in the MCO collaboration that there will be room for companies of all sizes, including smaller startups as well as educational and research environments.
C.F. Møller Architects is affiliated with the project and has drawn up a vision for the physical framework and the first tentative sketches of the house, which is to accommodate both traditional media companies and the surrounding ecosystem, such as tech companies, marketing/communications, film, game developers and educational institutions. And the study environment is a particularly crucial factor in creating the right environment.
Inspiration from Norway
The Media City Odense collaboration is inspired by media collaborations in Norwegian Bergen and German Hamburg – but especially the successful media cluster in Bergen, which is frequently visited by media companies from all over Europe who want to hear more about the West Norwegian model.
Over the years, Bergen has become known for successful tech initiatives, particularly from TV 2 Norway, which have subsequently turned into independent companies. Media City Bergen was established as a cluster in 2010 and opened its headquarters in 2017.
Read more about Media City Odense: https://www.mediacityodense.dk/
Read a news item from 2020 when SDU entered the mediatech cluster: https://www.sdu.dk/da/nyheder/aktuelt_fra_sdu/medieby