arki_lab is working together with the City of Frederikssund on a coastal protection project for the city centre of Frederikssund with support from the partnership called "The cities and the rising sea level" between Realdania and The Danish Coastal Authority.

Due to its geographical position towards Roskilde Fjord, the city must change its urban fabric in order to adapt to a changing climate with storm surges and rising sea levels. At the same time it’s equally important that the project contributes to urban life in Frederikssund downtown.

An important parameter of the protect is that the citizens must be involved in how the coastal protection of their city should be done and how to increase the quality of urban life. For that, arki_lab has designed a broad involvement process in order to both inform and involve the citizens.

The process is designed so that there are various possibilities to participate, both through digital campaigns, via physical events and through educational materials for the school kids that are otherwise difficult to get in touch with.

The whole process started with a festive kick-off event in the city. The lowest lying area in the city ‘Bløden’ was transformed into a sandy beach. The mayor of Frederikssund Tina Tving Stauning gave a speech to the many citizens showing up and reminded the citizens that the project should not only keep the water out, but also create space for the community.

During the whole project, physical blue information columns have been designed and placed in strategic places in the city that are affected by the water.
In addition to informing about the process and the project in a visual way, the blue columns also create an understanding of technical expressions within coastal protection such as ‘elevation’. They do this by being painted in different shades of blue that indicates half a meter elevation with a color transition.
The columns seek to make the concept of elevation more physical for the citizens and thus easier to relate to different sea water rises.

All in all, the project is an example of how arki_lab works with processes with a focus on building communities, creating shared knowledge and not least solid and sustainable solutions.