I arrived in the heart of Scandinavia on a crisp fall morning, excited to attend the International Educators Workshop with the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS). The plane carved through thick, woolly clouds that draped the Nordic sky in quiet gray. The vast, often overcast expanse felt like a breath held between strangers—an invitation to step beyond borders into a world where health and well-being is woven like a tapestry, each thread a neighbor, a street, a shared breath—unraveling and reweaving a new vision of the common good.
Beneath the wide Nordic sky, I explored the streets of Stockholm, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark, alongside faculty and staff from universities across the United States, observing firsthand what students encounter when they cross oceans to study here: a world where equity and health are woven into the very fabric of daily life.
The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being,” not merely the absence of disease or infirmity—a principle I have long carried into my work at the intersection of health education, experiential learning, and community engagement, where learning is lived, felt, and experienced rather than simply taught.
These principles were not abstract here—they unfolded vividly in every street, park, and classroom I encountered. They came alive not just in clinics and textbooks, but in the pulse of Scandinavian streets, in green parks where children laugh, and in the hum of bike wheels along smooth lanes. Where public spaces allow all voices, from diverse backgrounds, to be heard; where neighbors gather at farmers’ markets and community gardens; and where access is a promise, not a privilege. Safety, dignity, and belonging are built into the design of benches, paths, and communal spaces.
In Stockholm, classrooms and city streets pulsed with an energy that felt both urgent and hopeful. DIS Students mapped public health resources, engaged with local communities, and worked alongside residents and community leaders—observing how people organized health initiatives, shared resources, and shaped public spaces to support collective well-being. Their curriculum wove together public health emergencies, health management, policy, and the architecture of sustainable cities, brought to life through fieldwork, community engagement, and immersive experiential learning. Students weren’t simply studying how societies respond to challenges; they were witnessing—and joining—the subtle systems that allow community life to unfold with intention and care.
The simulation lab at DIS buzzed with focus and collaboration as students moved through lifelike scenarios shoulder-to-shoulder—practicing clinical skills at workstations, responding to cardiac arrest, triaging multiple patients, and conducting difficult patient interviews. In these high-pressure moments, they found their voices and learned to rely on one another, cultivating the presence and teamwork that only immersive experience can teach. They learned not only to respond to crises, but to show up for one another in the everyday practice of care, seeing how precise actions and collective effort shape outcomes in real time.
Copenhagen itself seemed a living lesson—its streets mapped by bicycles, neighborhoods blooming with sustainable design and human connection, and public spaces alive with movement and conversation. In Nørrebro, a vibrant neighborhood of cultures, we moved beyond facades to find a thriving community where diversity is celebrated and public spaces invite all to gather, move, and belong. Drawing on frameworks from urban planning and human-centered design—which emphasize designing cities for people, not cars—we traced how streets, parks, and public spaces shape movement, trust, and equity. Residents pause, cycle, or meet in small squares, and faculty guided us in connecting these experiences to larger questions of governance, health, and social connection. In Copenhagen, like Stockholm, this philosophy is tangible: public spaces invite gathering, play, and shared care, illustrating how urban design and governance intersect to produce measurable health impacts.
These experiences revealed that health is not an abstract ideal but a lived reality shaped by trust, shared identity, and a commitment to innovation in the common good. In a world still healing from old wounds, and as new voices rise to demand justice and belonging, the lessons beneath the Nordic sky feel especially urgent. Even here, these cities don’t have everything figured out—challenges like housing affordability, mental health, and social inclusion persist. What sets them apart is a willingness to face these issues openly, relying on shared governance, public trust, and collaborative policymaking—shaped by a culture of compromise—to forge solutions
Studying abroad offers students the chance to witness health in motion—to feel how well-being is carried through relationships, systems, and the spaces that uphold or strain the ties that bind us. It teaches empathy, the quiet force that shapes leaders and builders of just, healthy futures. I encourage every Georgetown student to walk streets where the air smells different, where voices rise in unfamiliar rhythms, where the mind stretches to understand another’s story. What seeds might you plant? What bridges might you build?
As educators and learners, stepping outside familiar walls is more than an opportunity—it is a necessity. Immersion expands horizons, cultivating the empathy and imagination needed to build healthier, more equitable communities, whether under the Nordic sky or at home.
Returning home, I carried with me a renewed purpose: to inspire students and communities to look beyond borders and discover the many ways we can live well together beneath the same sky.
Brian Floyd is an Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at the Georgetown University School of Health and a faculty member at the Capital Applied Learning Labs, where he teaches Health Innovation for the Common Good, a course centered on experiential learning and community engagement. He is also a Co-Principal Investigator for the Georgetown University Global Cities’ 2025 Urban Innovation Project, titled Paving the Way for Urban Innovation and Health Equity: Documenting Oral Histories with DC Community Leaders.
