Annualreport2013 PDF

2013
Annual Report 2013
Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................... 6
Business and philanthropy ..................................................................................................................................... 8
The board of the VILLUM FOUNDATION ........................................................................................................ 12
The board of the VELUX FOUNDATION .......................................................................................................... 13
Tobaksvejen 10
DK-2860 Sborg, Denmark
Tel.: (+45) 39 57 09 57
E-mail: info@veluxfondene.dk
www.villumfonden.dk, www.veluxfonden.dk
Financial ratios and highlights - VILLUM FOUNDATION ................................................................................. 14

Financial ratios and highlights - VELUX FOUNDATION ................................................................................... 15
A conversation with Lars Kann-Rasmussen .......................................................................................................... 16
Grants 2013 from the VILLUM FOUNDATION ................................................................................................ 28
Grants 2013 from the VELUX FOUNDATION .................................................................................................. 36
Management:
Kjeld Juel Petersen, MSc politics, Executive Director, VILLUM FOUNDATION
Ane Hendriksen, LLM, Executive Director, VELUX FOUNDATION
Anders Kirketerp-Mller, MSc politics, Executive Director of Operations
Postcards from supported projects ....................................................................................................................... 46

What determines the distribution of life on Earth? ............................................................................................... 58
Carsten Rahbek
Tiny creatures reveal our origins .......................................................................................................................... 62

Katrine Worsaae
Better buildings and indoor climate without mould ............................................................................................. 66

Birgitte Andersen
Legal adviser: Christian Gregersen, Attorney, Law firm Bruun & Hjejle
Auditor: Gert Fisker Tomczyk, Audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers
New microorganisms and enzymes in biogas plants .............................................................................................. 70

Per Halkjr Nielsen and Lene Lange
Stories for all time ............................................................................................................................................... 74

Matthew James Driscoll
VILLUM FOUNDATION and VELUX FOUNDATION 2013

The Annual Report is published in January 2014
Edited by: Henrik Tronier
Sub-editor: Dorte Sandberg
Layout: Jens Raadal
Production: Marketingbrokers ApS
ISSN: 1902-7087
Metrification of sciences ....................................................................................................................................... 78

Poul Erik Mouritzen
Immigrants growing old in Denmark ................................................................................................................... 82

Anika Liversage
The eye a window into brain function ............................................................................................................... 86

Henrik Lund-Andersen
Seniors workshops in Svendborg .......................................................................................................................... 90

Rasmus Vej
Wilsehaven vicarage gardens from the Age of Enlightenment ............................................................................. 94

Herman Rmer
The history of technology in Greenland ............................................................................................................... 96

Hans P. Steenfos and Jrgen Taagholt
Headspace new, early help for vulnerable children and young people ................................................................ 100
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
TAGDEL.dk an online portal for volunteerism ................................................................................................ 104

Anne Katrine Heje Larsen and Stefan Tholstrup Schmidt
Printed by: Sangill Grafisk

Print no.: 0097
The Annual Report is published in accordance with
the environmental managing standard ISO DS/EN
14001. The Annual Report is published on paper
meeting the SWAN Label and the Forest Stewardship
Council Label. The Cocoon paper is a new and very

white type of recycled paper. The paper is manufactured of recycled paper from offices around Paris in
France. Cocoon is part of a sustainability forest replanting project in Mozambique. The climate compensation is administered by the paper supplier.
Cover: The cover is designed by Smike Kszner and is inspired by the new exhibition in The Musical
Museum in Copenhagen, presented in this annual report.
COLOPHON
RODACIE a land of play ............................................................................................................................... 108

Ioana Parpala
A social initiative for vulnerable children and young people in Greenland ........................................................... 112
Nanna Frost
From dream to reality. A new music museum in the former Broadcasting House ................................................ 116
Lisbet Torp
The forest and biodiversity ................................................................................................................................. 122

Anders Hjgrd Petersen, Thomas Hedemark Lundhede and Carsten Rahbek
Oceana: Restoring the Baltic Sea ........................................................................................................................ 126

Andrew Sharpless
Business Innovation in a Living Economy .......................................................................................................... 130

Bo Normander
CONTENTS
Foreword
Foundations still in focus
The increasing focus witnessed in recent years
on the foundation sector continued in 2013. In
Denmark, this was borne out by moves such as a
bill for a new act on industrial foundations, which
was noted with great interest by the VILLUM
FOUNDATION and VELUX FOUNDATION.
Although both of our Foundations are purely
non-profit, and hence not directly affected by the
bill, we see an important point in being aware of
indicators in society that arise out of expectations
of modern and responsible foundation management. Our interest relates to aspects such as the
substantial growth in activities achieved by the
Foundations in recent years, which is attributable
in part to increasing outreach towards the many
applicant circles, principally in Denmark, but also
in Greenland and elsewhere abroad.
Strengthened organisation
Based on the desire to ensure the Foundations
ability in future to honour the mounting level of
activity in the shape of more in-depth dialogue
with applicant circles, the growing number of
donations and increased complexity of candidate
projects, at the turn of the year 2012-13, the
management conducted a survey of the Foundations organisation and procedures.
As a result of the survey and subsequent analysis,
day-to-day management was supplemented from
1 May 2013 by a division of the joint foundation
secretariat into three executive areas and thereby the appointment of an additional two directors. Day-to-day management of the VILLUM
FOUNDATION will in future also sort under
Director Kjeld Juel Petersen, while day-to-day
management of the VELUX FOUNDATION
Donees
The Board of the VILLUM FOUNDATION
The Board of the VELUX FOUNDATION
The VILLUM FOUNDATIONs funding areas

Science &
technology
Daylight & Building

Components Award
The VELUX FOUNDATIONs funding areas
Environment &
sustainability
Social projects,
including abroad
Humanities,
arts & culture
Active
senior citizens
Other
major projects
Environment &
sustainability
Social projects
in Denmark
Ageing research
& ophthalmology
will be undertaken by Director Ane Hendriksen.

Management of the joint administrative functions
which support the funding programmes of both
Foundations on a daily basis is lodged with Director Anders Kirketerp-Mller.
Foundations as expressed in their statutes. In

2013, the boards of both Foundations resolved
that the Foundations asset management shall
comprise active and ongoing deliberations on
placing assets in responsible investments.
The facilitating foundations

Supplementation of the Foundations management is also aimed at enhancing both Foundations substantial donation capacity by means of
a more systematic and targeted drive to develop
the independent outreach programme which has
been underway within the Foundations for some
years. The outreach programme aims to meet
new ideas among prospective applicants and also
to promote the quality and quantity of applications. Ideas are tried out and discussed among the
actors so that the financial frameworks and implementation of the projects may be agreed jointly
between all parties. The Foundations wish to act
as a facilitating party that assists in placing complex issues on the agenda and in finding solutions
to societal challenges.
Foundation assets management
The mandate of the boards of the Foundations
includes protecting the Foundations assets for
the future. In addition, the boards aim to achieve
yield from assets sufficient to permit ongoing donation to the many funding areas in observance
of the wish and aspiration of the founder of the
Donations in 2013
In terms of donations, 2013 was an eventful year
with donations from the VILLUM FOUNDATION of DKK 942 million and from the VELUX
FOUNDATION of DKK 240 million. Of these
amounts, around half was donated to a diverse
range of research activities. In addition, both
Foundations made a contribution to the realisation of environmental, social and cultural projects.
We hope with our Annual Report 2013 to provide an insight into the Foundations work and
the efforts made by both of the Foundation
boards and administration, and not least by the
authors of the featured articles. We would like
to convey our thanks for the continued interest
from applicants within our many funding areas,
and for the positive exchanges and openness we
are met with in implementing new initiatives.
Our thanks also to board members, working parties, experts and employees as well as the Foundations advisers and suppliers for their contributions and efforts over the past year. We would
also offer a special thank-you to the VKR Group
and its business activities on which the greater
part of our donations rest.
Lars E. Kann-Rasmussen
VILLUM FOUNDATION
Hans Kann Rasmussen

VELUX FOUNDATION
The Foundations Administration

Administrative
Support
Finance &
Accounting
HR
Communication
Facilities
Management
Foundation law
Asset Management
Strategy Support
& Development
IT
The new organisational structure of the VILLUM FOUNDATION and the VELUX FOUNDATION.
FOREWORD
V I L L U M F O U N D AT I O N A N D V E L U X F O U N D AT I O N
Business and philanthropy

The VILLUM FOUNDATION and the VELUX
FOUNDATION are both wholly non-profit organisations that support scientific, artistic, cultural,
environmental and social purposes.
Over the last 42 and 32 years respectively, the two
foundations have made charitable donations totalling in excess of DKK 5 billion for the pleasure,
encouragement and benefit of a great many people, as the founder, Villum Kann Rasmussen, expressed his mission more than 25 years ago in the
foundations first annual report (1986).
In 2013 the VILLUM FOUNDATION donated
DKK 942 million, and the VELUX FOUNDATION DKK 240 million to non-profit purposes.
Where does the money come from?
The funds for the non-profit programmes derive
from the group of companies that Villum Kann Rasmussen originated; the VKR Group. The companies in this group develop, manufacture and market
VELUX roof windows and other building components that bring daylight, fresh air and a better environment into peoples everyday lives.
The VKR Groups 13,500 employees across the
1.000
300
900
800
250
700
200
600
500
150
400
100
300
200
50
100
0
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Environment abroad
Social projects Denmark
Environment
Ophthalmological research
Environment Denmark
Other donations
Culture
Gerontological research
Social projects Eastern Europe
Research and research dissemination
Social projects in Denmark
Active senior citizens
Social projects Greenland
The VILLUM FOUNDATIONs total grants 2009-2013 (DKK millions)
BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPY
Humanities
The VELUX FOUNDATIONs total grants 2009-2013 (DKK millions)
globe work day in, day out to ensure that the business evolves continually and creates value for society,
both through the Groups products, and through a
proportion of the proceeds, which are donated via
the foundations to non-profit projects and activities
both in Denmark and abroad.
Not a commercial undertaking
Although the VILLUM FOUNDATION is the
principal shareholder in the VKR Group while
the VELUX FOUNDATION, in spite of the name,
holds no shares in the company both are wholly
non-profit foundations. As such, the VILLUM
FOUNDATION, unlike other Danish private foundations such as A.P. Mller Fonden, the Carlsberg
Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation or the
Lundbeck Foundation, is not at the same time a
business undertaking, i.e. with controlling influence over the company that backs the foundation.
However, as laid down in its statutes, the VILLUM
FOUNDATION does hold significant joint responsibility vis--vis the VKR Group and its employees.
The Foundation is required under its statutes to
contribute to ensuring that VKR Holding A/S (the
parent company of the VKR Group) has a relevant
board to manage and control the company effectively with a view to its survival and sustained reputation as a model company.
A system of checks-and-balances between the three
principal shareholders, of which the foundation is
by far the largest, yet without independent controlling influence, serves to maintain the requisite stability and balance in shareholder decisionmaking and hence an ideal ownership structure for
the benefit of the VKR Group. More information
about checks-and-balances is provided in the interview with chairman Lars Kann-Rasmussen elsewhere in this annual report.
The VILLUM FOUNDATIONs responsibility

for the company is also expressed in the provision
in the statutes for the foundation to be able to
grant financial support to current or former employees of the company. This commitment is honoured through the Employee Foundation of the
VKR Group. This foundation draws on the yield
from invested capital from the VILLUM FOUNDATION to finance its donations, including those
made to non-profit projects in the local communities in the vicinity of the VKR Groups activities,
both in Denmark and abroad.
In spite of their common origin, and for the VILLUM FOUNDATIONs part, a very direct financial interest in the VKR Groups companies, the two
foundations are not governed in their non-profit
undertakings, either through statutes or in practice,
by commercial interests. And aside from their common origin, both the company and the foundations
also share common values based on Villum Kann
Rasmussens model company objective of exercising exemplary conduct towards employees, customers (and foundation applicants), suppliers, business
partners and society as a whole.
The foundations boards
The board of directors of both the VILLUM
FOUNDATION and the VELUX FOUNDATION is composed in accordance with the foundation statutes. The members of the boards are
to be legally competent, reputable, reliable and
of mature age. Within the VILLUM FOUNDATION, at least four of the six board members must
be competent in business matters. For the VELUX
FOUNDATION, both business economics and
cultural and educational insight shall at all times be
represented within the board. The statutes of both
foundations also require that their respective board
includes a descendant of the founder. More information

about the individual board members is provided elsewhere
in this annual report.
OUR FOUNDER
The inventor and entrepreneur, Villum Kann
Rasmussen, MSc Dr. techn. h.c. (1909-1993),
developed the modern roof window that
opened up a whole new world of architectural options for bringing daylight, fresh
air and a better environment into peoples
everyday lives. In 1941 he founded the VKR
Group.
In order to ensure the long-term survival of
the company, in 1971, he established the
VILLUM FOUNDATION with an endowment
of the entirety of his B-class shares in the
company. Ten years later, he established the
VELUX FOUNDATION by a cash donation.
THE BUSINESS
VKR Holding owns companies within four
business areas:
Roof windows and skylights
Vertical windows
Thermal solar energy
Ventilation and indoor climate
The VKR Group has around 13,500 em
ployees in more than 40 countries, and in
2012 had net turnover of DKK 17 billion.
The parent company of the VKR Group is
VKR Holding A/S, the principal shareholder
of which is still the VILLUM FOUNDATION.
10
BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPY
The role of the family

As the principal shareholder, the VILLUM FOUNDATION
owns almost 90% of the share capital in VKR Holding A/S in
the form of shares with restricted voting rights. The foundation shares ownership and influence with the founders sons,
Lars E. Kann-Rasmussen and Hans Kann Rasmussen, both of
whom are A-class shareholders with extended voting rights.
The foundations tax liability
Private foundations are compensated for their charitable donations via reduced liability for tax. From time to time, this
reduced tax liability comes under a certain criticism from the
press, in spite of the logic behind this taxation rule being
neither obscure nor complicated.
By donating at least 80% of its taxable surplus within a fiveyear period to common purposes in society (the public
good), which do not serve to financially enrich individuals
or companies, a foundation does not concomitantly have to
pay tax on that surplus. The remaining 20% of the taxable
surplus may then be reinvested in the foundations capital in
order to safeguard the actual value of the funds that will also
in future enable the foundation to contribute to the common societal purposes.
In this way, the foundations have the option of contributing to the common purposes in society either by donating
at least 80% of their taxable surplus to non-profit purposes
or by paying tax and in so doing allowing central and local
government to donate to society.
In that we have to date been favoured by a sufficient stream
of high-quality applications, both of our foundations have so
far been in a position to choose the first of the two options.
But if the stream of highly eligible applications were to dry
up, we would, on the other hand, rather pay tax than lower
our standards and make donations to unworthy projects.
Five foundations
sharing the same origin
VILLUM FOUNDATION
Donated DKK 942 million in 2013.
V. KANN RASMUSSEN FOUNDATION,

USA
The foundation grants support for specific, well-
Donated DKK 28,4 million in 2013.
delimited, large-scale projects for the advancement
The foundations primary objective is to support
of scientific, artistic, cultural, social and environ-
environmental research and raise public awareness
mental purposes.
of environmental issues.
Also confers the Villum Kann Rasmussen Annual
The foundation also supports social purposes in
Award for Technical and Scientific Research.
Greenwood and South Carolina, USA, where VELUX
Founded in 1971.
has production and sales companies.

Finally, the foundation has funded medical re-
VELUX FOUNDATION
search, with a focus on research in ophthalmology.
Donated DKK 240 million in 2013.
Founded in 1991.
The foundation has the specific objectives of granting support for activities for elderly people as well
VELUX STIFTUNG, SWITZERLAND
as research within gerontology (the conditions of
life of elderly people), geriatrics (diseases in elderly
The foundation supports research in daylight and
people) and ophthalmology (eye diseases).
its importance to man. The foundation also funds
In addition, the foundation makes grants to major
research within the fields of gerontology, geriatrics
projects promoting scientific, artistic, cultural, envi-
and ophthalmology.
ronmental and social purposes. The Daylight Award
Founded in 1980.
is made jointly with the VILLUM FOUNDATION.

Founded in 1981.
EMPLOYEE FOUNDATION
The foundation grants support to the VKR Groups
employees in various areas, first and foremost to
- employees or their immediate family who have
had an unfortunate accident
- education for the children of employees
- non-profit purposes in the geographical vicinity
of the VKR Groups companies
Founded in 1991.
Photo: Ole Haupt
11
The board of the VILLUM FOUNDATION
The board of the VELUX FOUNDATION
Astrid Kann-Rasmussen, Steen Riisgaard, Peter Land

rock, Kristian Stubkjr, Lars E. Kann-Rasmussen, Bodil
Nyboe Andersen, Bjarne Grbk Thomsen.
Photo: Pernille Ringsing

Name
Year elected Titles etc.
Lars E. Kann-Rasmussen (b. 1939),

Chairman
2005
Director,
BSc Engineering
Other boards etc.
Kristian Elmholdt Stubkjr (b. 1953),

Vice-chairman
2005
Professor, head of
department, MSc
Engineering
Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of

Denmark, Thomas B. Thrige Fonden (Foundation), Danish Academy
of Technical Sciences, The Climate Foundation , VKR Holding A/S,
Dansk Elbil Alliance
Peter Landrock (b. 1948)
2008
Director, professor,
Cryptomathic A/S, Holding ApS (chairman), Wolfson College,
MSc, PhD
Cambridge University, WindowMaster A/S, Monodraught Ltd.
Bodil Nyboe Andersen (b. 1940)
2005
Former governor,
Danmarks Nationalbank, MSc Economics
stre Gasvrk Theatre, Laurits Andersens Foundation, Advisory

Board for Ordrupgaardsamlingen
Steen Riisgaard (b. 1951)
2013
Director. MSc, former

managing director and
CEO in Novozymes A/S
ALK-Abell (chairman), ROCKWOOL International (chairman),

COWI Holding A/S (chairman), Xellia Pharmaceutical A/S (chairman),
Egmont International Holding (vice-chairman), Novo A/S (board
member), Egmontfonden (vice-chairman), Novo Nordisk Fonden,
Aarhus University
Consultant, former CEO
The Employee Foundation of the VKR Group, VKR France S.A.S,

A/S stbirk Bygningsindustri, The Danish Museum of Industry
Bjarne Grbk Thomsen (b. 1946)
Astrid Kann-Rasmussen (b. 1974),

serves on the board as the familys
observer under the Statutes
12
BOARDS
2009
2012
Nurse
V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, USA
Marianne Zibrandtsen, Minik Rosing, Hans Peter

Jensen, Hans Kann Rasmussen, Kamilla Kann Rasmussen, Kristian H. Kann Rasmussen.

Name
Year elected Titles etc.
Other boards etc.
Hans H. Kann Rasmussen (b. 1945),

Chairman
2006
Bsc Engineering
V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, USA (chairman), VKRs Familiefond

(VKR family trust fund)
Hans Peter Jensen (b. 1943),

Vice-chairman
2004
DPhil, warden of a hall

of residence with the
title of Efor
Gefion Gymnasium (6th form college ) (chairman), Alectia

Foundation (chairman), Experimentarium, Ellehammer A/S
Kamilla Kann Rasmussen (b. 1967)
2004
Educationist
VKRs Familiefond (VKR family trust fund) (chairman)
Marianne Zibrandtsen (b. 1951)
2005
6th form college

principal, MA
Aurehj Gymnasium (6th form college), Advisory Board of the

University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Humanities and Faculty of
Theology, regaard Museum (chairman of the board of governors), Presiding Committee of UNICEF Denmark, Den Letterstedska
Freningen (Nordic society for industry, science and the arts), King
Olav Vs Foundation, University of Copenhagen, Rectorates Councelling Board
Minik Thorleif Rosing (b. 1957)
2012
Professor
Ilisimatusarfik (University of Greenland) (chairman), Louisiana

Museum of Modern Art, The Arctic Institute (vice-chairman), The
Ivalo and Minik Foundation, Geological Survey of Denmark and
Greenland (GEUS)
Kristian H. Kann Rasmussen (b. 1979)

serves on the board as the familys
observer under the Statutes
2013
V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, USA
13
VILLUM FOUNDATION All figures in DKK 1,000s
VELUX FOUNDATION All figures in DKK 1,000s
2012
2011
Dividend from shares in VKR Holding
900,640
900,640
Income from securities and bank deposits
130,646
144,348
1,031,286
1,044,988
750
750
Financial yield for the year

Emoluments to members of the board
Remuneration of working parties a ppointed
by the board
454 1)
Legal secretary
2,169
Auditors
1,086
Asset management
19,591
Total management and administration
24,782
Annual result
1,006,504
Annual result in DKK 1,000s
2)
3)
4)
1,023,283
Donations
753,724
388,914
Endowed to the VELUX FOUNDATION
187,003
116,000
83,000
221,000
Set aside for consolidation with tied-up assets

Set aside for later use at the end of the
financial year
1,006,060
1,023,283
Total allocated
2,029,787
1,749,197
BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER
2012
Other grants*
754,724
388,914
Remuneration of working parties a ppointed

by the board
442 2)
578
364
452
1,845,670
2,912,822
Legal secretary
677
800
110
76
Auditors
905 3)
596
65
47
Asset management
681
187
30%
17%
Number of grants from Denmark as %-age

of total number of applications granted
59%
62%
Number of grants from Greenland and

abroad as %-age of total number of
applications granted
2011
Office premises
Bank balances and other receivables
Total tied-up foundation assets
2,104,389
27,328
27,328
3,059
1,138
2,365,368
2,222,855
Available foundation funds:

Securities
2,348,332
1,759,466
46,719
43,341
Total available foundation funds
2,395,051
1,802,807
Total assets
4,760,419
4,025,662
Liabilities
Awarded, not yet disbursed amounts
1,201,569
759,754
10,579
6,264
1,006,060
1,023,283
93,236
13,506
Tied-up equity
2,448,975
2,222,855
Total liabilities
4,760,419
4,025,662
Outstanding expenses
Deposits for later use
Unrealised capital gain/loss
14
F I N A N C I A L R AT I O S A N D H I G H L I G H T S
9,405
12,425
Set aside in previous years

Retained taxable capital gain on tied-up capital
13%
25%
Total allocated
between DKK
0 and 1 million
29
19
between DKK
1 and 10 million
70
47
more than DKK

10 million
11
10
6,852
5,117
Average grant size
27,439
30,816
Donations
Set aside for consolidation with tied-up assets
199,935
155,667
28,679
27,439
228,614
183,106
2012
2011
2,034,455
1,826,429
27,328
27,328
2) Auditors fees comprise statutory financial audit at DKK 217,000 and non-audit
services at DKK 869,000 (corresponding breakdown in 2011: DKK 209,000/DKK
431,000).
3) General administration expenses are borne by the VILLUM FOUNDATION and the
VELUX FOUNDATION at a ratio of 60:40.
4) By distributing at least 80% of its taxable surplus within a 5-year period to
non-profit purposes, a foundation achieves full tax exemption on its income. The
remaining 20% can be used to consolidate the foundations assets in order to safeguard its future non-profit donation capacity. Through its active donations policy,
the foundation has so far been in a position to make best use of this tax scheme.
5) According to VKR Holdings annual financial statement, the net asset value of
these as at 31 December 2012 is equivalent to DKK 11.4 billion (2011: DKK 11.1
billion).
330
155,667
9%
6%
between DKK
0 and 1 million
297
296
between DKK
1 and 10 million
27
32
more than
DKK 10 million
7%
8%
Administration percentage
42
38
Administration expenses per DKK 1.00 granted
0.07
0.08
Average grant size
610
472
Assets
Tied-up foundation assets:
Securities
Office premises
Total tied-up foundation assets
Securities
374
5,784
2,062,157
1,859,541
293,124
222,631
39,679
59,246
Total available foundation funds
332,803
281,877
2,394,960
2,141,418
328,801
243,025
Total assets
1) The VILLUM FOUNDATIONs board members emoluments, as a share of the
remuneration to the working parties, came to DKK 388,000 (2011: DKK 369,000).
1,336
2,744,891
328
Applications accepted, in % of amount applied for

Number of grants:
1,216
2,346,189
199,935
Applications accepted
129,690
Available foundation funds:
* Key figures calculated on basis of other grants
Number of grants
Allocation of funds as follows:
BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER
0.05
Amount applied for
183,106
Accepted applications in % of amounts

applied for in Greenland and abroad
0.03
Number of applications received
228,614
Set aside for later use at the end of the

financial year
281
155,667
Available foundation funds
75%
226
199,935
Administration expenses per grant
39%
Administration expenses per DKK 1,00

granted
Grants, total
22,600

applied for in Denmark
Administration expenses per grant
129,690
129,690
13%
5.5%
193,875
7,300
41%
3.0%
Annual result in DKK 1,000s
193,875

applied for
Administration percentage
2011
Annual result
388,914
Number of grants:
193,875
4)
2012
Allocation of surplus:
753,724
90,000
2,244,981
10,176
13,694
38%
Total amount granted in DKK 1,000
The 2013-figures will appear in spring 2014 on the Foundations webpage.
Securities
90,000
Other administrative expenses

Total management and administration
41%
Tied-up foundation assets:

Shares in VKR Holding (nominal value)
29
Number of grants as %-age of total

number of applications
Assets
5)
45
Income from securities and bank deposits
Annual result
Allocation of funds as follows:
859
Emoluments to members of the board
Number of grants to Greenland

and abroad
1,749,197
142,115
813
Financial yield for the year
116,000
21,343
1,023,645
207,569
504,914
17,349
2,029,787
66,115
187,003
Number of grants to Denmark
1,006,504
64,566
941,727
Number of grants
Available foundation funds
2011
76,000
Grants - VELUX FOUNDATION
793
725,552
2012
143,003 1)
Grants, total
126
Annual result
Endowment received from the VILLUM FOUNDATION
1,023,645
Total amount applied for
1,023,645
INCOME STATEMENT
1,006,504
Number of applications received
Allocation of surplus:
Set aside in previous years
2011
948
1,377
732
Other administrative expenses
2012
Liabilities
Awarded, not yet disbursed amounts
4,326
9,973
Set aside for later use etc.
Outstanding expenses
28,679
27,439
Unrealised capital gain/loss
3,768
1,440
Tied-up equity
2,029,386
1,859,541
Total liabilities
2,394,960
2,141,418
The 2013-figures will appear in spring 2014 on the Foundations webpage.
INCOME STATEMENT
FINANCIAL RATIOS AND HIGHLIGHTS
YEARS RESULT AND BALANCE SHEET 2012
FINANCIAL RATIOS AND HIGHLIGHTS
YEARS RESULT AND BALANCE SHEET 2012
1) In 2012, the VELUX FOUNDATION also received an endowment of DKK 40 million from the VILLUM FOUNDATION (2011: DKK 40 million).
2) The VELUX FOUNDATIONs board members emoluments, as a share of the remuneration to the working parties, came to DKK 521,000 (2011: DKK 261,000).
3) Auditors fees comprise statutory financial audit at DKK 175,000 and non-audit
services at DKK 730,000 (corresponding breakdown in 2011: DKK 170,000/DKK
426,000).
4) By distributing at least 80% of its taxable surplus within a 5-year period to
non-profit purposes, a foundation achieves full tax exemption on its surplus. The
remaining 20% can be used to consolidate the foundations assets in order to safeguard its future non-profit donation capacity. Through its active donations policy,
the foundation has so far been in a position to make best use of this tax scheme.
15
Dynamic interaction
between
Firm, Foundation and Family
- a conversation with Lars Kann-Rasmussen
In March 2014, Chairman of the Board Lars KannRasmussen will retire from the VILLUM FOUNDATION after nine years of faithful service. He turns 75
next year, and will thus reach the limit for how long a
member may be active on the Board according to the
Foundations statutes. In this connection, Lars KannRasmussen agreed to meet with Professor Anker Brink
Lund, Head of the Center for Civil Society Studies
at Copenhagen Business School and co-author of the
book Dansk Fondsledelse (Danish Foundation Management), for a candid conversation about the interaction
between Firm, Foundation and Family. The conversation centred on the concept of checks and balances with
special emphasis on the unique approach to ensuring
both the long-term ownership of a multinational group
of companies and the non-profit grants to charitable
causes, while giving the Kann Rasmussen Family the
opportunity to play an active role in the foundation
work for many years to come.
Collaboration for fun and out of duty
Lars Kann-Rasmussen: The VILLUM FOUNDATION
was originally the sole heir to the corporate shares in VKR
Holding. My three siblings and I voted for this set-up when
the Foundation was formed in 1971. In so doing, we renounced our inheritance.
This was changed in 1986, after several people had asked
my father: Are you sure its right to leave it all to the
Foundation? As long as there is somebody in the family
with the inclination and ability why not leave the decision
about 100% foundation ownership of the company to your
successors?
This led to two family shareholders (my brother Hans and
I) plus the VILLUM FOUNDATION that is three shareholders who can supplement each other.
Checks and balances

As the main shareholder, the VILLUM FOUNDATION owns the majority of B-class shares. The Foundation shares ownership and influence
with the founders sons, Lars KannRasmussen and Hans Kann Rasmussen, both of whom are A-class shareholders with extended voting rights.
The voting rights are assigned in such
a way that if two of the three shareholders are in agreement, decisions
can be made at VKR Holdings Annual General Meeting.
The system is commonly referred
to as checks and balances and is inspired by the constitution of the United States of America, in which three
interconnected powers can keep an
eye on each other and ensure that no
one has too much power. In the case
of the Foundation, it was established
to ensure both dynamics and stability
and thus optimum ownership for the
benefit of the group of companies.
To date, all three shareholders have
been in agreement at VKR Holdings
Annual General Meeting. However,
the system ensures that any disagreement can be dealt with and that the
necessary decision-making power is
in place.
Anker Brink Lund: But VELUX could just have carried on

as a classic family business? You had a founder with a knack
16
A C O N V E R S AT I O N W I T H L A R S K A N N - R A S M U S S E N
V I L L U M F O U N D AT I O N
17
Lars Kann-Rasmussen (born 1939)

started out in the then new VELUX
sales company in France in September 1964. In 1967 he became head
of department at V. Kann Rasmussen & Co. Then CEO at Dansk Velux
A/S in 1971, and in 1976 Member
of the Board of the parent company VKR Holding. In 1992 he became
Chairman of the Board of VKR Holding. From 2005, he was elected as the
family representative and Chairman
of the Board of the VILLUM FOUNDATION. In March 2010, Lars Kann-Rasmussen retired from the company to
devote himself entirely to his duties
as Chairman of the Board of the VILLUM FOUNDATION. Photo: Flemming
Jeppesen
During autumn 2013, Lars

Kann-Rasmussen had a series
of conversations with Professor Anker Brink Lund from
Copenhagen Business School.
for innovation and good business sense plus two sons who had both become
engineers?
- My father had observed first-hand businesses where the successors ended
up falling out. He wanted to avoid that. Another issue was that financing a
generational change took a lot of money, and that money could only come
from the company.
Ever since he was denied a loan in a bank, my father had worked hard to
not be dependent on banks. It was deeply rooted in him and in me the
knowledge that if you suddenly have to pay 32% of some sort of fictional
commercial value then you can be forced to borrow it and thus become dependent on banks. Avoiding that kind of situation was an important driver.
But then why not a commercial foundation, like such major Danish companies
as Carlsberg, Novo Nordisk and Egmont?
- My father wasnt all that concerned about whether it was a commercial
foundation or a charitable foundation, so the fact that we arent a commercial foundation is more due to a series of coincidences. And commercial or
charitable, it doesnt really change the fact that a generational change would
18
19
Interaction Model
Firm-Foundation-Family
FIRM FOUNDATION
- The Foundation has an obligation towards its ownership of the Firm. See statutes.
- The Foundation has an obligation towards the Groups current and former employees.
See statutes.
- The Foundation should facilitate awareness and knowledge of the Firms products
through relevant grants.
FIRM
FOUNDATION
The Firm must

generate returns for
the Foundation and
B-shareholders
The Foundation
must make a positive
contribution to society
via its grants and
donations and its
activities
FIRM FAMILY
FOUNDATION FAMILY
- The Group has no special obligation

towards the Family.
- The Family must be able to make two competent

A-shareholders available.
- The Family should to an appropriate

extent and based on competencies
seek representation in relevant Firm
contexts, e.g. board memberships.
- The Foundation must purchase any shares in VKR Holding

from B-shareholders who wish to exit the Firm.
FAMILY
The Family should coordinate its
relations to the Foundation
and the Firm
- The Family should observe the meetings of the

Foundation Board by making an observer available.
FIRM FOUNDATION FAMILY

- The founders ideal goal, values and attitudes.
- The desire, will and ability to collaborate.
- The awareness that one partys mistakes can damage
the other two parties.
Source: Lars E. Kann-Rasmussen
20
have resulted in extremely high taxes and duties.

In the period 1964-2010, you also took on many other
management tasks in the company. Was that for fun
or out of a sense of duty?
- It was a combination of several things. The life
Ive had working for the company has for the most
part been much more than 90% drudgery. And
then once in a while something fantastic would
come along! A new product, an important customer or a collaboration with others that really
made a difference. Once you get caught up in it,
The familys active role

The VELUX FOUNDATION was established ten
years after the VILLUM FOUNDATION. Why
was that?
- The difference between the VILLUM FOUNDATION and the VELUX FOUNDATION at
the time was that one was the companys security
and the other was a grant-awarding organisation.
As the VILLUM FOUNDATION receives dividends from the company, the assets grow and subsequently so does the need to award grants. Origi-
youre stuck and you dont just clock out at 4 pm.

So some of it has been for fun, but definitely also
out of a sense of duty.
nally the VILLUM FOUNDATION only awarded

the Villum Kann Rasmussen Annual Award for
Technical and Scientific Research on 23 January
Today, both VKR Holding and VELUX are located in Hrsholm, north of Copenhagen. Photo: Normann Sloth
- The Family must ensure a competent member of

the board of VILLUM FONDEN.
the founders birthday. Later, the foundation work

simply required more hands. There was a need to
grant more funding, and so the VELUX FOUNDATION was established in 1981. It became the
grant-awarding foundation for many years. Today,
both foundations actively award grants in close and
coordinated collaboration, which is promoted by,
among others, my brother Hans as chairman of the
VELUX FOUNDATION. We are also served by a
joint secretariat.
Since then, three additional foundations were
formed the Employee Foundation in 1991,
VELUX Stifttung in Switzerland (established in
1980) and the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation
(established in 1991) in the USA. All of these boards
include family members.
- According to the VILLUM FOUNDATIONs
charter, there should be one representative of the
family on the Board. In addition, the family may
elect an observer. That way family members the
third generation can sit in on and listen at the
meetings. We have had observers from all four

branches of the family. All have been fully accepted
by the rest of the Foundation Board. The observers have shown interest and curiosity, and it has required a great deal of preparation. And they have
made useful contributions.
I dont recall the origin of the observer position.
Possibly from a discussion between my father and
my uncle. I believe my uncle felt that Family and
Foundation should be kept completely separate.
My father didnt agree, and so the observer position might have evolved as a kind of compromise.
I think it works well because several of my parents
grandchildren have participated and done so actively especially in the USA and Switzerland, but
also here in Denmark.
What is the familys role in the company, then?
- My two sons work for the company today, and
my daughter was with the company for about a
year before she moved abroad. But none of my
nieces and nephews have worked for the company.
21
Why not?
- Maybe they didnt want to. We hold family meetings every now and then, and Ive done my part to
encourage them. Ive said that they would have a
privileged position in that they were guaranteed an
interview. But they havent come. They hold degrees in a wide range of areas; one has musical talent and probably cant imagine doing something
like this.
Creating value in a global world
If we look at the total value creation from the Firm
FoundationFamily interaction, what carries the
most weight?
- The activities in the firm are without a doubt the
most important. Without them we wouldnt have
any of the other things.
As you know, other foundations are restricted by

the fact that even though most of the income comes
Wouldnt it be of more value to Danish society if we

let the wise people in the European Union, the Danish Parliament and the local authorities address these
types of issues?
- The foundation legislation in Denmark gives our
Foundation Board the right to administer some
funds instead of having the giant centralised system administer them. This is a significant decentralisation of billions. So the Danish government
has given a bunch of non-democratically elected
decision-makers permission to decide what should
be done with these funds under the supervision
and guidance of the Danish Department of Civil
Affairs, of course. The one condition is that they
must benefit society, but otherwise we are free to
decide how. And if the general public change this
balance, the funds will just end up in the giant government machine or accumulate in the company,
and there are all kinds of opinions about that.
This is precisely why transparency is so important.
Because without openness about how we work and
from other countries besides Denmark, they may only

award grants in Denmark. But we no longer live in
a society with closed borders
administer the funds, myths and rumours would

abound. And in the end we risk losing our license
to operate. We have a natural obligation to make
But the foundations seem to be kept at arms length

from the company. There appears to be a clear understanding that they should be kept separate. But in
eastern Europe, for instance, it is considered odd if
you dont call attention to your business. They think:
There must be something fishy here.
- We still havent learned to exploit the value of,
say, awarding grants in Poland, the Czech Republic
and Hungary, where we employ a lot of people. We
arent good enough at it yet, and could definitely
do more with it. Youre absolutely right, though.
If we dont communicate that we also sell VELUX
windows, then people think its very strange. We
have discovered that.
22
- Exactly. And thats why the VILLUM FOUNDATION also contributes to development in eastern Europe, where we have chosen to focus on
social causes (helping children and young people).
As you know, we employ many people in these
countries and it would just be wrong if we generated good profits in less affluent countries without
giving something back. In Denmark we are quite
spoiled with museums and the like. So we believe
that a krone/euro shared with children and young
people in eastern Europe and Greenland is better
for the common good. And this is despite that fact
that it involves more work.
In spring 1950, Villum Kann Rasmussen acquired the site at Maskinvej 4 in Sborg, Gladsaxe, where the company
erected its own buildings housing workshops and offices. By 1958, the premises were expanded with the construction of several manufacturing halls. In 1963 a new headquarters were built on the neighbouring site on Tobaksvejen
10, which in addition to the administration function, also housed an R&D department with a workshop and drawing d
epartment. From 2008, the building has been the home of the VILLUM FOUNDATIONs and the VELUX FOUNDATIONs joint secretariat. Photo: Aerodan Luftfoto
our activities comprehensible and transparent to

the general public, which must ultimately approve
that our conduct is reasonable.
Checks and balances
If I understand correctly, you came up with the con-
dont think he would have had anything against

checks and balances per se. I also think he would
have approved of our efforts to promote the environment and sustainability as key areas worthy of
our charitable support. These are decisions we can
make because we knew the founder, his values and
cept of checks and balances not your father?

- Well, what he stood for as a professional he
would definitely decide that for himself. But I
opinions.
The concept of checks and balances arose as I came
to realise, from my unique position at the centre of
23
24
the Interaction Model, how much it means for a company to have the right
owners. If the Foundation became the sole owner, it could develop into a
one-sided ownership that couldnt compete with, say, share ownership.
But only the future can tell whether our ownership system is the best.
granting funding to a 5 million-kroner project in Bulgaria, because we have

to be very careful to ensure that we arent putting the money right into the
hands of criminals. Its a balancing act. Otherwise I strongly support as little
control as possible.
Besides Firm-Foundation-Family, I would guess you also have to include those

who apply for the grants as a factor in the future checks and balances. One
might call this applicant governance or stakeholder relations. How is this incorporated into the foundations operations?
- We have seen growing professionalisation. And if you can establish a checks
and balances system, then this process manages itself. From the very beginning, I have been convinced that things should be kept completely separate.
Nobody is at an advantage. I have always aspired to that. Of course people
talk to me, send out feelers, that sort of thing. I always refer them to the
Foundation secretariat. Sometimes you have to explain that we all have to
keep our distance. Otherwise things can quickly begin to rot and fester.
Within technology and science, I am constantly being told about the importance of the grants from the VILLUM FOUNDATION, because they
come with much greater liberty of action than the government grants. This
But shouldnt a foundation board sometimes be allowed to be headstrong and

say: This is what we need to do, its important to us, we want to invest in this?
- We are also well-aware of this, both in the Management and on the Board.
We have an obligation to take the risks that the business community cant
take, and that the government cant take either with the taxpayers money.
So how can we live up to this obligation? We do so by staying close to
where the ideas develop. For instance, we develop an idea for a project, and
then we set about finding an applicant for that project. Its experimental,
resource-intensive and risky!
is one of the things we emphasise. But again, there is a big difference between awarding grants to the science, where we have strong expertise on the
Board we can lean on, so the need for control isnt as pressing. And then
allow the head of the secretariat to devote more time to the grant-awarding
function. That is, to getting to know the customers, or the stakeholders as
you could call them.
But then youre bringing an additional power into the circles of the Interaction
Model: the Foundations administrative staff. Isnt there a risk that professionalisation in the long term means bureaucratisation?
- Part of the reasoning behind our recent organisational restructuring was to
25
How does this tie in with the involvement of outside

experts the so-called peer review?
- When it comes to the selection of our experts,
the foundation employee should not decide on
their own who the expert should be. This decision
is made in the working group comprising representatives from the Board within the individual
areas. The employee proposes possible experts, but
they should not make the decision on their own.
This is an attempt to work with checks and balances in our internal procedures.
We also have external experts in our working groups. That ensures a discussion about our
process of selecting the expert. On some of our
projects, its difficult to determine what makes
someone an expert in a specific area. Sometimes
we ask the applicants themselves who they would
recommend? This gives us a good insight, and then
we often try to bring in experts from abroad, but
thats no guarantee either. When youre dealing
with extremely narrow specialities, everyone knows
everyone else.
New challenges in the future
Foundations are in principle everlasting you dont
have an expiry date. What challenges do you see in
the future?
- In general, the aim is to achieve the greatest possible societal benefit with the money. And that is a
constant challenge.
Furthermore, foundations and their contributions
to society have entered the public eye in recent
years. With the increased attention comes a natural
desire to keep tabs on whats going on in the seemingly so closed foundations.
As a result, transparency is if not a challenge

then at least a condition of life that affects all of
society.
VILLUM FONDEN and VELUX FONDEN
have, in recent years, worked systematically with
greater transparency. This process has been easy for
us, because we dont feel we have anything to hide.
But naturally it is something we constantly consider how we can make improvements on.
But it hasnt always been like that?
- No, my father and his partner Kamman, whom
he had known since their school days together,
were wise enough to keep their business activities
to themselves. That gave the small business time to
grow stronger. They were both very tight-lipped
for many years. At the time, that kind of secrecy
was necessary, and that caution lingered with us for
a long time.
So your advice to your successors in the VILLUM
FOUNDATION would be to stick to transparency
and the checks and balances system?
- Yes, but other major challenges lie ahead as well:
How can we do a better job clearly communicating the effect our grants have and the value they
give to society as a whole? Are we leaving the mark
we were aiming for? We also need to do a better
job measuring what we do. And perhaps we should
start viewing our grants more as active investments
and not just as donations.
- For the Firm, the Foundations and the Family, its
simply about doing a better job telling the world what
we do and the important role we play in society.
Villum Kann Rasmussen looking through the iconic VELUX GGL roof window during a visit to A/S stbirk Bygnings
industri in 1979, where the VELUX Group has manufactured windows since 1946.
26
27
Grants 2013
In 2013, the two foundations made 505 donations worth a total of DKK 1,181,716,148 and over the
course of the year they received a total of 1,615 applications. The donations are specified in the following.
For further information about the donations, please visit www.villumfonden.dk or www.veluxfonden.dk.
VILLUM FOUNDATION
Donations from the VILLUM FOUNDATION totalled DKK 941,672,779 in 2013.
TECHNICAL AND NATURAL SCIENCES
The Villum Kann Rasmussen Annual Award
for Technical and Scientific Research
Professor Frede Blaabjerg, Aalborg University
DKK 5,000,000
University of Copenhagen,
Department of Veterinary Disease Biology
Professor Kurt Buchmann
The Zebrafish Research Model A holistic
mirror of intricate physiological reactions in
vertebrates
DKK 2,424,000
Aarhus University, Department of Geoscience
Associate Professor Thomas Ulrich
An Analytical Facility for Trace Elements
Based on Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass
Spectrometry
DKK 3,967,287
Aarhus University, Department of Chemistry
Professor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen
Transmission Electron Microscope
DKK 12,700,000
28
GRANTS 2013
University of Copenhagen, Department of

Plant and Environmental Sciences
Associate Professor Thomas Gnther Pomorski
Dissecting the Role of ATP Binding Cassette
(ABC) Proteins in Cellular Sterol Transport and
Sequestration
DKK 5,018,390
Department of Geosciences and
Natural Resource Management
Professor Erik Dahl Kjr
Trees for the Future Forests
DKK 5,900,000
Department of Chemistry
Professor Mogens Brndsted Nielsen
Development of New Advanced Materials:
Two-dimensional Carbon-Rich Sheets and
Networks Functionalized with Redox-Active
Tetrathiafulvalene Groups
DKK 3,457,301
Aarhus University,
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Associate Professor Georg Morten Bruun
Quantum Test Beds
DKK 3,104,231
Technical University of Denmark,

National Food Institute
Professor Frank M. Aarestrup
REINSURE - Revolutionizing Infectious
Disease Surveillance
DKK 4,980,551
Department of Biology
Professor Karsten Kristiansen
Fundamental Processes Underlying the
Biophysical Behavior of Proteins
DKK 12,000,000
University of Southern Denmark, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science

Associate Professor Joan Boyar
On-Line Algorithms and Advice
DKK 2,900,101
THE VILLUM FOUNDATIONs

Young Investigator Programme
DKK 95,494,553
Aarhus University,
Department of Mathematics
Professor Sren Fournais
Spectral Analysis of Large Particle Systems
DKK 4,030,144
Aarhus University,
Associate Professor Brian Julsgaard
Light-emitting Nano-structures in Silicon
DKK 3,681,806
Professor Jens llgaard Duus
Structure to Function in Chemistry and
Biology new generation NMR at DTU
DKK 16,000,000
Associate Professor Peter Stougaard
Microbial Communication a key to the
development of novel sustainable agri- and
aquaculture practices using biological control
bacteria
DKK 6,020,270
THE VILLUM FOUNDATIONs

Postdoc Programme 2014-2015
DKK 60,000,000
Aarhus University,
Professor Klaus Mlmer
VILLUM Centre of Excellence for Quantum
Scale Optical Processes - QUSCOPE
DKK 29,975,641
Professor Birger Lindberg Mller
VKR Center of Excellence for
Bio-Active Plants II: Plant Plasticity
DKK 30,000,000
University of Southern Denmark, Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Professor Ole Nrregaard Jensen
Villum Center for Bioanalytical Sciences
DKK 60,000,000
Department of Civil Engineering
Professor Henrik Stang
DTU Center for Advanced Structural
and Material Testing
DKK 76,000,000
29
ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

North Sea Foundation
Senior Fisheries Expert Christine Absil
Greening European Fisheries and
Aquaculture Policy Regionally
DKK 4,378,001
Danish Nature Agency
Ditte Mande Christensen
Pre-project: Nordic Kattegat Expedition
100 years after Petersen
DKK 1,053,944
ECOS the European Environmental
Citizens Organisation for Standardisation
Secretary-General Laura Degallaix
Ensuring proper risk evaluation of
nanomaterials to foster regulation of
their production and use
DKK 4,759,658
Aarhus University
Senior Scientist Rasmus Ejrns
Biowide
DKK 12,646,600
Green Budget Europe
Vice President Kai Schlegelmilch
Communicating and realizing the benefits
and potential of EFR in Europe
DKK 5,156,218
European Environmental Bureau
Secretary General Jeremy Wates
Boosting Ecosystem Resilience
DKK 5,308,000
30
GRANTS 2013
Greenland Institute of Natural Resources

Director Klaus Nygaard
Capacity building
DKK 3,015,653
SOZE (Society of Citizens Assisting

Migrants), Czech Republic
Young immigrants in need
DKK 2,577,225
UNICEF Bulgaria Country Office, Bulgaria

Breaking the cycle prevention of child
abandonment and support to most-at-risk
families with young children in Shumen region,
Bulgaria
DKK 11,990,000
United World Colleges International

The UWC young change makers programme
DKK 8,026,250
Btor Tbor Foundation, Hungary

Expanding the capacities of Btor Tbor
DKK 2,650,000
Nobodys Children Foundation, Poland

Safe Childhood small grants
distribution programme
DKK 12,191,250
Van Helyed a Kzs Jvnknt Alapitvny,

Hungary
You have a place educational network
DKK 7,639,215
Carbon War Room

Director of Development Ann Davlin
Founders Circle
DKK 5,900,000
Hungarian Interchurch Aid, Hungary

From institutional care to independent life
job creation by establishing a social farm in
south Hungary
DKK 7,088,625
City of Partizanske, Slovakia

Improving sports facilities of elementary school
of Radovan Kaufmann for students and for the
community
DKK 6,300,000
Danish Board of Technology Foundation

Project Manager Bjrn Bedsted
World Wide Views on biodiversity
bridging phase
DKK 800,000
Camp Europe Education Non-Profit Llc,

Hungary
Investing in a secure future
DKK 7,702,430
Roma Education Fund, Hungary

Pedagogy scholarship programme for Hungary,
Czech Republic and Slovakia
DKK 9,042,500
Qeqqata Kommunia
(Municipality of Qeqqata)
iPads in primary schools and day care centres
a giant step within IT in Greenland
DKK 17,400,000
Stowarzyszenie Ekologiczno-Kulturalne
ZIARNO, Poland
Organic production folk high school as an
innovative method of young adults education
DKK 7,787,500
United Way Romania, Romania

Education and health for poor children
and families
DKK 3,870,100
Habitat for Humanity, Bulgaria

Social protection and alleviation from
deprivation for at-risk children and adolescents
in Bulgaria through improving living conditions
and other community based support
DKK 6,673,750
CDP
Catherine Sturgess
Carbon Disclosure Project
DKK 5,762,000
Sustainability Science Center
Professor Katherine Richardson
Building bridges to catalyze
sustainable development
DKK 5,780,000
Copenhagen Business School

Director of Deans Office,
Research Karina Bech Srensen
VELUX Professorship of Corporate
Sustainability
DKK 15,262,438
SOCIAL PROJECTS
31
UNICEF, Romania
Second decade, second chance
DKK 7,291,250
ZPMP, Slovakia
Centre for preparation and employment
of people with intellectual disability
DKK 15,560,000
SOCIA, Slovakia
Early childhood intervention in Slovakia
DKK 7,975,150
Hope and Homes for Children, Romania
Investing in children national childcare
system reform in Romania
DKK 8,020,000
Hand in Hand Foundation, Hungary
FECSKE services
DKK, 4,065,747
OTHER DONATIONS
4. MAJ KOLLEGIET
Chairman of the Board
Christian Staugaard Nielsen
Renovation and modernisation of
communal areas
DKK 10,600,000
Department of Physics
Project Manager Louise Haaning
Denmarks first hands-on high school science
lab equipped with electron microscopes
DKK 5,850,000
32
GRANTS 2013
Kbenhavns Universitets Kollegiesamvirke

af 1983, Elers Kollegium
Law Student/Director Fundi Jonas Bruun
Renovation of kitchen-, shower- and toilet
facilities
DKK 500,000
The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Society
Director Mette Bryde Lind
Modernisation of 44 holiday homes
in Dronningens Ferieby, Grenaa
DKK 4,000,000
The Universe Foundation
President Peter Skat-Rrdam
Making sense of natural science
online upgrading of natural science
skills for primary school teachers
DKK 3,145,000
Department of Political Science
Professor of International Relations Ole Wver
The international conference An Open World:
Science, Technology and Society in the Light of
Niels Bohrs Thoughts
DKK 750,000
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Director Morten Meldgaard
The establishment of a new
Natural History Museum of Denmark
DKK 250,000,000
Euroscience Open Forum 2014,
Steering Committee
Champion, Professor Klaus Bock
Euroscience Open Forum 2014 to be held in
Copenhagen on 21 26 June 2014
DKK 500,000 (and DKK 1,500,000 from the
VELUX FOUNDATION in a joint donation)
THE VILLUM FOUNDATION: VKR CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE 2004-2012
Grant year
Grant
(DKK mio.)
Name of Centre
Head of Centre
Institution
Research Area
CLIMAITE Centre on Biological Effects

of Climate Change
Claus Beier
Ris-DTU
2004 /
2007 /
2010
53.0
Experimental field studies on effects of

climate change on ecosystems
BioNET Centre for Biophysics
Mogens Hgh Jensen
Niels Bohr
Institute, KU
2004
25.0
Experimental and theoretical investigations of biosystems at the molecular level
CLEAR - Centre for

Lake Restoration
Frede . Andersen
Dept. of Biology, SDU
2006 /
2011
50.0
Development of methods for restoration

of polluted lakes
CREAM - Centre for

Environmental and
Agricultural Microbiology
Jan Srensen
Dept. of
Ecology, LIFE,
KU
2006 /
2011
43.0
Microbiological investigations of soil

pollution with organic xenobiotics
CDSB - Centre for

Disease Systems Biology
Sren Brunak
CBS-DTU
2007
24.2
Studies on the human genome in relation

to growth and reproduction
HOBE - Centre for

Hydrology
Karsten Hgh Jensen
Dept. of
Geology, KU
2007 /
2011
64.8
Groundwater fluxes in the watershed

Skjern River
ProActivePlants Centre for Proactive Plants/

Plant Plasticity - Centre
for Plant Plasticity
Birger Lindberg Mller
Plant Biology,
LIFE, KU
2008 /
2013
55.0
Development of new plants with higher

yields and useful chemical compounds
NATEC - Centre for

Nanophotonics for
Terabit Communications
Jesper Mrk
DTU Fotonik
2008
25.0
Research in fotons on a short time scale

for new communication systems
MTLAB - Centre for

Modelling of Information
Technology
Flemming Nielson
DTU Informatics
2008
25.0
Development of datalogical models

for simulation and analysis of future IT
systems
10
NAMEC - Centre for

NAnoMEChanical sensors
and actuators
Anja Boisen
DTU-Nanotech
2009
28.0
Development of nano-mechanical, ultra

sensitive sensors to be used for medical
treatment
11
CSGB - Centre for

Stochastic Geometry and
Advanced Bioimaging
geometri og avanceret
bioimaging
Eva B. Vedel Jensen
Dept. of
Mathematics, AU
2010
25.0
Development of mathematical methods

for analysis of biological tissue using
advanced microscopy
12
Ocean Life - Centre for

Ocean Life
Thomas Kirboe
DTU AQUA
2011
30.0
Fundamental biological processes and

development of predictive models for
marine ecosystems
13
BioNEC - Centre for

Biomolecular Nanoscale
Engineering
Jesper Wengel
Dept. of
Physics, SDU
2012
30.0
Interdisciplinary studies of DNA chemistry,

lipid chemistry, protein chemistry and
nanotechnology
14
QUSCOPE - Centre for

Quantum Scale Optical
Processes
Klaus Mlmer
Dept. of
Physics and
Astronomy,
AU
2013
30.0
Theory reserch center for the interaction

between quantum systems and light
33
THE VILLUM FOUNDATIONS YOUNG INVESTIGATOR PROGRAMME 2013
THE VILLUM FOUNDATIONS POSTDOC PROGRAMME 2013: INDIVIDUAL SCHOLARSHIPS
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS
Name
PhD institution
Postdoctoral institution
Project
Thea stergaard Bechshft
Aarhus University
University of Alberta,
Canada
Stress in Polar Bears: Novel Approaches and Cross-population Comparisons
Jakob Gath
University of Copenhagen
Ecole Polytechnique, France
Novel Techniques in Holography for Particle Physics
Nadia Glsner
Small-scale P Availability at Intact Soil Macropore surfaces Using DGT
Camilla Juul Hansen
Ludwig Maximilian University, Germany
Understanding the Origin and Evolution of Heavy Elements in the Early Universe
Sara Fasmer Hansen
Universit Joseph Fourier,

France
Disulfide Proteome a Key to Understanding Protein Complex

Formation in Plant Cell Wall Biosynthesis
Erik Donovan Hedegrd
University of Southern
Denmark
Eidgenossische Technische
Hochschule, Switzerland
Safe-guarding plant diversity for the future: integrating big data into nature
management
Naia Morueta Holme
Aarhus University
University of California,
USA
Position Dependent Total Scattering Studies of Nanoscale Structure-Property

Relationships in Functional Materials
Kirsten Marie rnsbjerg

Jensen
Aarhus University
Columbia University, USA
Anisotropic Mesh Adaptation and Topology Optimization
Kristian Ejlebjrg Jensen
Technical University of
Denmark
Imperial College London,

England
Advanced Photonics Platform for Single Cell Analysis
Martin Verner Gammelgaard Kristensen
Aarhus University
University of St. Andrews,

Scotland
Population Genetics Across Two Decades and the Species Range for the Endangered
Redcockaded woodpecker
3,997,067
Julia Thidamarth Vilstrup

Mouatt
Oregon State University,

USA
The Geodynamic Setting During Formation and Stabilisation of Late Archaean

Continental Crust
3,989,688
Tomas Nraa
Lund University, Sweden
The Geodynamic Setting During Formation and Stabilisation of Late Archaean

Continental Crust
Esben Paul Krogh Olsen
Denmark
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, USA
Improving the Field of Transition Metal Catalyzed C-N and C-F Bond Formations
Trine Puggaard Petersen
Denmark
Ludwig Maximilians University, Germany
Flow Chemistry Methods for the Generation and Use of Lithium, Magnesium and Zinc
Organometallic Intermediates
Christian Poulsen
University of California,
USA
Dynamic flow of miRNA translocation into cytoplasm, investigated by different state of

the art microscopy techniques including Raster Image correlation spectroscopy and paircorrelation spectroscopy
3,868,354
Martin Kryer Rasmussen
Aarhus University
University of Montpellier,
France
Importance of Gender and Diet on Hepatic Detoxification
3,990,421
Dorthe Bomholdt Ravnsbk
Aarhus University
Aarhus Universitet
In Operando Studies of Olivine-based Cathode Materials for Lithium Batteries
Columbia University, USA
Engineering Vascular Networks Optimized for Specific Tissues
Name
Project
University
Department
Mikael Rrdam Andersen
Identifying the genetic basis for eukaryotic speciation

and genus formation using a unique high resolution
DNA-compendium
Denmark
Systems Biology
Characterizing the regulatory circuitry of global lipid

metabolism
Denmark
Department of Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology
Intelligent 3D cell scaffolds for environmental

applications
Denmark
Nanotech
Glacial history of the Northeast Greenland ice sheet

and its contribution to sea level change during the
last 11.700 years
Aarhus University
Department of Geoscience
Mark Rudner
Quantum dynamics in non-equilibrium systems
Niels Bohr Institute
6,964,987
Elizaveta Semenova
QUantum dot Energy level Engineering for laser

applicatioNs on InP and Si platforms (QUEENs)
Denmark
Department of
Photonics Engineering
6,977,938
SPAtial Calibration and Evaluation in distributed

hydrological modeling using satellite remote sensing
data (SPACE)
GEUS
Department of Hydrology
Christer S. Ejsing
Stephan Sylvest Keller
Nicolaj Krog Larsen
Simon Stisen
Grant (DKK)
6,866,416
5,313,000
6,995,115
6,992,118
6,964,400
POSTDOCS
Name
Project
University
Department
Nika Akopian
Quantum network of artificial atoms
Denmark
Department of
Photonics Engineering
Wouter Krogh
Boomsma
Unlocking the potential of Monte Carlo in molecular

simulation
Rute Fonseca
Characterizing the differences and similarities

between the genomes of industrially relevant microorganisms originating from extreme environments
A genomic approach to study and conserve the

biodiversity of the African megafauna
Dissipative Engineering of Topological phases of

matter
Photocatalytic low-dimensional hybrid organicinorganic materials
Aarhus University
Anders stergaard
Madsen
Dynamic quantum crystallography: Direct insights

into the properties of crystalline materials.
Kim Lau Nielsen
A New phenomenon Yet to be resolved in ductile

PLATE tearing (AnyPLATE)
Denmark
Mechanical Engineering
Bridging Scales to Understand and Predict Arctic

Vegetation Under Climate Change (BRISCA)
Aarhus University
Department of Bioscience
Crystallization studied by interface pinning: from ab

initio to coarse grained models
Roskilde University
Onset and duration of the greatest speciation event

of the Phanerozoic: Were present day biodiversity
levels reached 420 million years ago?
Novel materials for high capacity batteries - Going

beyond lithium
Aarhus University
Primary producers under thinning ice - past responses

and future projections for High Arctic Greenland
GEUS
Rasmus Heller
Michael J. Kastoryano
Nina Lock
Signe Normand
Ulf R. Pedersen
Christian Mac rum

Mosdal
Dorthe B. Ravnsbk
Sofia Ribeiro
34
GRANTS 2013
Grant (DKK)
3,962,379
3,591,203
Niels Bohr Institute
3,801,700
iNANO
1,931,688
Department of Science,
Systems and Models
3,999,906
Michaela Schiller
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
Pyrosequencing for Improved Profiling of Fungal DNA in Plants and Plant Products
3,999,200
Jan Stanstrup
Fondazione Edmund Mach,

Italy
Most Important Compound Found, Identity Unknown! How Sharing Available

Knowledge Will Bring Us Forward
Kristoffer Szilas
Stanford University, USA
The Role of Archaean Peridotites in the Formation of the Subcontinental Lithospheric

Mantle in SW Greenland
Mai Winstrup
University of Washington,
USA
Harmonizing Timescales from Greenland and Antarctic Ice Cores: Reconciling the
Greenland and Antarctic Layer-counted Ice-core Timescales over the Deglaciation by use
of an Objective Bayesian Method
Natural History Museum of

Denmark
3,742,494
iNANO
3,830,011
Department of Marine
Geology and Claciology
3,716,468
35
VELUX FOUNDATION
Donations from the VELUX FOUNDATION totalled DKK 240,043,369 in 2013.
ACTIVE ELDERLY PEOPLE
In 2013, 347 donations were made in support
of elderly peoples activity worth a total of
DKK 7,990,400. Of these, the following large
donations were made.
Ebbe Preisler
Publication of the book Happy End
about pulp literature, weekly magazines,
and a family biography
DKK 25,000
Leif Mller Madsen
Publication of the book
From moped to wheelchair the sequel
DKK 50,000
Sven Thorsen
Inshore shooting in Denmark
DKK 75,000
Ib Ivar Dahl
Wadden Sea Tales
DKK 25,000
Hobro Rowing and Kayak Club
Purchase of carbon fibre rowing boat
for senior club members
DKK 125,000
36
GRANTS 2013
Copenhagen Film Company

Anna Elisabeth Jessen
Sequel of three films Strong elderly women
DKK 200,000
Foreningen Tandrdderne
(The Association the Tooth Necks)
Dentist Jrgen Ltgaard
Dental treatment of homeless people,
drug abusers and socially vulnerable people
DKK 200,000
Foreningen Peqatigiiffik Neriusaaq
(The Association Peqatigiiffik Neriusaaq)
Building a house for elderly people at
Anglarsimaffik Neriusaaq in Greenland
DKK 250,000
TV-Glad Fonden (TV-Happy Foundation)
Editor in Chief Mogens Svane Petersen
The project Active elderly storytellers a
history of people with learning disabilities
DKK 250,000
Foreningen Hygum Hjemstavnsgrd
Partial replacement of thatched roof
DKK 170,000
Guild of the Nydam Boat

Chairman Vincent Jessen
Building of a boathouse for
the copy of the Nydam Boat
DKK 150,000
Bispebjerg Hospital,
Laboratory of Stereology and Neuroscience
Professor Bente Pakkenberg
Long-term survival of new brain cells
a stereological study
DKK 964,415
Nexus Kommunikation A/S

Ebbe Kyr
TV-series entitled Resistance the third story
DKK 100,000
Colin Archers Guild
Anne-Mette Flyvbjerg
Completion of the ship Colin Archer
DKK 150,000
Activity Center Skovgaarden
Head of Center Merete Harrig
Reestablishment of wood workshop
DKK 144,100
GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRICS

Aarhus University, Institute for Clinical
Medicine/Center for Functionally
Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN)
Head of Center, Clinical Professor
Leif stergaard
Establishment of Aarhus Research Centre for
Brain Aging and Dementia ARCADIA
DKK 9,850,000
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts,

Schools of Architecture, Design and
Conservation - School of Architecture
Architect and City Planner Deane Simpson
Publication of the research project: Gerontopia:
Retirement Utopias of the Young-Old
DKK 334,500
Odense University Hospital and the
University of Southern Denmark
Clinical Associate Professor Jens-Ulrik Rosholm
Hospital at home (HH) for acute medical
older patients
DKK 2,313,564
Media, Cognition and Communication
Associate Professor Christa Lykke Christensen
Ageing and old age in the media and older
peoples media consumption
DKK 2,000,000
(Additionally DKK 4,522,252 granted from
the Foundations Humanities Programme)
Fredericia Dame Roklub

(Ladies Rowing Club)
Purchase of new rowing boat
for senior members
DKK 100,000
37
University of Southern Denmark,

Medical Biotechnical Center
Professor Bente Finsen
Serotin modulation of neurogenesis-coupled
microglial responses in Alzheimers-like
disease in mice
DKK 2,270,577
Department of Psychology
Associate Professor Jesper Dammeyer et. al.
Sensory loss in older people a health
psychological study of older citizens with
vision and hearing impairment
DKK 5,131,524
Clinical Department
Manager, Professor Torben Barington
Development of treatment for chronic
lymphatic cancer using the patients own
immune system
DKK 1,704,150
OPHTHALMOLOGY
HUMANITIES
SUND, Department for Neuroscience
and Pharmacology
Associate Professor Miriam Kolko
Glaucoma - importance of mitochondrial
function in Mller cells ability to protect retinal
ganglion cells
DKK 3,841,007
Invited core group projects:
Rigshospitalet,
Department of Kennedy Centre
Adjunct Professor Karen Brndum-Nielsen
Identification and examination of gene mutations
which lead to retinal diseases and loss of vision
DKK 13,306,650
Odense University Hospital,
Department of Ophthalmology E
Clinical Associate Professor Jakob Grauslund
Reduction of loss of vision and laser induced
side-effects through implementation of
individually based laser treatment for diabetic
retinal diseases
DKK 4,999,700
Aarhus University,
Department of Biomedicine
Post-Doctoral Fellow Tina Storm
Megalin - cause and cure? Megalins role in
ocular health, disease and drug delivery
DKK 1,473,100
38
GRANTS 2013
Aarhus University, Department of

Psychology and Behavioural Sciences
Associate Professor Dorthe Kirkegaard Thomsen
Chapters in life stories
DKK 3,991,681
Aarhus University, Department of
Political Science and Government
Associate Professor Michael Bang Petersen
How to win with words?
DKK 5,832,460

Department of History
Professor Dietrich Jung
Modernity, Islamic Traditions and the
Good Life: Exploring the construction of
meaningful modern Muslim selfhoods
DKK 4,987,500
Department of Design and Communication
Professor Johannes Wagner
Social objects for innovation and learning
DKK 5,995,439
Department for the Study of Culture
Associate Professor Anne Scott Srensen
Towards a new idea of culture and new
forms of culture communication
DKK 4,846,550
Associate Professor Christian F. Rostbll
COMPROMISE Democratic Ideals and
Real Politics
DKK 5,417,750
Department of Computer Science
Professor Jrgen Peter Bansler
Computational Artifacts: Towards a
design-oriented theory of computational
artifacts in cooperative work practice
DKK 5,841,666
Department of Sociology
Associate Professor Poul Poder
Violence in the street, the street violence
street violence in a situational perspective
DKK 5,863,443
Faculty of Theology
Professor Arne Grn
Self-understanding and Self-alienation:
Existential Hermeneutics and Psychopathology
DKK 5,305,042
Interdisciplinary projects between the VELUX

FOUNDATIONs Humanities Programme and
other programmes:
39

Media, Cognition and Communication
Associate Professor Christa Lykke Christensen
Ageing and old age in the media and
old peoples use of the media
DKK 4,522,252
(Additionally DKK 2,000,000 granted from
the Foundations Gerontology Programme)
Aarhus University, Department of Aesthetics
and Communication
Associate Professor Peter Lauritsen
Tele-dialogue with children and youth
in foster care
DKK 4,604,114
(Granted in corporation with the VELUX
FOUNDATIONs Social Programme)
Other projects:
Professor Per Boje
Additional grant for the publication of the book:
History of Danish Industries from 1750
DKK 100,000
The Royal Library, Research Department
Morten Mller, MA
Additional grant for research and publication of
Regards from Moscow
DKK 43,350
Roskilde University,
Department of Communication,
Business and Information Technologies
Associate Professor Torben Braner
Research project Hybrid-Logical Proofs
at Work in Cognitive Psychology
DKK 1,758,879
40
GRANTS 2013
Danish Film Institute

Head of Research Lars-Martin Srensen
Additional grant for publication of the book
Cinema Historys Five Neglected Years
DKK 83,040
Archivist Lene Halskov Hansen
Additional grant for publication of Ballads and
chain dance two aspects of Danish Folk Music
Culture
DKK 111,400
Department for the Study of Culture
Professor Anne-Marie Mai
Additional grant for two TV programmes on
research and the publication of the book
Where literature takes place
DKK 150,000
Aalborg University,
Professor Anette Borchorst
The Danish political gender equality regime
DKK 5,236,171
Euroscience Open Forum 2014,
Steering Committee
Champion, Professor Klaus Bock
Euroscience Open Forum 2014 to be held in
Copenhagen on 21 26 June 2014
DKK 1,500,000
(and DKK 500,000 from the VILLUM
FOUNDATION as a joint donation)
Museum Sonderjylland
Curator Pernille Kruse
Material culture and social organisation
in the Bronze Age, example Brunde/Egelund
DKK 854,264
ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

Varde Municipality
Team Leader, Environment Poul Sig Vadsholt
Preproject Restoration of Holme River
DKK 515,000
City of Copenhagen,
The Energy- and Water Science Center
Project Manager Jesper Steenberg
The Climate Adaptation Science Centre
DKK 2,000,000
Sustainable Energy, UngEnergi
Project Manager Sigrid Soelberg Vesterberg
Sustainable Youth
DKK 6,552,850
SustainableEnergy
Political Coordinator Gunnar Boye
Quick Transition to Renewable Energy getting out of the fossil blind alley
DKK 913,700
DR Danish Broadcasting Corporation
Consultant Elisabeth Steiner
The great transition
DKK 2,681,000
Nordic Food Lab
Director Michael Bom Frst
Discerning Taste: Deliciousness as an
Argument for Entomophagy
DKK 3,646,888
Aalborg University, Institute for Planning
Professor Inge Rpke
Ecological macro-economy and a
sustainable transition
DKK 5,368,501
Sams Energy Academy

Director Sren Hermansen
Local pioneer communities
DKK 1,000,000
Landsforeningen Praktisk kologi
Chair Trine Krebs
Open gardens
DKK 3,000,000
DR Danish Broadcasting Corporation
Consultant Elisabeth Steiner
The great transition bridging phase
DKK 1,053,125
SOCIAL PROJECTS
DanChurchSocial
Renovation of Kaf Klaus in Roskilde
DKK 468,610
The Self-governing Institution
House of Ecological Inspiration
Ecology from Childrens Perspectives
DKK 654,000
Children, Youth, Mourning
Development and implementation of
evidential methodology
DKK 4,295,000
The National Association LEV
Development and certification of examination
material and purchasing of SmartBoards
DKK 729,000
41
The Association Exit Denmark

Establishment of socio-economic business
focusing on historical toys
DKK 300,000
The Association Qaravane
Socio-economic business
Place de Bleu
DKK 3,900,000
Be My Eyes
Development of communication platform
for blind and visually impaired persons
DKK 1,883,750
The National Council for Children
Children as Experts
DKK 11,395,000
The Association Immigrant Womens
Centre
The socio-economic business Send more
spices, From occasional cook to employed
kitchen assistant
DKK 3,498,808
Aarhus University,
Department of Aesthetics and
Communication
Associate Professor Peter Lauritsen
Telephone dialogue with children and young
people living in foster homes
DKK 4,604,114
FOUNDATIONs Humanities Programme)
42
GRANTS 2013
Askovgrden Foundation,
Dialogue against Violence
Qualified treatment of violent individuals,
violent love assistance to young violent
individuals
DKK 9,362,600
The Association Opgang2 Turnteater
New horizons art and culture as
connecting links
DKK 2,800,000
LMS
Association against Eating Disorders
Establishment of Self-Esteem
Workshop
DKK 731,000
Specialist People Foundation
The socio-economic business The Specialists
and the project 1000 jobs in Denmark
DKK 5,348,620
DanChurchSocial
Christmas aid and follow-up in collaboration
with the families
DKK 1,200,000
Red Cross
with the families
DKK 2,200,000
Kallerupvej counselling and contact centre
Changing Family Life when young families
experience dementia
DKK 1,090,000
Hinnerup Residential College
Knowledge-based network project about
autism and ageing
DKK 4,864,177
The Association Copenhagen

Project House
Additional grant for Tagdel.dk first platform
for online voluntary work in Denmark
DKK 482,910
Aalborg University, Department of

Sociology and Social Work
Associate Professor Maria Appel Nissen
Humanity in social work welfare policies,
technology and knowledge
DKK 5,268,375
FOUNDATIONs Humanities Programme)
Salvation Army
with the families
DKK 2,450,000
Danish Lung Association

From loneliness to liveliness through virtual
communities
DKK 3,046,200
Danish Peoples Aid

with the families
DKK 1,650,000
The Social Capital Foundation

Chair Gurli Martinussen
Social StartUp the first Danish accelerator
for social innovators
DKK 21,969,667
The Foundations newly renovated domicile in Sborg,

Denmark, where Villum Kann Rasmussen established his
company in 1951. Photo: DTZ
43
THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS HUMANITIES INITIATIVE: CORE-GROUP GRANTS 2008-2013

Year
Title and name
Project
University
Institute/Department
2008
Professor Sverre Raffnse
Management of self-management
Department of Management,
Politics and Philosophy
2008
Associate Professor
Klemens Kappel
The liberal democracy's

epistemological dimension
Department of Media,
Cognition and Communication
2008
Professor Frederik Stjernfelt
Cognitive and phenomenological

aesthetics
Aarhus University
Center for Semiotics,

Nordic Institute
2008
Associate Professor
Steen Ebbesen
Causal history inverted
SAXO Institute
2008
Professor Uffe Juul Jensen
Risk and hope in disease prevention

and health promotion
Aarhus University
Department of Philosophy
and History of Ideas
2009
Associate Professor
Teresa Cadierno &
Professor Johannes Wagner
Usage-based Second Language

Acquisition
Institute of Business Communication

and Information Studies
Associate Professor
Anders-Christian Jacobsen
Transformation of religious identity in

Greco-Roman cultural circles
Aarhus University
Associate Professor
Robert Klemmensen
Nature or nurture
- determinants of political and social values
Professor Anne-Marie Mai
Welfare Tales
2009
2009
2009
2009
Professor Mogens Mller
Amount
(DKK)
Professor Andreas
Roepstorff
University
Institute/Department
2012
Associate Professor
Johanna Seibt
As if it were a person - Social robotics

and human self-understanding
Aarhus University
Department of Culture and Society
2012
Associate Professor
Birgit Anette Rasmussen
Individual, kin and family in

prehistoric Europe
Department of Scandinavian Studies

and Linguistics
6,115,032
2012
Associate Professor
Peter Bakker
Cognitive creolistics
Aarhus University
Department of Aesthetics
and Communication
5,734,073
2012
Professor Stuart Ward
Embers of Empire: The Receding

Frontiers of Post-Imperial Britain
Department of English,
German and Romance Studies
4,846,501
2012
Associate Professor
Hagen Schulz-Forberg
Towards Good Society
Aarhus University
Department of Culture and Society
2012
Associate Professor
Sune Haugblle
The Production of Secular Ideology

in the Levant
Department of Cross-Cultural
and Regional Studies
2012
Professor Thomas Hjrup
The neoculturation of life-modes
SAXO Institute
2013
Associate Professor Dorthe

Kirkegaard Thomsen
Chapters in life stories
Aarhus University
and Behavioural Sciences
3,991,681
2013
Associate Professor
Michael Bang Petersen
How to win with words?
Aarhus University

and Government
5,832,460
2013
Associate Professor
Christian F. Rostbll
COMPROMISE Democratic Ideals

and Real Politics
2013
Associate Professor
Poul Poder
Violence in the street, the street violence street violence in a situational perspective
Department of Sociology
2013
Professor Arne Grn
Self-understanding and Self-alienation:

Existential Hermeneutics and
Psychopathology
Faculty of Theology
2013
Professor Dietrich Jung
Modernity, Islamic Traditions and the

Good Life: Exploring the construction of
meaningful modern muslim selfhoods
2013
Professor Johannes
Wagner
Social objects for innovation and learning
Department of Design
and Communication
5,995,439
2013
Associate Professor
Anne Scott Srensen
Towards a new idea of culture and new

forms of culture communication
Department for the

Study of Culture
4,846,550
2013
Professor Jrgen
Peter Bansler
Computational Artifacts: Towards a

design-oriented theory of computational
artifacts in cooperative work practice
Department of Computer Science
3,042,832
5,560,000
3,901,322
4,927,107
The Gospels as the Bible Re-written
Faculty of Theology
4,989,000

and Public Management
5,435,000
Department of Literature,
Media and Cultural Studies)
4,736,000
Faculty of Theology
Technologies of the Mind
Aarhus University
Department of Anthropology,
Archaeology and Linguistics)
Associate Professor Mikkel

Thorup
Economic Argumentation
Aarhus University
Department of Philosophy
and the History of Ideas
2010
Associate Professor Johnny

Kondrup
Danish Edition History
Department of Scandinavian Studies

and Linguistics
2010
Associate Professor
Matthew James Driscoll
Stories for all times:

The Icelandic Fornaldarsgur
Department of Scandinavian Research
Professor Bodil Nistrup

Madsen
Establishment of a Danish
terminological data bank
Professor Paul du Gay
What makes organization?
2010
Project
5,675,500
2010
2010
Title and name
6,399,682
4,701,335
2010
Year
4,639,936
5,000,000
Department of International Language
Studies and Computational Linguistics
4,995,395
Department of Organization
4,255,000
2010
Professor Dan Zahavi
Empathy and Interpersonal U

nderstanding
Centre for Subjectivity Research
2011
Associate Professor
Kerstin Fischer
Construction Grammar and the

Description of Situated Spoken Interaction
Institute of Business Communication

and Information Science
5,192,468
2011
Professor Hans
Jeppe Jeppesen
The role of distributed leadership
Aarhus University
and Behavioural Sciences
5,700,000
2011
Professor Hanne
Foss Hansen
Crisis management: public-sector

administration policy and organisation
in a cost-cutting period

2011
Associate Professor
Christian Helms Jrgensen
Boys as the losers in the

educational system?
Roskilde University
and Educational Studies
4,997,509
2011
Professor Erik Albk
Communicating the Economy

5,822,000
2011
Professor Sverre Raffnse
The Human Turn
Department of Management,
Politics and Philosophy
5,570,136
2011
Professor Frederik Stjernfelt
Humanomics: Mapping the Humanities
Aarhus University
Center for Semiotics
2011
Professor Poul Erik

Mouritzen
Governance, Funding and

Performance of Universities

6,600,000
5,895,986
4,942,501
4,000,000
5,600,000
5,000,000
5,999,634
Amount
(DKK)
5,417,750
5,863,443
5,305,042
4,987,500
5,841.666
5,232,161
5,765,000
44
GRANTS 2013
4,974,572
45
Postcards
from supported projects
The Foundations support many

more projects than can be described
in the confines of this annual report.
To give an impression of the range
of the activities, however, the Foundations have asked a representative
selection of the ongoing projects to
send us postcards with snapshots of
their activities.
46
POSTCARDS
New dimensions for chemistry at the University of Copenhagen

When a chemist produces new molecules for pharmaceuticals, energy
sources or materials, the crucial factor is how the individual atoms bond
inside the molecule. Researchers and students at the Department of
Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen now have a means of gaining
detailed insights into the spatial structure of molecules thanks to a grant
from the VILLUM FOUNDATION.
The grant made it possible to procure two new state-of-the-art X-ray diffractometers. With the aid of these instruments it is possible to map all
details in the spatial structure of crystals at atomic level. These studies
represent the most complete chemical analysis, as it provides exact data
on the chemical bonds between atoms. The analysis will be used to determine whether the bond created by a chemist is actually identical with the
expected bond. These unique capabilities are keenly used by both faculty
and students at the Department of Chemistry.
Professor Sine Larsen DSc h.c., Department of Chemistry, University of
Students at the Department

of Chemistry in the process of
obtaining measurements with
the aid of the two diffracto
meters. Photo: Jes Andersen,
Copenhagen. The Department was granted DKK 3,940,000 for the procurement of two X-ray diffractometers by the VILLUM FOUNDATION
in 2012.
47
48
Tactile model of a cabbage butterfly in wood and metal. Probably late 19th century. Used at the Institute for
the Blind and Partially Sighted, Copenhagen. Photo:
Jacob Kjrgrd
Tactile model of a globe in aluminium. Early 20th century. Used at the Institute for the Blind and Partially
Sighted, Copenhagen. Photo: Jacob Kjrgrd
Palpable sources in the history of blindness

Historical sources consist not only of archival records. In his research project on the history of
blindness, historian Jan Eric Olsn draws on the
physical objects that were used in teaching at the
Institute for the Blind and Partially Sighted in
Copenhagen.
Models of plants and animals, special writing devices and maps with raised geographies complement the archival records with a concrete and
palpable dimension, emphasising the inherent
never looked at, by the blind.

The project draws our attention to how the blind
and visually impaired coped with everyday life
during a period in which the visual sense gained
cultural prominence through the introduction
of new media such as photography and film. In
2013, the project was presented at international
conferences in Paris and London.
FD Jan Eric Olsn, Medical Musieon, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen.
Vision and touch: A material history of the world
relation between the sense of touch, the act of

touching and the things that were touched, but
of blindness was granted DKK 3,200,000 by the

VELUX FOUNDATION in 2010.
POSTCARDS
The mystery of our colour vision

One single type of molecule in the eye is what gives us the ability to see all
kinds of colours. Called retinal, this is one of natures fastest and most efficient molecules at reacting to light quanta. But at atomic level, the ability
of the eye to distinguish different colours remains a mystery.
Thanks to a grant from the VILLUM FOUNDATION, it has now been
possible to design brand new experiments at Aarhus University that will
create vacuum conditions for seeing what actually goes on inside retinal
molecules. The Aarhus researchers are investigating what enables us to see
colours. But just as significant will be the experiments to reveal why the
eye is so incredibly effective at converting light into nerve signals.
This grant has made it possible to appoint a postdoctoral research fellow
and procure a state-of-the-art femtosecond laser system capable of emitting ultrashort light pulses, with delivery set for June 2013. Applicants for
the postdoctoral position were being interviewed at the time of writing,
and SAPHIRA, the unique storage ring to keep the molecules trapped in
vacuum conditions, has been built and commissioned and is now waiting in
the basement of the Department of Physics and Astronomy and it works!
Professor Henrik Lund Andersen DSc, Department of Physics and Astrono-
The new SAPHIRA storage

ring stores the eyes retinal molecules that will be
beamed with light from
a new femtosecond laser
system. Photo: Henrik Lund
Andersen
my, University of Aarhus. Temporal studies of visual process photoresponse

under vacuum conditions was granted DKK 2,830,000 by the VILLUM
FOUNDATION in 2012
49
50
POSTCARDS
The legacy of ballet master Flemming Flindt

The Danish and international ballet scene mourned the great
loss of ballet master Flemming Flindt on his death in 2009 at
the age of 72.
Not only did he leave behind an immense production of ballets
and theatrical performances with a posthumous reputation as the
third-greatest ballet master and choreographer after Bournonville and Harald Lander, but was also an innovator of new musical scores for a new choreographic vocabulary.
Flemming Flindts residences in Copenhagen and Florida housed
an immense collection of personal correspondence, notes, articles and video material, which had essentially gone unnoticed: a
valuable collection to be preserved for posterity.
Clearly, for his heirs there was a cultural obligation to preserve,
communicate and safeguard an interpretation of this unique collection in the context of ballet history.
A project group was established with soloist Vivi Flindt as the
obvious participant and with senior researcher Knud Arne Jrgensen, DPhil as ballet historian to compile, register and elucidate this splendid collection.
With funding from the VELUX FOUNDATION, the work of
registering and digitising around 320 old videotapes painted a
picture of Flemming Flindts many lesser known relationships
and ideas about creating ballets and other works with artists such
as Benny Andersen, Ingmar Bergman, Knud ge Riisager and
Eugene Ionesco. An examination of the large body of letters,
notes, articles and video footage, supplemented by Vivi Flindts
insights and comments has provided a new appreciation of the
world and personality of Flemming Flindt, and portray a more
complete picture of his lifes work. The material inspired a new
book about his life and artistry, as revealed by interviews with
the artists he collaborated with.
A project group composed of soloist Vivi Flindt, senior researcher
Knud Arne Jrgensen, DPhil, and project coordinator Ole Brndum-Nielsen. The preservation of ballet master Flemming Flindts
Knocking on doors
Overcoming their natural reservations about intruding on privacy, resourceful Somali mothers
are knocking on doors to talk to other mothers
in neighbourhoods throughout Copenhagen.
The project is called Somali Mothers Building
Bridges, and that is exactly what these empowered Somali women are doing; bridging the gap
alised. The 18 Somali bridge-builders are helping

other mothers to connect with Danish society,
when their children play truant, when their teenage children fall into bad company or are threatened by crime and not least when social services
turn a deaf ear.
Director Margrethe Wivel, Indvandrer Kvindecentret (Immigrant womens centre). Somali Moth-
ballets received a donation of DKK 300,000 from the VELUX

FOUNDATION in 2011.
between the most isolated Somali mothers and

the society from which these women are margin-
ers Building Bridges received a donation of DKK

784,200 from the VELUX FOUNDATION in 2012.
51
Bulgarias institutionalised infants

Over the last 50 years, a wide range of scientific
studies have shown that a childhood spent in institutions (orphanages) has a devastating impact
on the childs linguistic, social and emotional
development. The Bucharest Early Intervention
Study found that for every 2.6 months spent in
an institution, a child will fall behind one month
of normal growth because he or she will not receive the love, care and individual attention that
a family provides. As a consequence, few such
children will ever reach their full potential.
Penka was recently one of the 1,700 young children confined to an institution in Bulgaria. At
14 months, Penka was taken from her family and
institutionalised because her mother could not
afford the special formula she needed as a result
of a milk allergy. Once in the institution, Penka
began to suffer the developmental delays that are
typical in institutionalised children.
Fortunately, Penka had been placed in one of
the eight institutions for infants which Hope and
Homes for Children, funded by Velux Foundations, are working to close. Children from the
institutions are being reintegrated with their
families, and their families given the support
they need to keep their children. Those that cannot return to their parents are found caring foster or adoptive families. With support, Penkas
mother was able to take back her daughter, who
is now thriving.
Hundreds more families in Bulgaria at risk of
separation are also being assisted in improving
their living conditions, family and social relationships, education, health and household economy. This family-based child welfare intervention
is a new model of best practice that will replace
institutional care in Bulgaria within the next ten
years.
Mark Cook, Founder President of Hope and Homes
for Children. Strategic De-Institutionalisation
(DI) and Childcare Reform in Bulgaria was
granted DKK 7,397,355 over the period 20122013 by the VILLUM FOUNDATION.
Photo: Yavor Sedyankov / HHC
52
POSTCARDS
53
54
POSTCARDS
European Bison in Bornholm snow

The winter was long on the island of Bornholm
yet again. From before Christmas and until April,
Bornholms largest forest, Almindingen, was covered in snow. But following how the new inhabitants seven European bison made it through
their first winter was intriguing. And it was heartening to find that they thrived in the snow, scraping and gnawing away like there was no tomorrow! We now know that in winter especially, bison
prefer to gnaw the bark from trees, and we know
which varieties are their favourites. Come spring,
their behaviour changes, and they tend to hide
away, feeding more extensively on herbaceous
plants and tree foliage. As an encouraging sign
that they had settled in their new habitat, 7 bison
had turned into 8. We now look forward to monitoring their behaviour around the new little calf,
and whether they continue to thrive among the
hordes of visitors to the forest.
Sren Friese, Forest Manager, Danish Nature
Agency. Bison on Bornholm was granted DKK
4,000,000 by the VILLUM FOUNDATION in
2011.
Public sector under pressure

Staff downsizing, new worktime rules, rent reductions, mergers, centralisation and, albeit to a lesser extent, job losses, have in recent years become
everyday life in the public sector where resources
are in short supply. How are economisation and
effectivisation challenges dealt with by the political and administrative executives? And what are
the ultimate consequences of focusing short-term
on staying within budget? Are factors such as
organisational innovation and employee motivation adversely affected? The project analyses these
issues within both central and local government.
Professor Hanne Foss Hansen, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen. Crisis
management: Public administration policy and
public organisation in a retrenchment period received a grant of DKK 5,232,161 from the VELUX
FOUNDATION in 2011.
Photo: The project
Photo: iStockphoto
55
Sharing, caring and happiness are what count at Red Cross Youth summer camps, where young volunteers give more
than 1,200 deprived children and youth a break from their everyday lives. Photo: Red Cross Youth
56
Mum?! Do I get to go to holiday camp?

At the age of eight, Line herself sent an application to Red Cross Youth for one of the places
at a summer camp. Lines parents had neither
the money nor the energy for family holidays
and Line was sorry not to be having any summer
holiday memories to share with her classmates.
Line still recalls her sense of anticipation and delight on opening the letter that read: Congratu-
ivision, which organises memorable holidays

d
for more than 1,200 deprived children and youth
every summer. Red Cross Youth is using funding
from the VILLUM FOUNDATION to extend
its summer camps to cater for the hundred or
so children whom the organisation has to turn
down every year owing to the huge demand.
Stine Buje Christensen, Communications Consul
tant, Red Cross Youth. Summer camp and home-
lations! You have a place at summer camp.

Today, aged 23, Line is one of several hundred
volunteers with the Danish Red Cross Youth
work caf to boost social activities for the benefit of

disadvantaged youth was granted DKK 5,890,000
by the VILLUM FOUNDATION in 2011.
POSTCARDS
Nietzsche mentoring Seeberg

No Danish author was so definitively influenced by Friedrich Nietzsches historic challenge against the foundations of Christianity, morality and aesthetics as was Peter
Seeberg, who came from a devout Evangelical family in
South Jutland. It may therefore seem paradoxical that the
Danish Nietzsche-reception almost entirely overlooked
Seeberg. But this is explained by the fact that previous
research in his authorship did not have ready access to the
archive; such access was not facilitated until the archival
materials had been finally sorted and catalogued in 2005.
In its initial phase, the project undertook subject-specific
studies of the Peter Seeberg archive at Hald Hovedgaard,
Viborg. A new thesis will document how Seeberg in
hitherto unknown letters, diaries and unpublished manuscripts, was formed by Nietzsches philosophy, and an
analysis will show how he went on to remodel this influence in the originality of his language use and the genrereinvention of his writings from 1956 to 1997.
The project is an archive-based study of Seebergs authorship with a view to elucidating Seebergs Nietzschean
view of the individual, history, creed, ethics and politics.
The findings of the research have so far been presented
at a conference on Nietzsche and Danish literature on 15
March 2013 at the University of Copenhagen, and in an
article in the periodical Edda 2/2013.
Postdoctoral researcher Anders Juhl Rasmussen,
Department of Scandinavian Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen. Traditions renewed. Language and genre in Peter
Seebergs prose fiction was granted DKK
1,127,429 by the VELUX FOUNDATION in
2011.
Peter Seeberg (1925-1999).

Photo: Per Pejstrup, 1963
57
What determines
the distribution
of life on Earth?
B Y C AR S T E N RA H B E K
Rahbek, the DKK 2,500,000 award will be invested in

research to better understand how the planets organisms
move and adapt when their surroundings change.
58
W H AT D E T E R M I N E S T H E D I S T R I B U T I O N O F L I F E O N E A RT H ?
Photo: Lars Juul Hauschildt
Carsten Rahbek (born 1965), professor at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen 2001, assistant professor at Peking University 2012, and head of the Danish National
Research Foundations Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate (CMEC) 2010. He is among the 1% most-cited researchers internationally, a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences
and Letters, and the recipient of numerous national and international awards for research excellence.
Biology seeks to find as-yet unknown natural laws governing
the distribution of life on Earth. With the aid of vast databases of species distribution, the latest DNA techniques and bioinformatics tools, researchers are now getting closer to the
answer. Evolutionary processes and variation in the historical climate play a greater role than previously assumed,
where the focus was principally on the current climate.
This research is essential for responding to the global
biodiversity crisis, including climate change. Carsten
Rahbek is the recipient of the Villum Kann Rasmussen
Annual Award for Technical and Scientific Research for,
not least, his research in this field. According to Carsten
T E C H N I C A L A N D N AT U R A L S C I E N C E S
While the search goes on for life on Mars, we inhabit a planet that is largely unknown to us. Of
the assumed 15-20 million species on Earth, only
10% have been described. The geographical distribution and biology is known for only 1% of these
species. This unknown world was revealed to the
Western World more than a century ago when
Humboldt, Wallace and Darwin sailed off on
their famous natural history expeditions. Coming as they did from the relatively low-diversity
of European species, they were fascinated by the
extreme diversity in the Tropics. They had only
to travel another 100 km, and virtually all the local species would be novel and different. Why
so? they asked themselves. Today we are still asking: Why is the distribution of life on Earth so
heterogeneous that a mountain forest in Ecuador
smaller than a fair-sized European forest contains
far more diverse bird species than the whole of
Europe as far as the Urals? You can shake more
species of insect from the crowns of a couple of
trees in the Amazon than exist in the whole of
Denmark. The three biologists each proposed a
number of theories on patterns in the Earths distribution of life. The most famous of these being
the Theory of Evolution.
The scientific collections in the worlds natural history museums contain unimagined volumes of verified
information that is needed for answering some of
the biggest biological questions today. Here is an image from the bird collections at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, which
are the worlds third largest with more than 625,000
specimens. The bird collection at the National Natural
History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, with more than 100,000 specimens, is also among
the largest and most valuable in the world. Photo:
Roxie&BirdCollnFinalPrint by Chip Clark, Smithsonian
59
60
What we think we know and how to test it

Over a century of research we have learnt a great
deal. Yet the question of, what determines the
distribution of life on Earth persists as biologys
Holy Grail Question. We know that energy (from
solar radiation, which determines food resources)
is a key factor in determining how many species
and individuals can co-exist. There are almost no
species in the Arctic. We also know that life is dependent on water. Simply visualise a hot and wet
tropical rainforest with millions of species and the
species-poor Tropical desert. Ten years ago, there
was widespread consensus that the present-day
climate (temperature and water) determined the
distribution of life on Earth. Testable hypotheses
were formulated that only had to be confirmed by
global data.
The advent of IT technology made it possible to
test these hypotheses using quantitative data. In
1993, during my PhD studies in the USA, I started
to compare information on the global distribution
of all bird species in electronic format. Much of
the information had just been lying waiting for
decades in the collections of the worlds natural history museums. Ten years later, based on 100 million data units, we were in a position to detail and
analyse the global geographical variation in species
diversity in terms of the number of species coexisting in a given location and zone. By merging
the biological data with climate data (temperature
and precipitation) from 20,000 weather stations all
over the world, we were now able to test the hypothesis that life on Earth was determined by the
present-day climate. That was the good news. The
bad news was or so many thought at the time
What we dont know and new discoveries

The existing hypotheses that the present-day climate alone determines life on Earth failed to account for the diversity of species in mountainous
regions generally, and in no way the extreme diversity found in Tropical mountain regions. It is by
no means insignificant that a presumed 90% of all
species are found in those very locations. As a universal explanation, the theory had now been firmly
disproved. And the act of falsifying a recognised
theory is regarded as a breakthrough in research.
But what then determines the distribution of life
on Earth aside from energy and water?
Yet another technological breakthrough brought
us closer to the answer. By analysing genetic material DNA-sequencing we can describe species
mutual relationships (phylogenies) and determine
which species in evolutionary terms are old and
which are new. Using the new technology and
new data from the field, we were able to start the
project of documenting evolution. With our geographical data we were able to prove that relatively
few places in the world have served as evolutionary speciation pumps, from which new species
were produced, and from there, spread across the
world. Surprisingly, these evolutionary hot spots
would also appear to be where old species survived
the global changes of previous ages and there
is even a geographical overlap with the locations
where civilisations arose in the tropics. So, why did
all this happen in the same place?
Perhaps because these places have been climatically
unchanging at local level for millennia in the presence of stable resources meaning that they were
relatively unaffected by global changes. That, at
that the empirical data did not confirm hypothesised predictions. An example of the p
henomenon
of beautiful theories and ugly data.
least, is our theory.

With our new data on the evolution and distribution of species, we have demonstrated that the dis-
W H AT D E T E R M I N E S T H E D I S T R I B U T I O N O F L I F E O N E A RT H ?
Amphibians (6,000 species)
Mammals (5,000 species)
Birds (10,000 species)
Global patterns of species diversity and phylogenies (family trees) for the whole worlds species of non-marine mammals
(~5,000 species), amphibians (~6,000 species) and birds (~10,000 species). The colour shading on the maps goes from blue
(fewest species) to green and orange to red (most species). The maps clearly demonstrate that the majority of species are
found in the Tropics, and that the worlds hot spots (the orange-red areas) for biodiversity are found primarily in tropical mountain ranges. Graphics: Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, University of Copenhagen
tribution of life, as we see it today, is largely a result

of evolution over hundreds of millennia. The pattern has not been erased or rebalanced in adaptation to our present-day climate. Furthermore, our
latest research suggests that variation in prehistoric
climate is at least as significant as current variation.
How is this type of basic research of relevance
to society?
Our discoveries have significant value in predicting
the effects of man-made global climate change, because previous models have assumed an equilibrium
between life and the present-day climate. This does
not in any way imply that climate change will not
entail radical changes for life on Earth. On the contrary, empirical data from the last 20 years show that
the changes will be immense. We also have an idea
of the direction the changes will take, but cannot
predict that many details. This will require a far better understanding of evolution and historical climate.
As humans, we breathe air, drink water and eat
typically without giving much thought to complex

processes such as the circulation of matter in nature,
how the functionality of ecosystems is linked to
the species, and that the Earths ecosystems supply
free services corresponding to around half of the
GDP consumed annually by mankind. The global
community is facing major challenges and decisions
which require insights into the more precise impacts
of what is happening, and into the actions we take
and the decisions we make.
Our planet has previously sustained global changes,
including climate change, and life on Earth is likely
to survive. We know from studies of these changes
that there are both winners and losers among the
species. Homo sapiens coped eminently well with the
last Ice Ages better than the competition. The hypothesis to account for these empirical facts rests on
the ability to think (bigger brain), the application of
knowledge for innovation (fire and tools) and we
might add the ability to make the right decisions.
That is why we are here today.
61
Tiny creatures
reveal our origins
Figure 1. Light microscopy
images of live specimens of
the forktail worm (Diurodri
lus sp., photo: K. Worsaae),
Greenland Jaws (Limnog
nathia maerski, photo: R. M.
Kristensen) and an annelid
(Dinophilus taeniatus, photo:
G. Rouse).
BY KATRIN E W ORSAAE
Katrine Worsaae (born 1972), zoologist and marine biologist, was awarded her PhD in 2004
by the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen. She has held appointments at institutions such as Adelaide University, South Australia, was awarded the
Danish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Educations young elite researcher prize,
and since 2011 has held an associate professorship at the Marine Biological Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen. Her current research addresses the evolution of
meiofauna and their adaptation to extreme environments.
In 2012, the VILLUM FOUNDATION granted DKK 4,870,000 for the project How tiny creatures answer major questions under the foundations Young
Investigator Programme. This project seeks to elucidate key attributes such as
anatomical size, nervous system and jointing in our common ancestor based on a
combination of anatomical, genetic and kinship analysis. These studies will address
select microscopic, but complex, fauna groupings from the so-far under-researched
evolutionary pathways in Spiralia. With new understanding of the anatomy and
evolutionary pathways of these fauna in a new genealogy, we will be able to reinterpret the origin and evolution of successful body designs in the animal kingdom. The grant will support the project over a five-year period by funding 2 PhD
students, a postdoctoral researcher and procurement of a confocal microscope and
DNA sequencing technology.
62
T I N Y C R E AT U R E S R E V E A L O U R O R I G I N S
Photo: Mark Brandon
What are our origins?

The supposition is that the earliest common ancestor of multicelled organisms was tiny less than a millimeter, and that the morphology (physical
form) of contemporary microfauna might tell us something about what our
earliest ancestors looked like and how they behaved. By investigating the
primary characteristics and kinships among contemporary fauna, that perhaps most closely resemble the common ancestor of all higher orders (small,
but relatively complex), we will be able to test hypotheses about the most
important characteristics of the ancient ancestor we all have in common.
Was the last common ancestor relatively large and complex a marine
worm or snail, perhaps? Or was it microscopic, consisting of just a few
cells? And that being the case, how did our diminutive common ancestor
get by with such a limited number of cells? Does the human brain share its
origins with these creatures? Do even microscopic organisms, consisting of
only a few cells, actually have a complex, regionalised brain?
The secrets of meiofauna
Some 1.3 million multicelled organisms have been described, and the estimated number of undescribed species ranges from 10 to 200 million. But
discoveries of new, major evolutionary pathways, or phyla, in the animal
kingdom are rare events. Of the 36 recognised phyla, just four were classified within the last fifty years, of which the last three were described by
Danish researchers. These are all aquatic and microscopic, and there is no
63
doubt that it is in the world of meiofauna (smaller

than one mm) that the vast scale of diversity in the
animal kingdom has yet to be mapped (Figure 1).
Forktail worm and Greenland Jaws
Our own anatomical studies have demonstrated
that yet another phylum may be on the way Diurodrilus, a forktail worm. This unassuming,
wormlike, translucent creature that leads a turbulent existence beneath the waves along the shore,
in the gaps between grains of sand, is remarkable
for its ability to spurt sticky mucous strands from
its toes, Spiderman-style (Figure 2, 3). For several
years we have been seeking to test genetically if
Diurodrilus represents its own evolutionary pathway. Apart from its modest size of just mm, it
often occurs in very limited numbers and is difficult to collect in the field. In spring 2013, as a result of diligent collecting, aided by many students,
we finally succeeded in harvesting enough RNA
from around 300 live worms to allow us to start
sequencing a large proportion of the organisms
hereditary material (transcriptome).
64
SM DYR FORTLLER OM VORES OPRINDELSE
The sequences may turn up every day, and subsequent taxonomic studies will hopefully determine
its evolutionary ranking in the animal kingdom.
The same is true of the Greenland Jaws or Limnognathia maerski, which, owing to its modest
size and remote habitat, is equally challenging to
study, and still holds many mysteries (Figure 2).
We have still not traced the male of the species,
and its complex mouth structure is composed
of no fewer than five sets of jaws, which we now
know are controlled by an even greater number of
muscles (Figure 3).
Microscopy and genetics
This summers harvest of specimens along the
West Greenland and Danish coasts will hopefully
yield more material for studying the structure and
genetic expression of these microscopic creatures
Figure 2. 3D anatomical reconstruction of the mysterious Diurodrilus a candidate for a new microscopic phylum
(Worsaae & Rouse 2008) nervous system (dark blue), cilia (red), glands (yellow), gut (pale blue), muscular pharyngal
apparatus (green). Graphics: Agnar Lisberg Ferchland
Figure 3: Musculature and jaw apparatus of the jaw animal from Greenland (Limnognathia maerski, Kristensen & Funch,
2000). A: Confocal laser scanning microscopy of phalloidin stained muscles, for clarity only upper part of muscle complex
in the head is shown. B: Enlightenment of the different upper muscles in color. In grey, the phalloidin stained musculature from image A. C: Schematic drawing of jaw elements in greys and the associated upper muscles in color. Abbreviations: afm, anterior fibularium/main-jaws muscle; djm, dorsal jaws muscle; lm, lamella pharyngea muscle; vjm, ventraljaws muscle. Unpublished from Worsaae and Bekkouche et al
to determine if they match the related phyla proposed for them.

Although we have yet to succeed with Diurodrilus worm, we have now established cultures for
other select microscopic worm species such as
Diplodasys and the ringed annelids, which will
yield greater experimental scope. Aside from taxonomic analysis and gene expression studies based
on new transcriptome data, the project comprises
computer-based 3D reconstructions of the selected faunal organ systems and anatomies based on
advanced microscopy.
Microscopy is currently enjoying a renaissance
thanks to new techniques, combined laser, scanning and nanotechnologies (e.g. FIB SEM) using
genetic and molecular staining. This will allow us
to study select specimens in unprecedented detail
and, for example, build a full reconstruction of
the organisms brain, complete with all its cells

and interconnections.
A new genealogy for the animal kingdom new
evolutionary answers
By including these under-researched microscopic key fauna groups in a large-scale genealogical
analysis of the animal kingdoms 36 main groupings (phyla) based on transcriptomic and genomic
data, we will be able to construct a new and more
complete family tree and prove or disprove that
the forktail worm actually represents a new phylum. With the aid of this family tree, and new
knowledge of the appearance and genetic expression of these creatures, the tree will allow us to
trace the origin and evolution of fundamental anatomical designs and organ systems such as size,
muscle and nervous system.
Our hope is that this history of evolution and the
functional significance of the investigated organ
systems in microscopic evolutionary pathways
will serve to answer some of the many riddles surrounding the evolution of the animal kingdom.
65
Better buildings
and indoor climate
without mould
An unventilated roof construction infected by the fungus Cladosporium sphaerospermum. Photo: Birgitte Andersen
B Y B I RGI T TE ANDERSEN
Birgitte Andersen (born 1962) holds an MSc (1990) and a PhD (1995)
from the Department of Biotechnology, Technical University of Denmark
(DTU). After her PhD she was appointed to a postdoctoral position at the
United States Department of Agriculture, Tree Fruit Research Laboratory,
in Wenatchee, Washington. In 1997, she returned to DTU, where she is currently associate professor in the Department of Systems Biology. Her research
addresses the biodiversity of filamentous fungi in buildings, their growth and
production of bioactive metabolites and particles.
66
B E T T E R B U I L D I N G S A N D I N D O O R C L I M AT E W I T H O U T M O U L D
In 2012, the VILLUM FOUNDATION

granted DKK 6,335,000 for the research
project Prevention and control of mould
growth in buildings. The project is a collaboration between DTU Systems Biology (Fungal Physiology and Biotechnology) and DTU
Civil Engineering (International Centre for
Indoor Environment and Energy and Section for Building Physics and Services). The
goal is, through interdisciplinary research, to
study factors relating to the growth physiology of fungi, their production of microparticles and mycotoxins, when they grow on
building materials. The natural niches of the
fungi will be explored and their contamination routes from nature to buildings will be
surveyed. The project will unite biological
The fungal world

No water no growth is the mantra when buildings have to be kept free from fungal growth,
but it is not always possible to exclude or remove
water, as the last few years with cloudbursts and
heavy snowfall have shown. The weather is not
the only reason. Accidents, like a burst water
pipe, or a combination of unfortunate circumstances, such as lack of insulation, high humidity and inadequate ventilation, can also result in
fungal growth.
The problems are not restricted to any particular
building type, but can be seen in buildings both
old and new, high and low rise, residential, commercial and public.
Fungal growth, commonly called mould, does
not only disfigure the building and its interior,
knowledge of the different species of indoor

fungi with cutting edge knowledge of material science, moisture transport and ventilation.
but can also have adverse health effects. Perfectly

healthy people can get headaches, itchy eyes or
a runny nose when they live or work in mouldy
67
An air sample (DG18 medium)

shows the diversity in Clado
sporium species in outdoor
air, where the concentration
is at its highest. Photo: Birgitte Andersen
The vulnerability of building materials

Fungal growth is very difficult to get at after it has
first established itself in a building material. Mycelium
and hyphae are so thin that they can grow through wallpaper and cardboard and settle in pores and cracks in
plaster, woodwork and concrete. Here they will grow
as long as the humidity and temperature in this microenvironment permit.
When the humidity or temperature decrease, the fungi
can go into suspended animation lasting months or
years until humidity/temperature rise again and they
can resume their growth. Some materials (e.g. woodchip
wallpaper, plywood and gypsum board) are very vulnerable to fungal growth because they are nutrient-rich (to
the fungi) and retain moisture well. One aim of the project is to examine fungal growth under different physiological conditions in the micro-environment of the
building material: how deep into the material hyphae are
able to penetrate and how to control or inactivate their
further growth and sporulation.
Another is to analyse which components/nutrients in
the materials the fungi exploit and how these components can be made unavailable. With this knowledge one
can control the growth and at the same time make the
building materials more robust.
3-point inoculation of the fungus Stachybotrys chlorohalonata on the PDA

growth medium. Photo: Birgitte Andersen
68
B E T T E R B U I L D I N G S A N D I N D O O R C L I M AT E W I T H O U T M O U L D
The indoor environment

During their growth in humid buildings, some fungi produce millions of spores, whilst other fungi form mostly
mycelium. However, most fungi produce volatile compounds, which sometimes make the building smell of
dank basement.
In pace with the drying out of a mouldy building, the fungi release bits of old, dead mycelium (micro-particles) that
may be coated with mycotoxins and other biologically active compounds. One of the hypotheses of this project is
that these micro-particles and volatile compounds are just
as aggravating to human health as the spores, but since
these particles are not living and the compounds are so
low in concentration, the hypothesis is difficult to test. By
developing collection and analysis methods to detect the
micro-particles, mycotoxins and volatile compounds, the
project may come a step closer to solving the question of
which fungus releases what into the indoor environment.
buildings, whilst sensitive people can develop rashes or nosebleeds, after even a short
stay. Asthmatics and allergy-sufferers often
experience an exacerbation of their condition. Common to all are that the symptoms
usually disappear after leaving the mouldy environment, but reappear often with increased
intensity when they return.
High humidity in a basement after flooding has stimulated growth of Chaetomium

globosum in a photo album. Photo: Birgitte
Andersen
The natural home of indoor fungi

Another and very interesting question is where the fungi
that infect our buildings originate. A survey on fungal
growth in water-damaged buildings, conducted in a previous project granted by the VILLUM FOUNDATION,
showed that 50 fungal species are common, and, of these, 7
species are responsible for 70% of all fungal growth indoors.
Solid chemical and genetic data are available for these
7 species, but knowledge of their biology and ecology
is lacking. It is not known, for instance, how they enter
a building or what constitutes their natural habitats. By
using new detection methods, this project will track the
spores of individual fungal species from the building and
building materials back to their natural environments.
When the dispersion routes for a particular fungal species
are known, the infection point of a material or building
can be determined and this gives us an opportunity to
control the fungus or even prevent it from gaining a foothold in the first place.
Spores of Ulocladium chartarum p

roduce
germination hyphae after 4 hours in a humid environment. P
hoto: Birgitte Andersen
69
Figure 1. In the future, biogas plants will be a

significant source of bioenergy. The waste and
complex biomass are converted into methane with the aid of microbial consortia. Photo:
Colourbox.com
New microorganisms and

enzymes in biogas plants
BY P ER HAL KJ R N IEL SEN AN D L EN E L AN G E
Per Halkjr Nielsen

(born 1954), PhD,
is Professor of En
vironmental Microbiology at the Department of
Biotechnology, Chemistry and
Environmental Engineering,
Aalborg University.
Lene Lange (born

1948), DSc, is Director of Research
and Professor of Biotechnology at the Department
of Biotechnology, Chemistry
and Environmental Engineering, Aalborg University
70
In 2012, the VILLUM FOUNDATION awarded DKK 6,875,000

to the project Investigation of new microorganisms and enzymes in
biogas plants. The aim of the project is to identify and characterise
important, so-far unidentified bacteria involved in methane production in biogas reactors. A second aim is to discover new enzymes from
the microbial communities in biogas reactors that can be used in the
biotechnology industry. The project will be conducted over the period 2013-2016 at the Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and
Environmental Engineering, Section of Biotechnology at University
Campus Aalborg, and the Section of Sustainable Biotechnology at
Aalborg Universitys Copenhagen campus. The project team includes
associate professors Peter Kamp Busk, Jeppe Lund Nielsen and Kre
Lehmann Nielsen, postdoctoral researcher Simon McIlroy and PhD
student Rasmus Kirkegaard.
Biological production
petroleum-based products.
The key to achieving this lies in the use of microbial communities (consortia). In this process, different anaerobic microorganisms produce biogas
in a number of stages from the complex raw material. This is the opposite of traditional biological production of specific products (e.g. insulin
or enzymes) in the biotech industry. Here, the
products are created by individual, highly specialised production strains, based on simple substrates.
A better understanding of microbial consortia is
therefore a natural precondition for development
of future biological production in biorefineries.
In this project, we will be identifying and characterising entirely new microorganisms and microbial products from biogas consortia. We will
Biogas produced by microbial consortia

Biogas (methane) is a key element in future bioenergy production, and can be produced by special
bacteria from acetic acid or hydrogen and CO2.
Therefore, for the methane to be produced, the
substrate (e.g. biomass or waste) first has to be
converted into acetic acid and hydrogen. This conversion takes place just like in a food chain via
different strains of bacteria in microbial consortia.
Some types of bacteria break down (hydrolyse)
proteins, fats and sugars into constituent products,
while other groups ferment these to produce ace-
In the biorefineries of tomorrow, the aim is to get microorganisms to

break waste and complex biomass (organic matter) down into bioenergy, biochemicals and bioplastics, which in the future will serve to replace
be applying these new discoveries surrounding

the function of microbial consortia to establish a
new basis for how to achieve even more effective
tic acid and hydrogen, and in the final stage, the

methane-producing bacteria produce methane.
If one of the stages in this process fails in any way,
NEW MICROORGANISMS AND ENZYMES IN BIOGAS PLANTS
microbial conversion of biomass and waste at bio

refineries. This will result in increased resourceefficiency and enhanced sustainability.
71
Improved biogas production

from biogas plants
Process
optimization
Knowledge on the biology

and lifestyle of new bacteria
Increased knowledge
about our ecosystem
metagenome
and genomes
of new micro
organisms
Evaluation
of metabolic
models
New
metabolic
models
New
enzymes for
the biotech
industry
Enzyme
expression
Figure 2. Overview of the projects phases and anticipated

positive outcomes. Graphics:
The authors
72
Figure 3. A fluorescent marker (gene probe)

lights up an unidentified bacterial strain in a slurry sample from a Danish biogas plant. The bacteria are very small (less than 0.5 m in diameter),
and in this plant make up 10-15% of the biomass.
We know that it belongs to a so-far undescribed
phylum known as OP8, but know nothing about
its life processes and function in biogas reactors.
Photo: Simon McIlroy
the process, and hence production of the methane comes to a

standstill. A good understanding of these microbial consortia and their activity is therefore a precondition for
science-based development, control and optimisation of biogas plants. The microbial consortia are
Visualization
of new microorganisms
also an important source of new enzymes and
other bioproducts that can be used elsewhere in
the biotechnology industry.
The
Unidentified bacteria are key players
As is generally the case in nature, only a very few
of the bacterial strains in biogas plants can be isolated and cultured using existing methods. This
Identification
of new
means that we cannot study them in the laboratory,
enzymes
but have to use so-called culture-independent methods
to identify and characterise them. We currently know many
of the bacteria that produce methane, but our knowledge about
the other groups is still very limited.
We have previously investigated trace DNA at twenty biogas plants in Denmark and Australia, and found many wholly or partially unidentified strains
of bacteria. Some of these were present in large volumes (up to 15% in
some biogas plants) and must therefore be key to the processes, but by so
far unidentified mechanisms. An example of this type of unidentified strain
is seen in Figure 3.
be evaluated directly in the biogas reactor by means of studies of

expressed genes (transcriptomics), and with the aid of various single
cell techniques and isotope-based process studies. We expect this
to give us an understanding of the life processes of the unidentified
bacteria, knowledge of how they form part of the food chain in
methane formation and the potentials for optimising biogas production.
Bacterial genomes
The genome of a bacterium, that is, the entirety of its genetic information,
typically consists of 4-5,000 genes (whereas humans have around 25,000).
The genome contains information about everything the bacterium is potentially capable of. The problem is, however: how to harvest genomes from
the individual strains when they cannot be cultured in isolation?
DNA can be harvested from entire bacterial communities in a single process, and their composition determined (metagenome) using the new next
generation DNA sequencing technologies. By means of metagenomics and
new bioinformatics tools, it is then possible to recover genomes from many
New enzymes from microbial consortia

Traditionally, new enzymes are discovered by testing selected single organisms to determine their enzymatic activity or by searching
in genomic databases for gene sequences akin to known enzymes.
However, by this approach we are only able to discover enzymes
with known activity or great similarity with known genes. By using
the new tools, we are now also able to include those microorganisms that cannot be cultured, and which may be unknown and in
this way increase the chances of discovering entirely new enzymes.
Once the metagenome from a microbial consortium has been sequenced, it is then possible to look for new, promising genes from
all the microorganisms present. However, since the volume of data
involved is virtually unmanageable, another option is to concentrate
exclusively on the expressed genes. A specific interest can then be
further delineated and defined using Peptide Pattern Recognition
(PPR), our new bioinformatics tool. This allows us to identify all the
proteins that have the specific functions we are looking for (Figure 4).
In this project, the aim is to maximise efforts in order to arrive at
of the most significant strains in different biogas reactors.

Once the genomes are in place, they can be used in creating metabolic
models for the individual strains (Figure 2). In the next step, they can then
both a scientifically conceptual understanding of biomass conversion

in nature, and a proven basis for discovering new enzymes, where the
prospects for applied potential are optimised to best advantage.
NEW MICROORGANISMS AND ENZYMES IN BIOGAS PLANTS
100-114
115-119
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Figure 4. Subfamilies of proteins with

the same function can be separated via Peptide Pattern Recognition
based on differences in their amino
acid sequencing pattern. In this way,
PPR provides enhanced prediction of
the proteins function based solely on
sequence. Graphics: The authors
73
Screening for Microorganisms in Biogas Plants
HUMANITIES
Stories for
all time
- ancient sagas of the northern lands
BY MATTHEW JAMES DRISCOLL
Matthew James Driscoll (born 1954) is lecturer in Old Norse philology at the Arnamagnan Institute, a section of Nordisk Forskningsinstitut, a research institute within the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen. He holds a Cand.mag. degree
from the University of Iceland and a DPhil from Oxford University. His research interests include manuscript and textual studies,
particularly in the area of Old and Early-Modern Icelandic.
74
M. J. Driscoll, the projects principal investigator, and postdoctoral fellow Silvia Hufnagel examine Rask 32, an Icelandic
manuscript from the late 18th century containing texts of a number of fornaldarsgur. Photo: Ragnheiur Msesdttir.
In 2010, the VELUX FOUNDATION donated DKK

5,000,000 for the research project Stories for all time: The
Icelandic fornaldarsgur. The project, which runs from
2011 to 2015, is based at the Department of Scandinavian
Research, Copenhagen University, and involves the following researchers: senior lecturer Matthew Driscoll (principal
investigator), postdoctoral fellows Silvia Hufnagel, Tereza
Lansing and Jeffrey Love, PhD student Philip Lavender and
research assistant Beeke Stegmann. The aim of the project is
to survey the transmission history of the group of medieval
Icelandic sagas known as Fornaldarsgur Norurlanda an-
Among the more interesting literary products

of medieval Iceland is the group of sagas commonly referred to as Fornaldarsgur Norur
landa, an Icelandic term meaning ancient sagas
of the northern lands. The term was first used,
it seems, by the Danish scholar C. C. Rafn as the
title of his three-volume edition of these sagas,
published in 1829-30, which brought together
all the prose narratives preserved in Old Icelandic dealing with the kings and heroes of early
Scandinavia, before the unification of Norway
under Harald Fairhair and the settlement of Iceland in the late 9th century.
They thus distinguish themselves from, on the
one hand, the Icelandic family sagas and sagas
of Norwegian kings, which are considered more
historically reliable, and, on the other, the trans-
A popular genre
The 35 or so sagas which are normally regarded
as constituting the genre are not all of a piece,
however, and it has been argued that apart from
their temporal and geographical setting they have
little in common. If taken as a corpus, however,
they do exhibit certain common features: they
tend to be formulaic, making use of stock characters and motifs; they are episodic in structure
and contain a strong element of the fabulous;
they are prosimetric, often incorporating verses
into the narrative, and they are relatively short,
the longest being only about 30,000 words and
the shortest scarcely 6-7,000.
Although first written down in the 14th and
15th centuries, they characteristically also have
at least some basis in significantly older (oral)
cient sagas of the northern lands and produce new digital

editions of some of the principal manuscripts in which they
are preserved.
lations, adaptations and imitations of chivalric

romance, which are set in a continental courtly
milieu.
tradition, and it has been customary to distinguish between them internally on the basis of
their relationship to that tradition. While works
STORIES FOR ALL TIME - ANCIENT SAGAS OF THE NORTHERN LANDS
V E L U X F O U N D AT I O N
75
Copenhagen, Arnamagnan Collection, Rask

32, f. 8v, showing the end of The saga of
Hlfdan Eysteinsson and the beginning of The
saga of Srli the strong. Photo: Suzanne Reitz.
76
all the extant copies, or witnesses, of the work or works

to be edited. Traditionally this was done in order to identify the text or texts which were as close as possible to the
works original form. In recent years, however, there has
been less focus on origins a questionable concept anyway when dealing with material deriving at least in part
from oral tradition and more on the processes of literary
production, dissemination and reception as they relate to
broader historical, social and cultural practices.
The aim of the research project Stories for all time is
to survey the entire transmission history of the fornaldarsgur. Over 1,700 individual fornaldarsaga texts have
been identified, preserved in nearly 900 manuscripts, many
previously uncatalogued, some still in private ownership.
Reliable editions
Unfortunately, study of the fornaldarsgur has long been
hampered by a lack of reliable editions. Rafns edition,
although reasonably good for its time, had a number of
shortcomings, foremost among them that it made use of
only a relatively small number of manuscripts, essentially
only those found in Danish repositories at the time. Although a handful of fornaldarsgur have subsequently
Electronic catalogue and digital editions

The projects chief deliverable is an electronic catalogue
of these manuscripts, containing information on their format and layout, the other texts they contain, and, where
known, when, where and for and by whom they were
written. Ancillary to this is a fully searchable bibliography
of editions, translations and secondary material. Digital
editions of a number of key manuscripts containing fornaldarsaga texts are also being prepared. The texts are
transcribed with as little intervention as possible, but with
added layers of interpretation, such as normalisations and
commentary, built in, and are linked to digital images of
the original manuscripts. All of this material is prepared
using XML in accordance with the standard developed
and maintained by the Text Encoding Initiative Consortium (www.tei-c.org). Everything is available for download
under a Creative Commons license and can be shared and
reused as appropriate.
Much of this is already in place and already much used
by scholars and students (http://fasnl.ku.dk). It is hoped
appeared in scholarly editions, the majority are still only

available in texts which derive from Rafn.
Any editorial project must begin with an examination of
that when completed, the Stories for all time digital archive will prove a valuable resource for anyone interested
in this remarkable literature.
STORIES FOR ALL TIME - ANCIENT SAGAS OF THE NORTHERN LANDS
HUMANITIES
Carl Christian Rafn (1795-1864), first e

ditor
of the Fornaldarsgur Norurlanda. Engraving by Magnus Petersen.
such as The saga of the Vlsungs are demonstrably related to

and/or derived from ancient Germanic poetry, and have
for this reason long been accorded a measure of scholarly
respect, others, such as The saga of Egill the one-handed and
smundur the berserk-slayer, with their stock characters and
fondness for the fantastic, have often been dismissed as historically unreliable fabulations of scant artistic merit. It was,
in the nature of things, often precisely these sagas which
proved the most popular with ordinary readers, however, as
attested by the large number of manuscripts in which many
of them are preserved typically 60 or 70, spanning some
five or six centuries.
Their importance is many-fold. Fornaldarsaga-like narratives were used as a source by Saxo Grammaticus in his
History of the Danes (Gesta Danorum), and the sagas themselves were combed for information about the early histories of Scandinavia by 17th- and 18th-century Danish
and Swedish scholars: in fact, the first saga texts ever to be
printed were fornaldarsgur, 15 of which were published in
Sweden in the second half of the 17th century. They have
also served as a source of inspiration for national romantic writers such as Johannes Ewald, Adam Oehlenschlger
and Esaias Tegnr. Wagner drew heavily on The saga of the
Vlsungs for his Ring des Nibelungen, and their influence
on J. R. R. Tolkiens works, and hence on modern fantasy
in general, is also considerable.
XML markup of Hrlfs saga kraka.
Electronic text of Hrlfs saga kraka with facing

image, from the project webpage (http://fasnl.
ku.dk).
77
HUMANITIES
Metrification
of Sciences
Natural and technical science. Photo: CERN
B Y POUL E RI K M O U RI T ZE N
Poul Erik Mouritzen (born 1952), Dr, MSc Political Science, is professor of public administration at the Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark. He heads the project on
Governance, Funding and Performance of Universities and is a member of the Expert Committee advising
the Danish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education on the bibliometric research indicator.
78
In 2011, the VELUX FOUNDATION granted DKK 4,974,572 for the cross-disciplinary
project Governance, Funding and Performance of Universities, undertaken jointly by
researchers from CBS, Aarhus University and
University of Southern Denmark. The aim of
the project is to study how modern management styles are becoming popular at universi-
indicator, a system that counts all publications

from Danish university researchers and ranks
them. The aim of the sub-project is to study
whether this causes an increase in research
publications, where this increase happens
and whether any unintended consequences
arise. However, the final conclusions cannot
be drawn until the research indicator is some
ties and what consequences they might have

for research. One of the sub-projects studies
the consequences of the bibliometric research
years older and the research group has carried

out a so-called post measurement.
M E T R I F I C AT I O N O F S C I E N C E S
Different research traditions

Sren Mrch is a historian now retired after a
lifetime at the University of Southern Denmark.
Since the mid-1960s, he has published large
works, on 25 Prime Ministers and 61 Stories
about How the World became Modern and lately
on former Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. A significant proportion of his books are single works. Sren Mrch writes by and large for
the educated and socially-minded Dane thus, he
writes in Danish.
Troels Petersen is also a researcher, but not much
of what he does is done alone. He is part of a
group of 40 colleagues at the Niels Bohr Institute, who, again, make up a small proportion of
the thousands of researchers working on particle
authors, often 15-20 persons.

Sren Mrch and Troels Petersen belong to two
different generations, but also completely different research traditions: The humanist who interprets and seeks to understand, and the natural
scientist who measures and weighs and seeks to
explain. The humanist who is measured by the
value of his writings (as judged by his peers, but
often also by the public), and the natural scientist
who is measured by whether his results are cited
by other researchers.
physics at CERN, the international research centre in Geneva. Troels Petersen only writes English-language articles and always with many co-
outside interference. But now the universities, like

many other parts of the public sector, have been affected by something many of them consider alien:
Metrification
These research traditions, and those of medicine,
social sciences and technical sciences, have led a life
of their own for decades at the universities without
79
HUMANITIES
80
Humanities
Social science
their researchers are to be managed and measured

and rewarded according to performance. This is
what science calls metrification.
A broad majority of the Danish Parliament implemented a system in which all scientific publications in Denmark are counted annually. Points are
awarded for each publication according to objective criteria, the points are added up and together
with a number of other criteria sent through a
calculator. The end result is an annual grant for
each university, which thus reflects, among other
things, how much each researcher writes.
The system was implemented at very different
paces at the different universities and departments. Some use publication points when allo-
researchers barely know that the system exists.

There are large differences between the main
areas. Within the so-called wet areas, natural,
medical and technical sciences, its business as
usual, they do not pay much attention to the new
system as they have their own indicators on how
often they are quoted. The dry areas, humanities
and social sciences, have not had the same tradition of measuring research publications. Within
these areas, many consider the new system alien
but have, nevertheless, implemented it to a much
higher degree.
when you implement count-and-reward systems

in areas where humans carry out an activity, as the
activity itself carries a reward. In this connection,
the idea is that humans can be internally motivated. The internal motivation may break if a counting regime is perceived to be a management tool
used to control the individual. Such perceptions
thrive particularly within the dry areas, especially
within the humanities.
The group that feels that the new research indicator will be used by management for control purposes consists of female, humanities researchers
who find it important to publish in Danish, who
metric research indicator will have more negative

than positive effects.
On the other hand, there is a group of researchers
who expect the indicator will be used by management to develop the employees. This perception
thrives particularly with male professors within
medicine who are used to being measured and
rewarded, who spend much time on research and
usually work together with and publish in English
with colleagues.
If these results are combined with the theory about
internal motivation, you should, thus, expect to
find most negative effects of the bibliometric indi-
Different consequences
All research suggests that when you begin to
usually work alone, who find the psychosocial environment distressing, who spend a considerable
cator among female humanities researchers.

In 2014, another series of interviews and surveys
cating one-off bonuses, others have rules on how

many points have to be produced annually as a
minimum, and finally, there are those where the
count and reward certain elements, you will receive more of those. However, the research also
suggests that negative consequences may arise
amount of time on teaching, and who are unsure

whether they will advance in their career. For this
group it is very easy to imagine that the biblio-
will be carried out. These will allow us to draw

some final conclusions about the consequences of
measuring researchers publications.
M E T R I F I C AT I O N O F S C I E N C E S
Medicine
81
Anika Liversage (born 1966) is a senior researcher and Program Director at SFI
Growing old in another country
ret but at the same time, they now had children

and grandchildren in Denmark. Today they have
both recently turned 70 and have realised that they
will probably never fully return to Turkey. Most
years they spend a long summer holiday there, but
their primary life is lived in an apartment on the
outskirts of Copenhagen.
And they have done well. All four children have
now started their own family and most of them live
nearby. The children often visit and help their parents with some of the tasks, they have problems
handling themselves. Ali and Gl do not know
how to use the internet bank because neither of
them read Danish very well. In fact, Gl never
went to school and as she has mostly had cleaning jobs, she never really learned to speak Danish
either and what I knew back then, I forget now
that Ive grown old as she puts it. They do not
receive any help from the Danish authorities they
like to deal with things themselves and are doing
so quite well, now that the diabetes and the blood
pressure are under control.
But what about the future when their health fails
with advancing age, and when one of them passes
away? This is not a nice thought. On the one hand,
both Ali and Gl think that the best thing then
would be to move in with one of their grown-up
children. Preferably a son and a nice daughter-in-law
this would be like the time when Gl lived with
her parents-in-law in the village, many years ago.
But life is so different in Denmark: Everyone works
hard and you do not want to be a burden. But
moving into an old peoples home is not a nice
thought either to live in a place where they do
not speak your language and where, as Gl puts
The Danish National Centre for Social Research. She has studied the lives of
Turkish immigrants in Denmark for several years, focusing on processes of marriage and divorce, and on relations between the genders and between generations.
Over the years, Ali and Gl always expected to return to Turkey when they grew old. They missed
the climate and the call of the imam from the mina-
it, they may serve you pork without you knowing

it. The best thing would be if you could keep your
good health and be able to take care of yourself
Immigrants
growing old
in Denmark
B Y AN I K A L I VE RS A GE
82
IMMIGRANTS GROWING OLD IN DENMARK
In around 1970, Denmark underwent expansive

economic growth, which led to a lack of unskilled
labour. Men from Turkey, among other countries,
came to Denmark during these years and many of
them still live here today. One of these men was
Ali, who was hired to work at a factory. His wife
Gl and their two children stayed behind in the village in Turkey where they lived with Alis parents.
The plan was for Ali to return a couple of years
later with money in his pockets. However, this was
not how things turned out instead Gl and the
children came to Denmark. As the years passed,
two more kids were born and suddenly Alis and
Gls four children had grown up and left home.
AGEING RESEARCH AND OPHTHALMOLOGY
In 2012, the VELUX FOUNDATION granted

DKK 2,200,000 for the research project Immigrants and old age a study of elderly Turks
in Denmark. The project is being carried out
between 2013 and 2015, and is a collaboration
between SFI the Danish National Centre for
Social Research and the University of Copenhagen. Also participating in the project is Senior
Researcher and Economist Vibeke Jakobsen,
SFI, and Gretty Mirdal, Professor of Psychology at the University of Copenhagen. Herself
of Turkish descent, Gretty Mirdal has worked
with Turkish immigrants in Denmark for several decades. Fatma Kckyildiz, University of
Copenhagen, is the interviewer. The project will
increase our understanding of how immigrants
experience old age, and thus how the needs of
this growing group can best be met.
83
sisting of interviews with Turkish immigrant women. These interviews (also conducted in either Turkish or Kurdish) have
been conducted over a period of 30 years:
The same women were interviewed in
around 1980, in 2000 and again in 2010
when most of them were in their sixties.
Furthermore, in around 2010 some of
the daughters of these first generation
women were also interviewed and the
material thus provides insights into the
life one of a single family, not only over
time, but also from two different perspectives. This material also allows us to
explore how these women expected their
lives in old age to be, when they were
in the middle of their lives and growing
old was still the distant future and how
life has subsequently turned out, now
that the years have passed and the once
so distant future has become the present.
The research project, to be conducted in
the period 2013-2015, will give a voice
to some of the elderly people in Denmark
that are rarely heard. Thus, it will provide valuable input for the Danish public
sector, in which a growing population of
senior citizens from non-Western countries are about to pose new and different
challenges. Several of these elderly Turks
mention the possibility of establishing
old peoples homes especially for Muslims. If both employees and elderly residents come from a background similar
to your own, you can talk to them. Then
A multi-method project
Ali and Gl, their lives today, and their thoughts about the future, are part
of a new research project on elderly Turks in Denmark. This joint project
between SFI The Danish National Centre for Social Research and the
University of Copenhagen explores living conditions, expectations and
problems among the growing population of elderly Turks in Denmark.
These insights will be applicable to other ethnic minority groups in Denmark as well. This will also be valuable in an international context, since
Turkish immigrants are the largest group of immigrants in Europe today.
Since this immigration started almost simultaneously in different European countries, these immigrants entering old age is a new, concurrent
phenomenon in many countries.
The project combines four different methods. The first consists of interviews, as for instance with Ali and Gl people aged 70-72, and born in
Turkey. These interviews take place in the homes of the persons interviewed. Since most interviewees only speak limited Danish, the interviews
are conducted in either Turkish or Kurdish.
The second method is analyses of Danish register data. Based on the Danish national ID system it is possible to map this group in detail: How many
individuals are there? Where do they live? How many of them live alone and
how many live, for instance, together with their grown up children?
In this part we focus especially on their financial situation. The elderly often
do not have much money, as they rarely have an old age saving of their own
and often have not gained entitlement to the full old age pension from the
state, since this requires that the person has worked in Denmark for at least
40 years, which is rarely the case for these immigrants, especially the women.
A third method is using survey data from the Danish national database on
senior citizens. This database allows us to compare the living conditions of
the Turkish immigrants with those of elderly Danes who have also been employed as unskilled workers. In this way we can shed light on differences in
family practices, for instance whether Turkish families have stronger family
relations that can be valuable for the elderly persons studied.
Interviews over three decades
Last, but not least, the project draws on a unique qualitative material con-
84
IMMIGRANTS GROWING OLD IN DENMARK
until one day, you pass away quickly. But of course this is not something you
can decide for yourself.
These years an increasing number of Turkish immigrants

reach the age of retirement. Photo: The project
you will not end up lonely and helpless,

as many of the elderly Turks today fear
becoming.
85
eye
The
- a window into
brain function
Henrik Lund-Andersen (born 1945),

professor in ophthalmology at University
of Copenhagen and director of Capital
Region of Denmarks Copenhagen Ophthalmology Centre, based at Glostrup Hospital. He wrote his doctoral thesis on glucose transport across the blood-brain barrier. He went on to
specialise in ophthalmology and at that time also
established a research laboratory which applied basic
physiological methods to clinical ophthalmological research at the Unit for Ocular Physiology, established
in 2001 with a grant from the VELUX FOUNDATION. His research has focused on diseases of the retina, notably as a complication of diabetes, and most
recently on the relationship between retinal disease
In 2012, the VELUX FOUNDATION granted

DKK 4,715,000 for the project Det bl lys et
vindue til regulering af vores dgnrytme (The
blue light a window into regulation of our
circadian rhythm). The optic nerve cells (ganglion cells) include a small number of cells that
are sensitive to blue light (not rods and cones).
These cells are associated with sleep and circadian rhythm centres in the brain and also with
the mechanism responsible for contraction and
dilation of the pupil of the eye. The aim of the
project is to develop a clinical method for determining the function of these cells in humans
based on the pupillary reaction to blue light,
and, for comparison, red light. An apparatus
set up under the project permits simultaneous
illumination of the eye and video recording of
and the optic nerve, especially the role of photosensitive ganglion cells. He has published more than 200
articles in international journals.
pupillary movement, and measurements have

been obtained for a large group of healthy research subjects in order to standardise the appa-
B Y H E N RI K L U N D -A N D E RSEN
86
THE EYE A WINDOW INTO BRAIN FUNCTION
1) GANGLION CELLS. 2) BIPOLAR CELLS. 3) PHOTORECEPTORS.

4) RETINAL PIGMENT EPITHELIUM. 5) OPTIC NERVE FIBER.
Fig 1. Eye and camera. It appears that the general construction is the same. In front optics, which focus the
light on the film/chip or the retina. Graphics: American
Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO)
Fig 2. Cross section of the retina. The white arrow indicates the direction of the light, while the red arrows indicate the direction of the signal transduction from the
retina through the optic nerve. Graphics: The author
ratus and method. The method is already being

applied in investigation of a number of diseases
of the retina and optic nerve to determine the
clinical significance of the findings. The project has led to collaboration with other Copen
hagen-based teams researching related areas.
The eye is the bodys light-sensitive sensory organ. In general terms, the structure of the eye is
the same as that of a camera (fig. 1). When light
strikes the rod and cone cells of the retina, a series
of chemical reactions occur. The chemical that is
formed creates electrical impulses which are then
transmitted via series-and parallel-connected cells
The pupillary light reflex

Exposure of the eye to light has other effects. It
is well known that light causes the pupil to contract due to what is known as the pupillary light
reflex. The nerve pathways leading the signals to
the light reflection are shown in (fig. 3). The signal is sent via the light sensitive ganglion cells to
the pupillary centre of the brain. The nerve pathways intersect so that light directed at just one eye
results in activation of the light reflection in the
other eye as well.
Only a small proportion of the ganglion cells
(0.5%) are involved in the signalling process. Research within the last decade has demonstrated
to the optic nerve cells (ganglion cells, fig. 2), and

from there via relay stations to the visual brain
where imaging takes place.
that the optic nerve ganglion cells which transmit impulses to the pupillary centre and sleep and
circadian rhythm centres possess a very special
87
OPTIC
NERVE
Fig 3. Schematic illustration

of the papillary reflex (the
non percepted light). Light
on the eye to the right results
in impulses through the optic
nerve to the papillary motor
centre, where the axons are
crossing and innervate both
eyes, which react identically.
Graphics: The author
New apparatus
Most of our knowledge so far, however, comes from animal studies. The
aim of the current project funded by the VELUX FOUNDATION, is to
develop a clinical method to evaluate the function of the photosensitive
ganglion cells in humans by performing precise measurements of the pupillary reflex response to illumination with blue and red light. Because the
photosensitive ganglion cells are not sensitive to red light, red light is used
as a control mechanism to distinguish the signal emanating from the photosensitive ganglion cells from the signal emanating from the rods and cones.
In the absence of commercially available apparatus for this purpose, the project started out by constructing a device capable of illuminating the eye with
monochromatic blue or red light while infra-red video recording pupillary
movement in the second grey eye. This initial project also included a number of photometric studies to determine the optimum light intensity and
duration of exposure required.
Findings and new questions
The pupillary reflex triggered by red light was found to decrease rapidly as
soon as illumination of the eye was withdrawn, while the pupillary reflex
triggered by blue light, was sustained for a minute after the light was turned
off. This serves to demonstrate the activity of the photosensitive ganglion
cells and their sensitivity to blue light.
After successful development of the apparatus and testing method for
healthy subjects, the research focused on these questions:
1. Do light-sensitive cells change as we age? The answer was yes: lightdependent activity in cells increases with advancing age. We do not yet understand the implications of this for sleep and circadian rhythms, and have
not established what happens if this phenomenon does not occur. Prospective studies should clarify these aspects.
88
THE EYE A WINDOW INTO BRAIN FUNCTION
DARK
LIGHT-ON
DARK
100
NORMALIZED PUPIL SIZE, %
BRAINSTEM
property: they are sensitised to blue light, in a completely different way to

rods and cones.
It has been demonstrated that not only are these ganglion cells connected
to the pupillary centre of the brain, but also to those centres that control
circadian rhythm and sleep. By studying the pupillary reflex it is possible to
investigate the function of the photosensitive ganglion cells and their role
in regulating sleep and the circadian rhythm.
PUPILLARY CENTER
80
60
40
20
-20
-10
10
20
30
40
50
TIME, SECONDS
Fig 4 shows how the papillary reflex develops before, during and after illumination of an eye for 20 sec., followed by
darkness. The pupil is before illumination large, 100%. Thereafter the pupil contracts (descending part of the curve)
and remains contracted during illumination (center part of the figure). After stop of the illumination the pupil dilates
again. It is the slow dilation phase which represents the activity of the light sensitive ganglion cells. Graphics: The author
2. Does photosensitive cell activity change in

the presence of cataracts? Cataracts are known
to soak up blue light. It is therefore of interest to
onsleep and circadian rhythms remains to be investigated.
investigate whether the development of cataracts

involves a change in cell function, and how cataract surgery might also affect cell function. One
finding so far is that as a cataract develops, cell
function increases to compensate for the loss of
light, but that after cataract surgery further activity occurs in the cells. The clinical significance of
these findings is currently under investigation.
Today, medicine is only just embarking on the

comprehensive research that will advance our
knowledge of the interactions between eye diseases
and sleep and circadian rhythm regulation. Since
sleep and circadian rhythm regulation plays a fundamental role in a number of biological processes
in the body, the ultimate finding may be that the
eye diseases that interfere with the function of photosensitive ganglion cells affect not only the brains
basic functions, but also the rest of the bodys
homeostasis and regeneration pattern. Future research will seek to confirm this hypothesis.
Using the pupillary research method developed
under the present project, the hope is that it will
be possible to identify which diseases of the eye
and which individuals we need to pay particular
attention to and focus on.
3. Are photosensitive ganglion cells damaged

by disease affecting the optic nerve? Two different pathological conditions were investigated:
glaucoma and blood clot in the optic nerve head.
The studies found that blood clots in the optic
nerve head upregulate cellular functions as a compensatory measure, whereas this is not the case
in glaucoma. The influence of these phenomena
89
Seniors
workshops
in Svendborg
The new IT learning laboratory, with all the new computers installed and connected. Photo: Rasmus Vej
The new IT learning laboratory, where all the new computers are being upgraded. Photo: Rasmus Vej
In 2013, Seniorvrkstederne received two

donations from the VELUX FOUNDATION.
In spring, they received DKK 170,000 for the
procurement of a wood waste extraction unit
to improve air quality in the joinery section,
which provides the main setting for the activities that attract the many senior citizens who
attend Seniorvrkstederne, the seniors workshops, on a daily basis. And in the autumn
they received DKK 95,125 to install IT equip-
Extra IT learning lab

The pressure on the IT section with 10 teaching
stations was mounting by 2012. Tuition was provided daily from 9.30 to 16.00 where a team of
seniors volunteered their time to help more of their
peers to learn basic computer skills. But even so, the
waiting list was growing and was up to 130 people.
Before long, everyone in Denmark will have to be
able to send and receive e-mail, including people
who have never used a computer before. From
2015 all citizens will be required to use a computer and the internet and Nem-ID, the special
digital identity for exchanging information with
public authorities. The association is keen to facilitate this major transition in society, but that
required an additional IT learning laboratory.
Since the association wasnt able to raise the capital
needed for IT equipment for a whole new section,
it applied to the VELUX FOUNDATION again,
the result of which was a second donation that
made it possible to assist a large group of senior
ed, and an agreement was concluded with the local

authority for them to supply the necessary materials
for the conversion, while the members would carry
out all the practical work, just as they had done previously, also for free, in all the other sections.
Once again the association found that every new
initiative brought renewed delight and pride
among the members in being part of the organisation.
Thanks to the extended capacity in the IT section,
the association is now, starting from 1 September, provisionally Mondays and Tuesdays offering
non-member pensioners in Svendborg Municipality a 2 x 3 hour course in using Nem-ID. We do
however require participants to have some prior
computing experience.
The seniors workshops project in Svendborg has
gone from strength to strength and is a source
of inspiration for others. The project has already
inspired three more counterpart associations at
Nstved, Ringe and Ishj. The original workshops
ment in an extra IT learning laboratory with

12 teaching stations set up to promote IT
learning and skills among senior citizens.
citizens to acquire the basic IT skills they need.

Fortunately, however, the premises adjacent to the
workshops became vacant. The tenancy was extend-
receive regular visits from other activity centres and

senior citizen councils, the members of which take
home new ideas and much inspiration.
B Y R AS M U S VE J
Rasmus Vej (born 1940) served with the Danish

Royal Life Guards in 1959-1961. A skilled carpenter by trade, he was a master carpenter from 1977
until his retirement. Since 2007 he has served as
chairman of Seniorvrkstederne, the seniors workshops association.
90
SENIORS WORKSHOPS IN SVENDBORG
91
Collection-bag-emptying filter the external component of the new wood waste extraction unit. Photo:
Rasmus Vej
New conduits from the machines in the joinery section

to the wood waste extraction unit. Photo: Rasmus Vej
Wood waste extraction unit for the joinery s ection

Seniorvrkstederne in Svendborg is an independent association with its own statutes and elected board. The objects of the association are to
bring together pensioners and early-retirees of
both sexes, aged 60+ for active socialisation; to
develop, offer and engage in activities of various
kinds adapted to all skill and ability levels; and to
host social functions for members. The association is currently housed in the premises of former
tinned-food factory.
On relocating to the present address in 2004,
there were 74 members. The new premises pro-
92
SENIORS WORKSHOPS IN SVENDBORG
vided more space immediately, with the option of

extensions later on, but also required a concerted
effort on the part of the members to make the interiors viable as workshops. The association numbers many retired members of skilled trades and
people with a practical bent. The members themselves refurbished the entirety of the premises in
an outstanding, voluntary effort by all the men.
This immense contribution in time and effort
by the members also had the effect of creating a
strong sense of community and encouraged social
interaction. The conversion process has been ongoing and highly productive.
Several extensions have been made so far, so that

the association currently has around 950 m2 at its
disposal for a great range of activities.
Membership count at the turn of the year
2012/2013 was 456 persons aged 60+, with an
equal distribution of women and men. However,
the target group is still men. This is because men
typically find it difficult on retirement to find an
alternative to working life.
Activities at the seniors workshops have proved an
excellent alternative to the jobs that dominated life
pre-retirement. This is also one of the reasons why
the association holds an annual open-day event in
September and happily always with a great turnout. The women come all of their own accord, so
no need to worry about persuading them to join.
In response to the great influx of members, activities in the joinery section increased to match. Unfortunately so did the problem of dust and wood
shavings. The small wood waste extractors kept
next to the individual machines were unable to
cope with the intensive demand that followed in
the wake of the increase in membership.
Thanks to the VELUX FOUNDATIONs donation, the workshops now benefit from excellent air
quality.
93
vicarage gardens from the Age of Enlightenment
B Y H E R M A N R M E R
Herman Rmer (born 1943)

trained as a teacher at Silkeborg Teacher Training College
and in 1966 took up a position
at Hvidbjerg Centralskole on
the North Jutland peninsula
of Thyholm, where he taught until his retirement in
2003. Herman Rmer has been actively involved in
many projects and associations on Thyholm. He has
served Thyholm Egnsmuseum, an independent regional museum, since 2008 as chairman of the board.
In 2013, the VELUX FOUNDATION donated

DKK 100,000 to the regional museum, Thyholm Egnsmuseum, for its Wilse Gardens project. The museum had long aspired to create a
park, a recreational space, in the 1000-year-old
village of Sndbjerg, where Jacob Nicolai Wilse
(1763-1801) was raised. The museum wished
to pay tribute to Wilse by creating vicarage gardens in the style of those created by Wilse in Spydeberg, Norway, where he subsequently became
a vicar and professor. But equally, the aim is for
the gardens to serve as an information space dedicated to a man of the Enlightenment, for whom
it was imperative to improve conditions for the
common people.
Etching: Wilses drawing of the vicarage gardens at Spydeberg, Norway.
94
W I L S E H AV E N V I C A R A G E G A R D E N S F R O M T H E A G E O F E N L I G H T E N M E N T
Wilsehaven
J. N. Wilse
Interest in Jacob Nicolai Wilse arose on Thyholm around twenty
years ago, culminating with a play entitled Scenes from Life
penned by local playwright, Niels Stokholm. The play portrays
Wilses life story from his birth in Lemvig, his childhood
and youth in Sndbjerg and his adult life in Norway, at
first Spydeberg and then Eidsberg, where he was vicar.
The play met with such an enthusiastic response from
the inhabitants of our Norwegian twin-town of Spydeberg,
that they invited us to Norway to stage the play in the vicarage
gardens at Spydeberg. These are the gardens designed by Wilse,
and which have now served as inspiration for the m
useums small-scale
vicarage gardens at Sndbjerg.
A vicarage garden
But why gardens in the style of Wilses age? His was the age of Enlightenment, in which the vicar was to encourage the peasantry to gain qualifications, to be industrious and embrace new methods of cultivation and new
crops, a healthy way of life and so forth. The vicar was the pioneer of
creating kitchen gardens and orchards. By his own example, the vicar shows
in his gardens how local smallholders can make the most of their own land.
The vicar spreads knowledge of plants with edible, medicinal or other uses
among the peasants. Wilse was an eminent and typical representative of the
age of Enlightenment in all its desire for knowledge and its utilitarianism.
The gardens are inspired by the Baroque style favoured in Wilses vicarage
gardens. Typical features include axes, in the form of paths, and clipped
hedging plants such as yew. The broad paths were designed to make it easy
for the public (including the less mobile) to explore the gardens.
The planting is based on the plants Wilse would have seen growing on
Thyholm in the 1700s. These included elder, hazel, blackberry, docks,
Dutch clover and catnip. (Wilse gives plants such as Dutch clover the
credit for the excellent cheeses made on Thyholm at the time.)
These are complemented by some of the earliest cultivars such as yew,
bush roses, lilac and damson. The two sweet cherries pay tribute to Wilses
vicarage gardens in Spydeberg, Norway.
One little-known fact of note is that the vicarage at Spydeberg was the
setting for the preliminary negotiations preceding the adoption of the
Constitution of Norway in 1814!
Garden layout by garden

designer Margrethe Heide,
Thisted.
Jacob Nicolai Wilse (1763-1801).
95
The History of
Technology
in Greenland
B Y H AN S P. S T E E N F O S A N D
J R G E N TA A GH O LT
For many years, Hans P. Steenfos (born

1931), civil engineer, was involved in major construction projects not only in Greenland and Alaska but also in Europe, Asia
and Africa while working for a company
called Bigum & Steenfos, Rdgivende Ingenir
firma A/S. He has been a member of the Society of
Danish Engineers Executive Committee and member of the Board of Directors of the Danish Association of Consulting Engineers (FRI).
96
Jrgen Taagholt (born 1934), civil engineer, has been conducting geophysical
investigations in Greenland for the Technical University of Denmark since 1961.
From 1967 until 2001 he worked as
scientific liaison officer for the ministries
and authorities on issues concerning Greenland for
the Ministry for Greenland and later the Danish
In 2006, the VELUX FOUNDATION provided a grant of DKK

250,000 that, with additional support from the Commission for Scientific Research in Greenland, Direktr Ib Henriksens Fond and Frimodts Fond, enabled the two retired civil engineers, Hans P. Steenfos and Jrgen Taagholt, in association with the Arctic Institute, to
compile material for the report Lokalisering og sikring af arkivalier
vedrrende den teknologiske udvikling i Grnland (2008) (Localisation and protection of records concerning the development of technology in Greenland). Based on the information gathered and the authors personal involvement in developing Greenland over the course
of more than 50 years, they have followed the Arctic Institutes suggestion and prepared a manuscript for the book Grnlands teknologihistorie (The History of Technology in Greenland). With support
Polar Center. In 1972, he was appointed by the Minister for Greenland as a member of the Commission for Scientific Research in Greenland.
from the VELUX FOUNDATION totalling DKK 270,000 in 2012

and additional support from Kgl. Grnlandsfond (the Royal Greenland Foundation) and Kulturfonden Danmark-Grnland, Gyldendal
THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY IN GREENLAND
13-storey high-rise housing built in Nuuk during

Self-government. Photo: Jrgen Taagholt 2012
Primitive housing.
Photo: Jrgen Taagholt 1962
97
Large apartment buildings in

Nuuk. Photo: Jrgen Taagholt
2001
ublishing house launched this richly illustrated 631-page book in

p
August 2012 with Ole Jrgensen and Axel Kielland as editors and
graphics by Jrgen Strunge.
The book begins with a short review of how the culture of hunting has
developed over the past 1,000 years, the immigration of the Norse people
adopting Scandinavian traditions and the impact of the colonial era on this
development. The remainder of the book concerns the turbulent development following World War II.
While covering sufficient technical subjects, this comprehensive guidebook
will also appeal to anyone interested in the Arctic and Greenland. Written
for pupils in the senior years of secondary school and upper secondary
school, it is also sure to interest anthropologists, sociologists, geographers
and social scientists wishing to follow developments in the Arctic region,
as well as companies involved in Arctic technology.
In the space of 34 chapters, readers gain insight into the administrative
98
THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY IN GREENLAND
structure of the technological development, teaching, including the engineering courses in Greenland, administrative and political issues as well
as the geophysical aspects climate, including permafrost, for example.
The book has a special focus on the construction work, energy supply and
technical hygiene, ship and air transport, communication, hunting and
fishing, mining, agriculture and tourism as well as services e.g. within navigation, meteorology, emergency services and fisheries inspection. Finally,
the book also provides insight into the rules and requirements for building
and construction projects, study concessions etc.
Technical developments are clearly described from a neutral perspective
and presented in a relevant social context.
This unique book, which is in a league of its own with many colour illustrations, drawings, maps and graphical summaries, explains issues in a
reader-friendly journalistic style. Chapter by chapter it explores the multifaceted history of the special Arctic conditions for the enjoyment of both
professionals and readers with a general interest in this field.
Road construction in Ilulissat.

Photo: Hans P. Steenfos
99
SOCIAL PROJECTS
Headspace
-new, early help

for vulnerable
children and
young people
Photo: iStock
In 2013, the VELUX FOUNDATION,

as co-funder with the VILLUM FOUNDATION, donated DKK 21,907,500 to
the headspace Denmark project, a new
core initiative under The Social Network
Association (Foreningen Det Sociale
Netvrk). The headspace project sees
the creation of a completely new form of
independent initiative for the benefit of
vulnerable young people, supported by
an alliance of civil society and professionals. Headspace aims to reach young peo-
Headspace Denmark 2013

Every year, many children and adolescents are
affected by problems such as insecurity, low selfesteem, stress, anxiety, eating disorders, suicidal
tendencies and substance abuse. From Danish
studies we know that 75-80,000 young people
aged 16-24 are affected by mental health issues.
Among 11-15-year-olds, 50,000 have similar issues. The tendency is for the youngsters to isolate
themselves, often without any active contact with
parents or peers. And without seeking the help of
a doctor or public mental health services.
The barriers preventing these young people from
completing an education or training and finding
employment are almost insurmountable up to
80% of the dropouts from vocational training
programmes have mental health issues.
The public sector alone is unable to help these
er access to early, rapid and relevant help before

they become a case in the public-sector system.
Inspired by the Australian initiative of the same
name, The Social Network Association is introducing headspace in six Danish municipalities:
City of Copenhagen, Rdovre, Roskilde, Odense,
Horsens and Aalborg for a 2-year period with
funding from the VELUX FOUNDATION.
ple at an early stage with preventive programmes to forestall public-sector social

and treatment-oriented interventions.
young people at an early enough stage. There is

a need for a whole new approach in Denmark to
providing children and young people with prop-
treatment from the public system.

Each centre is built up around a large corps of
volunteers and a small permanent staff. One of
BY P OUL N Y RUP RASM USSEN
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (born 1943), former

Prime Minister, Chairman of The Social
Network Association
H E A D S PA C E
Photo: Lars Svankjr
100
Civil society as a bridge builder

Headspace operates independently of local, regional and national authorities. It is not in competition with public services, but is rather a complementary mental health service that can take action and assist at an earlier stage, while also being
more fine-meshed and receptive. In headspace,
the aim is to reach out to young people at risk
before they develop a mental disorder and need
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SOCIAL PROJECTS
involved in designing and developing the centre. The first

impression signals that youngsters will be well received by
people on their side.
the volunteer teams is made up of young people

with a personal history of mental vulnerability.
The other team is made up of young students
with an interest in engaging in the work of the
centre, for example trainee social workers or psychology students. The third team is made up of
resourceful senior citizens, whose contribution
is based on their life experience and former occupation. Headspace pledges to offer the same
service and high-level professionalism among its
volunteers and permanent, trained staff, regardless of the centres geographical location. To that
end, the national headspace centre is conducting
a comprehensive recruitment process and induction programme for managers, staff and volunteers alike.
Each centre is anchored in its local community,
and operates in association with sports associations, youth clubs, education and training institutions, etc., and in close cooperation with its local
youngsters into the care of the headspace centre

in time.
On their own terms
The headspace centre is geared to children and
young adults aged between 12 and 25, who need
counselling and help in their particular situation.
No matter what problems the young people are
confronted with, they can either call their local
centre or walk in off the street for help.
The basic premise is that the help must be available on the young peoples own terms and in their
own scene, not on the systems terms. This is
what makes it possible to achieve real contact and
meaningful interaction at the headspace centres.
The help must be available there and then and
without any provisos. Headspace will also be a
help to family and friends who can seek information at the centres, and refer a young person to
the centre for urgent help.
Cooperation with the local authority

Headspace is a pre-municipal programme, but each local
centre has a natural and important joint arrangement with
the local authority services, for example, in cases where
the young persons problems are so complex that the centre is unable to provide comprehensive mental health care.
At each centre, there will be a special focus on achieving
a friction-free transition for young people from headspace
to local/regional mental health care.
Every one of the participating local authorities has endorsed the concept of giving all youngsters access to the
centres, whether they live in the city or the provinces. The
basis for this is a binding, written cooperation agreement
which guarantees headspace and the vulnerable children
and young people a single point of access to the local authority services if the need arises. But equally, the ambition is for headspace to inspire local authorities to adopt
new, better solutions in their youth mental health care.
The Social Network Association has developed the Danish
headspace concept over an 18-month period, the last six
months of which benefitted from close dialogue with the
VELUX FOUNDATIONs senior advisors up to the final funding application. This interaction has undoubtedly
given credence to and helped to fine-tune the headspace
project in terms of both cooperation with the local authorities and civil society involvement.
The headspace pilot project will be launched in 2013, and
will be rolled out and in operation over the next 2 years
until autumn 2015. The project incorporates supervision
and documentation with associated reporting. After the
project period with the anticipated positive outcomes
authority. In this way, it implements local capacity

building for civil society, and thereby as a whole
increases the prospects of bringing vulnerable
The headspace centres are located where young

people are used to hanging out. To ensure youth
appeal, it is vital that the young volunteers are
the ambition of The Social Network Association is for

headspace Denmark to be endorsed and established as a
full-scale nationwide project.
Photo: iStock
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H E A D S PA C E
Photo: iStock
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SOCIAL PROJECTS
TAGDEL.dk
- an online portal for volunteerism
TAG DELs frontpage
B Y AN N E KAT RI N E H E J E L A RS E N AND STEFAN THOL STRUP SCHM ID T
104
Anne Katrine Heje Larsen (born 1976) is co-founder of KPH Kbenhavns Projekthus. She previously started up and ran the culture and entre
preneurship fair Copenhagen Unfair during
Copenhagen Fashion Week, and personally works
as a designer, owning her own brand for eight
years. She is now the director of KPH.
Stefan Tholstrup Schmidt (born 1980) is one of the

initiators of TAG DEL and works as project manager for the TAG DEL project. He has a mastersequivalent in experience economics and gained
a bachelors degree in anthropology from Aarhus
University in 2011. Stefan wrote the bachelor thesis that formed the basis for the TAG DEL concept.
In 2012, the VELUX FOUNDATION, as cofunder with the VILLUM FOUNDATION,

granted DKK 758,100 to Kbenhavns Projekthus (KPH) to realise the project TAG
DEL (Tagdel.dk) hvor vi gr mere sammen.
TAG DEL (www.tagdel.dk), which translates
as TAKE PART, is a social media platform
which nurtures and mobilises voluntary ca-
and generates social innovation, where the

focus is on shared influence and showcasing
the individual volunteers commitment, skills
and interests. KPH is a project hothouse for
innovative start-ups and established entrepreneurs, committed to developing value-creating
solutions to societys problems. The object of
the association is to provide a framework, in-
About taking part and doing more together

In the future, voluntary work is set to take on
greater importance, both for the sustained development of our welfare society, and to enable
Denmark to continue mounting social projects
with scope beyond our national borders. Hence
the growing need to both encourage and unlock
the full potentials of volunteerism.
The TAG DEL platform was conceived to eliminate precisely those barriers which volunteers
come up against when they sign up for voluntary
work. TAG DEL tackles this problem by making
voluntary work more accessible, involving and
valuable. Not just for the volunteers themselves,
but also for the projects, associations and institutions that make use of voluntary work. More
specifically, TAG DEL enables the platforms us-
pacity in Denmark. It does so by providing

a framework for a whole new style of volunteerism. A framework which both stems from
novative community involvement and alliances

in support of social, cultural and environmental entrepreneurs.
ers to bring their inspiration and ideas to bear in

mounting projects and initiatives that respond to
the challenges faced by our society.
TA G D E L . D K
TAG DEL is Denmarks platform for a new online

volunteerism, serving as a valuable supplement to
voluntary work as we know it, and in such a way
that greater numbers of citizens are becoming
even more involved in voluntary work.
zens, and their interests and inputs, taking centre

stage. The TAG DEL platform is free of charge
for everyone to use.
TAG DEL is for everyone

TAG DEL was born out of the belief that we can
create more socially innovative solutions if we enable everyone to bring their own special skills and
resources into play. This is why TAG DEL is for
everyone who wants to be involved in creating solutions to the challenges of our society and who
wants to be involved in putting those solutions to
work in real life. In essence, TAG DEL is a platform for sharing and collaborating across associations, public institutions and businesses, with citi-
105
SOCIAL PROJECTS
Screenshot of possible challenges from the association Uniting Causes
Example of user suggestion to deal with the challenge
The TAG DEL platforms functions and scope

Core to the TAG DEL platform is that all its users
can post a social and societal challenge and invite
each other to help come up with solutions to the
challenge. If a user wants to go ahead and implement one or more solutions to a given challenge,
that user can then invite the platforms other users
to an event where the new solution is realised.
All users of the platform can post a challenge within the areas of arts & culture, health & wellbeing,
social work, children & youth, politics, climate &
environment, sport & recreation, transport, urban
spaces and education.
TAG DEL is designed as a highly democratic and
social platform where those who use the system
and each others services, are continually encouraged to contribute to and react to each others
lective Causes), which posted a challenge to address resource wastage on its TAG DEL profile.
The challenge reads: How can we create more
scope for sharing and collective ownership?(see
the screenshots). The users start by contributing
ideas for specific initiatives to realise this mission
(see the screenshots of solution proposals by the
responding users). As soon as the project has received enough ideas for initiatives and has selected
one or more to put into practice, they can follow
up the challenge by posting an event and inviting
all the users to participate in realising the initiatives.
challenges and proposed solutions. For instance,

all users can support (equivalent to like on Facebook) each other and each others content, they
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TA G D E L . D K
can build on each others solutions and invite

each other to challenges and events where solutions are put to work.
The aim is for the users to assume the role of inspired co-creators of solutions to other users challenges. This helps to instil a sense of co-ownership
and commitment in each user, so everyone is motivated to subsequently get involved as a conventional hands-on volunteer when a new solution is
ready to be implemented. Beyond that, the TAG
DEL platform is designed with a view to supporting
the creation of new, hands-on networks across the
platforms different users. TAG DEL achieves this
by facilitating the exchange of know-how, experience and inspiration among the users and a general
meeting of minds in a context where the focus is
rallying proactive forces to respond to challenges.
Fra udfordring til realisering af lsning
One example of a user is Sager der Samler (Col-
Why TAG DEL and online volunteerism?

With TAG DEL, we have not only created a new
portal to the world of volunteering as we know it,
we have created a whole new framework for a new
ing to and talking about doing voluntary work. In

TAG DEL, the aim is to make it acceptable to say
out loud that as volunteers, we are not only donating our labour, but benefitting personally from doing so. The name itself, TAG DEL/TAKE PART,
conveys this positive give-take duality of encouraging people to participate by sharing their skills and
resources, but also to take positive experiences of
volunteering onboard.
In the midst of hectic modern life, TAG DEL is a
platform where the users can contribute whenever
and wherever it suits them. With TAG DEL, users
can help to solve a challenge while on the bus to
school or work meaning when they have the time
and inclination. Furthermore, TAG DEL is a platform where all activity and commitment are visible
to everyone else.
type of volunteerism. In that sense, TAG DEL,

meaning TAKE PART, is not just a name, but a
new take on volunteering, and a new way of relat-
In short, TAG DEL makes taking active part in

solving the challenges in our society a meaningful
experience all round.
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SOCIAL PROJECTS
RODACIE
A Land of Play
Exploring a new space. Photo: Maria Coza
Ioana Parpala (born 1976) holds masters degrees in psychotherapy

and project management. She has worked at the Romanian General
A day in fairytale land

It is morning at the Romanian Danish Center for
past six months have become part of their families.

At RODACIE, all the children feel safe, as safe as
in their parents arms, even though some of them
are very young and barely walking yet. This is just
one result of the projects philosophy of creating a predictable and stimulating environment
for child development, which unlike traditional
Romanian crches erases the barriers between
the children and their carers.
This environment, organised according to Danish paedagogical principles, recreates a homely atmosphere in every detail: a sofa, the eating area,
the motor skills development area, the reading
area, all of them are set at child height and are
fully accessible to them.
As we all know, the moment when parents leave
children at a crche may cause a feeling of separation, even of abandonment, but a friendly atmosphere, resembling the family setting eases the
transition from home to day-care. At RODACIE,
Directorate for Social Assistance and Child Protection since 2004, as

a psychologist and subsequently as a project manager. She has coordinated BERD, PHARE and FSE funded projects.
Integrated Education and everybody is busy. The

smiling children arrive, accompanied by their parents. They are happy to see the people that for the
play is the order of the day, and the adults are like
children again. But they have not forgotten their
duty to educate the little ones, the adults play
BY IOANA PARPAL A
108
RODACIE A LAND OF PLAY
In 2012, the VILLUM FOUNDATION

granted EUR 621,628 to RODACIE (Romanian Danish Centre for Integrated Education),
which was established in 2012. The project
implemented by the General Directorate for
Social Assistance and Child Protection District
1 in partnership with VIA University College, Denmark, Bucharest University, Romania, Training and Resource Center for Social
Occupations Pro Vocatie aims to improve
the living conditions and facilitate the social
integration of young children in a Romanian
context by creating a new, innovative and specialised state-of-the-art institution targeting
children aged 0-4 from deprived and/or socially dysfunctional families from inner-city
Bucharest.
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SOCIAL PROJECTS
110
Children at the RODACIE crche learning shapes and

colours. Photo: Maria Coza
Painting on asphalt. Photo: Maria Coza
Learning about means of transport. Photo: Maria Coza
The rabbit talks to the children in the 2+ age group.

Photo: Maria Coza
with them: they sing, move and dance together.

So, every morning gets off to a happy start.
During the first meeting of the day just like
the dwarves in fairytales the children take their
cushions, sit in a circle and sing, say their names
and greet their playmates. The goal of the activities that follow is to familiarise the children with
daily routines and encourage independence: the
children wash their hands, brush their teeth, eat
their meals and snacks and play together.
As the saying goes a healthy mind in a healthy
body every day the children play in the open air.
The adults join in and help them explore nature.
Together, they watch insects, flowers, birds. This
is where the educator is no longer a supervisor:
he is a teamplayer and playmate, discovering the
natural world together with the children.
At noon the children eat at the center. Meals re
present another important daily activity in the
ing them and setting examples for them, acting as

role-models for the children.
The whole learning process focuses on the children, their needs and abilities, so that the activities can be conducted individually, in small groups
or with all the children. It is the childs choice to
take part in a particular activity; if the child does
not wish to join in, he or she can just watch the
others or choose to join another activity. RODACIE palace is the home of fairytales. The children
play, watch the others in a safe setting, adjusted to
real-life situations, and in this way discover themselves, other people and the world around them.
The educator and the rest of the staff are the good
fairies or the elves that are always ready to guide
them and stimulate their creativity and sense of
independence.
the educators acknowledge the childrens perspectives and make them part of everyday activities, so that they are involved in drawing a path to
follow under kindly adult supervision.
Educators and friends
design early-learning activities, to implement a

successful educational model adapted to Romanian circumstances. They adjust to the childrens
needs, they change their attitude, the way they
perceive the children and the way they interrelate
and as a result adapt the way they work, which is
one of the hallmarks of the project.
Romanian and Danish trainers regularly join the
RODACIE team and discuss child supervision
through play; how the educator should be the
childs partner and role model in order to help
him become a confident and resilient adult. The
trainers help the staff discover different ways of
working with the children, how to tell music from
noise, discover nature and the surrounding world,
as well as dance and the joy of social interaction.
Designed and planned in compliance with the
requirements of Romanian legislation regarding
early education, the activities meet the needs of
process of building the childrens independence,

and the RODACIE team is more than an obser
ver: the staff eat together with the children, help-
The center is evolving all the time. The people

involved learn from the Danish experience how
to interact positively with the children, how to
the children. Each activity, each initiative has a

precise goal clearly defined by the good fairies.
The center focuses on the childrens perspective:
DACIE makes it possible for the children to step

up and go on living the beautiful story of their
life.
RODACIE A LAND OF PLAY
The fairytale lives on

We wrote the story. The VILLUM FOUNDATION liked it and decided to help us turn it into
reality, and all we have to do now is to carry on.
Our Danish friends are helping and teaching us to
become better carers for our children, to create
new fairytales for the children to help them understand at an early age how important they are.
In future, the plan is to expand RODACIE with
beautiful gardens where children can ride their
bikes, climb miniature mountains, and study the
wonderful world of animals and plants. They will
learn to be independent and at the same time to
respect and play with each other. In this way, RO-
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SOCIAL PROJECTS
A social initiative
for vulnerable children and

young people in Greenland
BY NANNA FROST
Nanna Frost (born 1955), MA in Danish and German from Aarhus

University, is currently the owner of the INPRACTICA consultancy.
Previously, she was a manager for 23 years in the public education
sector, during which time she was principal of a VUC adult learning
centre. Her present work involves management, mergers, large-scale
organisational development projects, development of new organisations,
project development, funding and executive coaching of managers.
In 2012, the VILLUM FOUNDATION granted DKK
5,481,000 to the Kanonen residential home to fund a social initiative for vulnerable children and young people in Greenland.
Previously, children from Greenland with educational or mental
health problems were sent to Denmark for intervention or treatment. This project allows the young people to remain in the environment which they will return to and live in. Under this project, a 24-hour placement of 10 young people aged 10-18 was
achieved at Kangerlussuaq (Sndre Strmfjord). The employees
are a mix of both Greenlanders and Danes, and part of the project aims to train the Greenlanders to a level enabling them to
run the residential home independently. The objective is to hand
over the residential care project to Greenland in 5 years time.
Orpigaqs Kangerlussuaq building.

Photo: The project
Background and perspectives

The Orpigaq centre started up in January 2013 with 2 young peoA favourite activity: a nature excursion.
Photo: The project
112
A S O C I A L I N I T I AT I V E F O R V U L N E R A B L E C H I L D R E N A N D Y O U N G P E O P L E I N G R E E N L A N D
ple in residence. One of the more concrete aims was to reduce the
list of children from Greenland waiting for treatment. The need for
the service was great and 7 children were registered very quickly.
One of the common rooms at the

Orpigaq centre. Photo: The project
113
SOCIAL PROJECTS
Snowtime! Photo: The project
114
Sunset at Kangerlussuaq. Photo: Projektet
The project became a reality and Trine H. Pfeiffer,

Director of the Kanonen foundation, took great
pleasure in implementing a sustainable and replicable programme in the social work environment
of Greenland.
The project seeks to identify new methods of assisting socially vulnerable children and young people in Greenland, where residential care places for
those at most risk are in short supply. There is a
lack of professionals with the training to solve issues surrounding placement as well as a lack of systems for diagnostics, treatment and aftercare. At
present, there is a 6-year wait for psychiatric assessment because there is no standardised national referral framework. The proportion of children taken
into care is high at 8-10%.
The objects of the project are: 1. To create a residential care institution in Greenland, so children
can receive professional care in their own national
setting. 2. To train Greenlanders to solve national
child welfare issues partly by direct training in social work for 5 years and partly by encouraging lo-
Why Orpigaq?
The aim is for the project to continue independently in 5 years time. By then, professional competencies and experience will have been gained,
methods established and well functioning routines
will have been developed to ensure continuation of
the project. The Greenlandic staff will have completed their training for running the centre, and
the children and adolescents placed there will have
received essential help to allow them to progress to
stable and independent adulthood.
In the short term, the aim is to place the young people away from their home environment and thus
break a negative circle. Then, in collaboration with
the relevant regional authority, arrangements will
be made to encourage the young people to engage
in employment, education, and leisure activities at
the end of the placement.
In the long term, the aim is to ensure that these
young people will not be in danger of becoming
socially vulnerable again, exposed to severe social
problems, violence, self harm and addictions.
cal staff employed at the Orpigaq centre to take

special in-service training courses in effective treatment and care provision.
At the end of the project, the aim is to have developed best practices in social work of relevance to,
and adapted to, conditions in Greenland, and that
A S O C I A L I N I T I AT I V E F O R V U L N E R A B L E C H I L D R E N A N D Y O U N G P E O P L E I N G R E E N L A N D
can be communicated to others and serve as a

model of effective aftercare.
The target group is children and teenagers of both
sexes, aged 10-18, who are at risk owing to alcohol and/or drug misuse, depression, incest/sexual abuse, and delinquency issues. They are from
Greenland institutions that are unable to house
them, perhaps because they are a danger to themselves or others, and/or have not received necessary treatment.
Methods, activities and effect
The methods employed are practical social work.
The children can be placed at the centre for up
to 3 years, ideally until they have finished the 9th
year of secondary education. If possible, the whole
of the family is included to ensure that the home
environment is safe on the childs return. The relevant education is also taken into account by offering schooling at the centre itself or in collaboration
with their existing school.
The placement offers a high level of predictability,
calm and order through a fixed daily structure at
every level.
The work involved in this structure is a prerequisite
for the next steps; work on relationships and social

skills to prepare the young person for integrating
into a normal school and/or work environment
at the end of their placement. The Orpigaq centre
mirrors normal society in terms of consequences,
but one important element is that no behaviour
can cause a resident to be excluded from the project. Treatment will be individualised for each residents issues and challenges.
The ultimate, long-term effect of the project will
be to have provided preventive protection, by making it less attractive for a young person to become
part of a criminal, violent or drug addictive environment. The young are kept away from groups
where undesirable activities are central and are instead given a meaningful alternative.
Research has proven that one method is to: 1. Assist endangered children and young people to engage in new group relations. 2. To help them to
adopt alternative or new values that displace the
incentive for joining harmful environments. 3. To
encourage their interest in society. 4. To provide
new positive role models, e.g. people who have
successfully overcome the attraction of crime/substance misuse.
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CULTURE
From Dream to Reality:

A New
Music Museum
in the Former
Broadcasting House
BY LIS BET TO R P

Lisbet Torp (born 1949) graduated from the Royal
Danish Academy of Music in 1972. She defended
her doctorate at the University of Copenhagen in
1990. From 1998-2006 she was director of Musik
historisk Museum and the Carl Claudius Collection
in Copenhagen. Since 2006, when the Music Museum joined the Danish National Museum, she has
been curator and head of collections at the National
Museum. Lisbet Torp is president of CIMCIM the
committee of music museums and collections under
UNESCOs international museum organisation
ICOM.
In 2012, the VELUX FOUNDATION g
ranted
DKK 6,000,000 for the foundation of a new
exhibition space in connection with the relocation of the Music Museum to its new premises in the former Broadcasting House. Here
the museum is situated next door to the Royal
Danish Academy of Music as well as Copenhagen Phil (Sjllands Symfoniorkester). As
such, the future holds potential for all kinds
of promising multidisciplinary collaborations
and activities, when the museum opens in its
new surroundings in summer 2014. Here the
public will meet the world of music presented
in sequences where heritage and contemporary
musical instruments, sound, and interactivity
Five instruments representing the five universal principles of sound

production: aerophone, membranophone, electrophone, chordophone, and idiophone. Photo: The Danish Music Museum
116
FROM DREAM TO REALITY
offer knowledge and experience and where

the visitor can experiment with instruments of
the types seen and heard in the exhibition.
The Music Museum intends to stimulate interest in the

world of music among children and adults, laymen and
specialists, music consumers and music performers. This
is done by arousing curiosity, putting questions and establishing relations between sound and object, musical expression, craftsmanship, and technological development. Photo: Kurt Larsen
117
The painting of four musicians at the court of Danish

King Christian IV adorn the section on Renaissance music in the new exhibition. It was painted by the Danish painter Reinhold Timm in 1622 the year when
the king appointed the famous viola da gamba player
Thomas Simpson and a year after the English harp player Darby Scott (to the left in the painting) had joined
the court. Photo: Ole Woldbye
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CULTURE
From dream to reality

Denmark is a country of museums, with more
than 100 museums for the history of culture, nature, and art small and big museums, local, regional, and national. Most museums are governed
by boards, directors, and curators all of whom
find that their museum is special. Hence, they
fight to secure the best conditions possible for
presentation of their collections.
However, although many dream about such opportunities, only few have the luck to experience
the pleasure and challenge of creating a new museum. The VELUX FOUNDATIONs donation
permitted the Music Museum and the National
Museum to engage in preparing two storeys in
the former Broadcasting House and preparing
them for museum purposes.
The idea of moving from a quiet life in the street
of Aabenraa to a lively music environment in the
former Broadcasting House was by no means new.
In fact it formed as early as 2008 when the Royal
Danish Academy of Music had moved into its new
facilities. The building was buzzing with life but
parts of it were still vacant. It was difficult to let
go of the idea of a musical house-share once it had
presented itself. It gave room for new thinking
both with regard to exhibitions and presentations
it was a unique opportunity.
Electric guitar designed and made by the luthier and industrial designer Ulrich Teuffel, Germany 2001. The design of
the Birdfish-guitar is minimalistic and the concept based on interchangeable modules. The guitar body is substituted
by two tonebars: one set made from swamp ash and another from maple. The three pickups can be positioned individually and the leg rest functions as a handle when the guitar is carried in its special gigbag. Photo: Stefan Schmied
Physical settings and future perspectives at

Rosenrns All
Designed by the famous Danish architect Vilhem
Lauritzen, Broadcasting House was built during
1937-1945 and extended with yet another wing
in the fifties. With its choice interiors and exquisite materials, the building complex is a unique
example of the transition between functionalism
and modernism and is therefore considered one
of the major works of Danish 20th century architecture.
In these inspiring surroundings and with the
Music Academy as close neighbours the Music
specialists, music audiences and music performers.

The library and archive reopened in the winter of
2014. The opening of the exhibition level follows
in the summer of 2014 presenting the museums
unique collection of musical instruments in exciting fascinating and inspiring setting thanks to the
donation from the VELUX FOUNDATION.
Museum will be pursuing its visions and intensifying its mission to stimulate interest in the world
of music among children and adults, laymen and
ruled by their senses and curiosity.

The exhibition runs along two parallel paths. One
presents Western musical culture from Antiquity
Exhibitions presentation activities

The new exhibition meets both those visitors
who consciously or unconsciously prefer to follow a chronological or otherwise structured path
through the exhibition as well as those who are
119
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CULTURE
Two sides of the same thing. According to the Danish composer Niels W.
Gade, this heart-shaped pendant
made from lava and framed in gold
once belonged to W.A. Mozart who
wore it in his watch chain. The pendant came to Denmark with Mozarts widow Constance, who lived
in Copenhagen from 1810-20 after
having married the Danish diplomat Georg N. Nissen. Photo: Pernille
Klemp
to the 19th century, and the other takes the visitor through the
development of musical life on Danish soil from the Bronze Age
to the 19th century. The two paths meet in the 20th and 21st
centuries when the instruments have come under the influence of
increasing globalisation, mass production, and the development
of electrically amplified and electronic instruments.
Between these two paths one finds the Sound Arcade where the
five universal principles of sound production are illustrated in visual, audible and tactile terms with musical instruments from different cultures worldwide. The exhibition space at the end of the
arcade is dedicated to non-European music cultures.
Next to this is the Splendour Room a section where exquisite
craftsmanship, fascinating shapes, and wild experiments challenge
each other. This is followed by a section for live music and presentation of current themes.
Last, but not least, the Clang Room a musical play room where
children and adults alike can try out musical instruments known
and unknown and experiment with sound.
The Sounding Museum is a special educational programme with
activities for children and young people. The programme includes
three tracks, each organised in three parts: 1) physical-practical
experience of the instruments from a given period/genre/culture
in special rooms with inspiring fittings and musical instruments
funded by Den Obelske Familiefond, 2) dialogue-based guided
tours of the exhibition, and 3) a concert related to the theme chosen. The programme will be available to educational institutions
from autumn 2014.
Today, music is a product which thanks to portable media can be
enjoyed anywhere and anytime. Nevertheless, many people have
never attended a live concert, nor do they know what the various
musical instruments they listen to look like. At the new exhibition,
the visitors curiosity is aroused through putting questions and
establishing relations between sound and object, musical expression, craftsmanship and technological development. The Danish
Music Museum sees it as one of its most important tasks to widen
It looks like a work by Picasso or Dali, however, the violino arpa is the result of a 19th
century search for a larger and more powerful tone. The idea behind the shape of the
instruments is attributed to the Hungarian Count Gregor Sturdza on whose request
the Hungarian violin maker Thomas Zach
made the violino arpa. The violin was
first introduced at the World Exhibition in Vienna in 1873.
However, it never became
the revolutionary novelty they had hoped for.
Instead of being large
and powerful, the tone
was nasal and muddy. Only very few were
made, and hence, the
violino arpa remained
an intellectual experiment. Photo: Ole Woldbye and Pernille Klemp
the musical horizons of its visitors. It is a privilege to have been

given the opportunity to realise this dream.
121
B Y AN D E RS H J G RD P E T E RS E N , THOM AS H. L UN DHEDE AND CARSTEN RAHBEK
Anders Hjgrd Petersen (born 1961) is a biologist and special consultant at

Center for Macroe-cology, Evolution and Climate (CMEC) at the Natural
History Museum, University of Copenhagen. He has more than 20 years of experience of investigating human impacts on the environment and living organisms. He is currently engaged in quantitative and cross disciplinary analysis
of biodi-versity data mainly in a Danish nature conservation context.
Thomas Hedemark Lundhede (born 1972) holds a Danish Cand. Silv. and a
PhD degree in Envi-ronmental Economics. He is currently associate professor
at the Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen. He has more than 10 years of experience in valuation of non-marketed
goods, including recreation and biodiversity.
122
The biodiversity of the forest

Denmark was once a forest land. After the last ice age, the forest spread
from the south and covered most of the country, as it had done between
the ice ages for millions of years. This is why a large proportion of the
fauna in Denmark even today are adapted to forest habitats. A survey of
around 8,000 Danish animals, plants and fungi reveals that 64% occur in
woodlands and that 36% are confined to woodland (see Figure 1). About
17% of Danish species are considered threatened, and of these, half are
confined to forest habitats.
The reason that so many different species are found in woodland is that
the original extensive forest was highly diversified. There were numerous
tree, bush and shrub species. The former dense forest was varied with
more open areas. There were areas of tall trees and marshy areas with
lower alder thicket and scrubs. There were young trees, old hollow trees
and fallen, decaying tree trunks. There were light gaps, glades and woodland meadows grazed by large wild animals.
Carsten Rahbek (born 1965), Professor at the Natural History Museum,

University of Copenhagen (2001-), assistant professor at Peking University
(2012-) and head of the Danish National Research Foundations Center for
Macroecology, Evolution and Climate (CMEC) (2010-). He is among the
Conservation of biodiversity
To explain why so many woodland species are threatened, we have to look
far back in time. Human populations expanded and cleared the forests to
1% most-cited scientists in the world, a member of the Danish Royal Academy

of Sciences and Let-ters and the recipient of numerous national and international awards.
provide firewood and timber and to cultivate the land. By the early 1800s,
only a few per cent of the original Danish forests remained. Later, the forested area increased again now with woodland covering about 15% of
THE FOREST AND BIODIVERSITY
Non threatened species

60
Threatened species
Percentage of species
biodiversity
Habitats of Danish animals, plants and fungi

70
50
40
30
20
10
0
Forest
Open land
nature
Farmland
Urban areas
Habitat
Figure 1. Distribution of
Danish animal, plant and
fungi by different habitats.
The estimates are based on
8,005 terrestrial species assessed in the Danish Red
Data Book. Note that some
species are found in more
than one habitat, which is
why the sum of the columns
is above 100%. Graphics:
Authors
123
E N V I R O N M E N T A N D S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y
The forest
and
In 2012, the VILLUM FOUNDATION granted DKK 5,700,000

for the research project Biodiversity and socioeconomic values in
Danish forests: Optimizing multiple objectives related to forest ecosystem goods and services. The project is being run over the period
2012-2015 at the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate
(CMEC) at the Natural History Museum, University of Copen
hagen. The projects staff are Professor Carsten Rahbek (principal investigator), and the following researchers: Anders Hjgrd Petersen,
Thomas H. Lundhede, Niels Strange, Bo Jellesmark Thorsen, Jacob
Heilmann-Clausen and Hans Henrik Bruun, all at University of Copenhagen, together with contributions from WWF Denmark. The
background to the project is that the need for conservation of biodiversity in Denmark will influence future Danish forests policy and
management.
the country but these forests were different. The

new forests were planted by humans, and for 200
years they were managed with the main purpose of
providing firewood and timber. However, the last
remains of the original, primeval forest disappeared
and modern forestry became the main threat to
woodland species.
Typically a forest managed mainly for timber production is highly homogeneous. It is typically
made up of stands of sameaged single species. Undergrowth and fallen branches and trunks are removed, and when the stand is ready, all the trees are
felled at the same time. Furthermore, most Danish
forests are artificially drained. The combined effect
of this is to reduce the number of different habitats
and thus the forests biodiversity as a whole.
Although initiatives have been taken in recent years
to improve conditions for species in the forests,
halting the loss of biodiversity in Denmark will require a far more substantial effort. One effective
solution is to stop commercial forestry in selected
forests and allow them to develop more n
aturally
124
THE FOREST AND BIODIVERSITY
(see Figure 2). In association with the Danish Economic Councils, we recently showed that this is
actually also relatively cheap as compared to the
effort needed in open natural areas such as grasslands and heathlands. The importance of forest for
the conservation of biodiversity in Denmark is the
starting point for this project.
Forest ecosystem services
Another important aspect is that the forests in
Denmark, like elsewhere, are increasingly expected to serve several purposes. The forests are no
longer required to provide timber only, but also
renewable energy, carbon sequestration and storage for the benefit of the climate; the setting for
outdoor recreation; to protect groundwater resources; and to conserve biodiversity. All of these
factors are referred to as ecosystem services (see
Figure 3). Focusing on the last of these conservation of biodiversity we will investigate the
interaction between these services in relation to
future Danish forest policy.
Different targets in different forests

The general question is whether overall gains can be made by differentiation of the functional targets across different forest areas:
Untouched biodiversity forests, forests close to urban areas for
outdoor recreation, production forests for timber and others for
biofuel, forests for the protection of sensitive ground water resources etc. We will try to answer that question through scientific
analyses. It should be noted that a differentiation strategy of this
kind would not prevent forests from providing some of the other
services.
Figure 2. Natural, unmanaged broadleaved forest. Example from southern Sweden. Leaving more forests unmanaged
will considerably enhance the conservation of a diverse natural flora and fauna. Photo: Jacob Heilmann-Clausen
For many years, Danish forest policy has been based on multifunctional management of the individual forests. However, in practice,
true win-win situations are rarely achieved because the different
needs tend to be conflicting. If we produce more timber,
the result is less biodiversity conservation. If we cut
down the trees and burn them, less carbon is stored.
And if we use pesticides to improve the quality of
greenery we may reduce groundwater protection. Addressing this dilemma is another principal aim of this project.
Starting with biodiversity, we have compiled the best available data
on species distribution in Denmark. Where do we find butterflies,
hoverflies, birds, mammals, orchids and mushrooms? and where
dont we? Based on our findings, we will be identifying the forests
that constitute the most costefficient network for conservation of
forest biodiversity in Denmark.
But the project will also be mapping other ecosystem services.
Which forests are the most important for the production of timber, for outdoor recreation, for ground water protection and CO2
budget?
Finally, the project will seek to identify the functional relationships. If we choose to manage selected forests with biodiversity
conservation as the main objective, what will be the consequences
for timber production? or the CO2 budget? We will also be investigating whether some services can be optimised concurrently.
In short, where are the geographical overlaps, where are the conflicts and trade-offs or where do we find perfect synergies between
different services true win-win-scenarios?
Timber
Biodiversity
Biofuel
Forest
ecosystem
services
CO2 storage
Outdoor
recreation
Clean
ground
water
Figure 3. Summary of the main ecosystem services provided by woodlands. Ecosystem services is now used
as a common term for the benefits
(good, services and processes) gained
from the ecosystems. Graphics:
Authors
125
Oceana:
Restoring
the Baltic Sea
BY AN DREW SHARP L ESS
Oceana diver in shallow seabed near the coast. land Islands, Finland. Oceana Baltic Sea Expedition II onboard the Hanse
Explorer. May 2012. Photo: OCEANA Carlos Surez.
Andrew Sharpless (born 1957) was educated

at Harvard College, Harvard Law School
and the London School of Economics. He worked for five years at McKinsey & Co. and subsequently became one
of the founding managers of RealNetworks, the online music and
video play-back technology pioneers. He then went on to lead Discovery.com the online division of Discovery Channel. He became
CEO of Oceana in 2003.
OCEANA: RESTORING THE BALTIC SEA
Photo: OCEANA Carlos Surez
126
In 2012, the VILLUM FOUNDATION granted Oceana EUR 800,000 to conduct an at-sea
expedition to document offshore habitats and
ecosystems throughout the Baltic and Kattegat
and the threats to those habitats, both inside
and outside existing Marine Protected Areas.
Oceanas expedition was conducted with the
research vessel Hanse Explorer, from which
Oceanas divers and a Remotely Operated
Vehicle (ROV) took high-definition videos and
photographs and collected samples for analysis.
Data was then analysed and compiled into reports, which were used by Oceana and its partners to advocate with governments and regulators for improved protections for threatened
Baltic marine habitats and fisheries.
In 2009, Oceana identified the Baltic Sea as a
unique ecosystem under threat. The Baltic is a
young, shallow and low-salinity sea (0.6 per cent

in the Gulf of Bothnia to around 2.5 per cent in
the Kattegat, compared with open oceans at 3.5
per cent). The Baltics salinity is too low for most
Atlantic and North Sea species, and too high for
many freshwater species. It is therefore home to
a mixture of marine and fresh water species that
have been able to adapt to this environment,
where each one has a larger role to play in maintaining the structure and dynamics of the whole
system. These factors make for a particularly fragile ecosystem that is extremely vulnerable to human-induced disturbances.
Marine Protected Areas
One of Oceanas primary goals for the Baltic Sea
is to achieve an ecologically coherent and wellmanaged network of Marine Protected Areas
(MPAs) covering around 30 per cent of its sur-
127
Launching the ROV. Frybanken North,

Kattegat, Denmark. Oceana Baltic
Sea Expedition II onboard the Hanse
Explorer. April 2012. Photo OCEANA
Carlos Minguell
128
Sweden has expressed interest in protecting a coastal area west

of Gothenburg, on Djupa Rnnan trench (one of our proposed
MPAs in the Kattegat), and we have received confirmation from
the land Islands regional government of its intent to protect
an area south of land Islands and Bogskr that we also have
proposed.
We are also working with the Polish government on the establishment of the Kepa Redlowska MPAs; the government requested that Oceana research the area with that purpose.
Finally, though its process of designating areas will not begin
until next year, Denmark requested and used Oceana expeditions data on Modiolus modiolus (mollusk reef) and Haploops
(benthic crustacean) communities in their environmental analysis required by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.
Surprising findings
Oceanas findings in the Baltic were often bleak, but were also,
on occasion, surprising and uplifting, as our team did find remnants of habitats and species thought to have been lost. Based
on our findings, Oceana made the case for 12 new or expanded
MPAs located in Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Poland, and
many of these have already been accepted by the relevant governments.
Finland has agreed to work towards the extension of an existing MPA in the Hanko Peninsula, and the development of new
Oceana
Oceana is an international non-profit organisation entirely devoted to improving the health of the worlds oceans and seas.
Oceana integrates science-based campaigns with policy, economics, at-sea expeditions, law and media in order to achieve changes
that make marine biodiversity conservation compatible with the
economic and sustainable use of ocean resources. Since its inception in 2001, Oceana has succeeded in protecting over 1.2 million square miles of ocean.
Oceana started working in Europe in November 2004 and now
has operations based in Madrid (Mediterranean and Atlantic),
Brussels (EU policy) and Copenhagen (Baltic Sea and Kattegat).
Oceanas Baltic Sea Recovery project was launched in January
2011 and is now led by Hanna Paulomki, a Finnish citizen and
marine scientist. In keeping with the Oceana model of employing nationals of the countries and regions where we work, the
Baltic Sea office is staffed by seven Baltic country nationals (6.5
FTE) who among them speak Danish, Swedish, Russian, Polish,
Finnish, German, Spanish, Greek and English. Copenhagen was
chosen as the principal base for the project, due to its strategic
MPAs proposed by Oceana in Ulkokrunni and Merikalla have

been proposed to the European Commission or are awaiting official protection.
location in the Baltic Sea and Kattegat and the presence of a

number of important Baltic Sea stakeholders and key science and
research institutions.
OCEANA: RESTORING THE BALTIC SEA
Male of lumpfish (Cyclopterus lum

pus) and Oceana diver. Sdra Midsjbanken, Southern Baltic Proper, Sweden. Oceana Baltic Sea Expedition II
onboard the Hanse Explorer. Photo:
OCEANA Carlos Minguell
face by 2020. The network will protect both habitats and species,
with an emphasis on the protection of the spawning and feeding
grounds of important species. Scientists recognise well-located
and well-managed MPAs as a powerful tool to protect and enable
recovery of marine biodiversity.
Under the Natura 2000 process, each EU member state is mandated to create a MPA network in its national waters; but mandating MPAs is not enough to ensure that they are effective. Countries must use scientific data to designate MPAs and determine
how they should be properly managed. MPAs too often exist only
as lines on a map, without prohibitions against fishing or industrial activity such as gravel extraction.
Following the 2012 research expedition (Oceanas second expedition in two years), Oceana published evidence of the need to
protect specific marine habitats and species in the Baltic.
Oceanas work included videos, GIS mapping and other documentary materials. Oceana publications have been used by other
NGOs, environmental and fisheries ministries, scientific institutions, and political bodies like the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) and the International Council for the Exploration of the
Sea (ICES) as the basis for discussion and decision about what
can be done for the Baltic. Copies of these publications are available on Oceanas Baltic website: http://baltic.oceana.org/en/
bl/media-reports/reports.
ROV in the water and the Hanse Explorer behind. Klints Bank North,
Eastern Gotland Basin, Sweden.
Oceana Baltic Sea Expedition II onboard the Hanse Explorer. Photo:
OCEANA Carlos Minguell.
2012 expedition route map. Graphic:

OCEANA
129
No
nto
xi
c
Business Innovation
in a Living Economy
Solar- & Wind energy
Local
Global
ECO
SILO
Eco
BY BO NORM AN DER
Bo Normander (born 1971), MSc, PhD, and the Director of Worldwatch Institute Europe, headquartered in Copenhagen since 2011.
The European office works alongside the Worldwatch Institute in
the U.S. to fulfil the joint vision for a Sustainable World. He is also
the Chairman of the Danish Ecological Council and former Senior
Advisor at Aarhus University.
Recy
cling
Real need
Waste facilitator
Resource conservation
Biodiversity
The principles of a Living Economy. Illustration: Liselotte sterby and Josefine Campbell
In 2011, the VELUX FOUNDATION granted DKK

2,435,000 to the project New Architecture for Sustainable
Prosperity: Build a Living Economy. The overall objective
of the project is to help mobilise a European constituency
behind the UN goal of deepening the commitment to sustainable development norms, values, and policies. The project
focuses on outlining the shape of a green and living economy
where we conduct research to target the good examples of
sustainability innovation, organise a series of public events in
European cities, and implement a communications platform
to foster a sustained European conversation on sustainability and green economy issues. The project team consists of
researchers, experts, communicators and volunteers of many
different European nationalities.
130
B U S I N E S S I N N O VA T I O N I N A L I V I N G E C O N O M Y
One of the main puzzles of our time is how to

avoid climate change and safeguard ecosystem
health while simultaneously improving human
wellbeing and sustaining the economy. As a major culture-shaping institution, the business sector plays an important role in the road towards a
more sustainable society. How can corporations
promote environmental and social sustainability,
and at the same time achieve positive returns on
investment?
As a part of the Build a Living Economy project, Worldwatch Institute Europe is showcasing
several European companies that are generating
able business practices. Hence, a recent Harvard

Business School paper concluded that the group
classified as High Sustainability firms financially
outperformed their counterparts, categorised as
Low Sustainability firms (measuring stock performance from 1993 to 2010).
However, our research emphasises that managing
both financial and sustainability performance is a
game of careful considerations due to the existence of trade-offs in costs (i.e. converting a traditional energy-plant into a sustainable one could
lead to the loss of jobs). Consideration must be
given also to what areas of sustainability to focus
business value while considering environmental

and social challenges. Our viewpoint is that return
on investment can be enhanced through sustain-
on, and on timing (legislation, social expectations) when choosing the option carrying greater
value.
131
132
How can corporations help reduce greenhouse gas

emissions and prevent climate change? Illustration:
Alejandra Bize
Natural resources are becoming more and more scarce,

forcing corporations to realign their business models towards sustainability. Illustration: Alejandra Bize
An innovation-driven economy
What business people really need is a paradigm
shift in the way they think about making their
profits. Proactive thinkers have the talent to inspire and motivate people around them towards
a higher goal, i.e. giving their industry a makeover, changing their business model, disrupting
the market through innovation etc. In doing so,
system-thinking is crucial, because it forces people out of their comfort zone and it allows the
mind to be open to unforeseen possibilities and
to question outdated practices.
A Living Economy is an economy that has as a
goal of improving human wellbeing and quality
of life, moving away from pointless consumerism, without compromising natural resources. In
a Living Economy, companies engage in multiple sustainable initiatives, but it is our view that
one of the most important pillars of sustainable
business in a living economy is the ability to innovate. In our research we have seen patterns of
different kinds of innovations, which we have
implementing an entire new business model).

One of the ways a company in a living economy
creates value is by considering its relationships
with its surroundings, both material and human.
For example, the Dutch start-up Floow2 built
their commercial concept up on a principle of using the web to disseminate information on available resources that can be rented out to companies that do not want to own or bear the cost
of maintenance of heavy industrial equipment.
This business model has created a new market
where otherwise competing companies exchange
equipment and resources and thereby impact the
environment (and the economy) less.
classified into different categories from transitional innovation (e.g. recycling of resources) to
more radical and transformative innovation (e.g.
ups, they all lead their business organisations

based on three common principles:
Principles for sustainability management

Some of the true innovators today are those
business people who are inspiring change within
their business organisations. We have found that
regardless of whether business managers that
succeed in sustainability performance come from
large corporations, small companies, or start-
B U S I N E S S I N N O VA T I O N I N A L I V I N G E C O N O M Y
Collaboration at an internal and external level is

key in a living economy (Principle 1). Employees
in particular are positively impacted by an inclusive management style, their motivation increases
as does their productivity. For example, the management of the Greek cosmetics company, Apivita, has succeeded in engaging employees and
customers in its business models by continuously
sharing new ideas and initiatives and engaging in
civil society projects such as the establishment of
a Botanical Garden that will both safeguard the
biodiversity of ancient Greece and explain about
invaluable services of nature, such as bee products (honey, wax, etc) that are main ingredients in
Apivitas product range.
Top-down or bottom-up?
Can new initiatives emerge bottom up? Certainly,
but at some point they will need top management
support, since significant change is only possible
when you have that support (Principle 2). At the
sportswear company Puma the CEO took a major
lead in the implementation of green accounting.
Principle 1: An inclusive management style is

needed to get things going.
Principle 2: Change requires leadership and top
management support.
Principle 3: Strengthening the market position
takes cultural change.
At Tetrapak, top management for a long period

continuously supported sustainability strategies,
even when they were not the best financial option, as was the case of using bioplastic material
in their carton containers. It is certain that these
initiatives would not have happened without the
continued support of top management.
Finally, Principle 3 implies that making a shift
towards a collaborative mindset in the business
organisation and creating the market for new services and products requires cultural change within
the company. Culture can be changed gradually
over time. One way of achieving this is by engaging the organisation in projects that challenge the
competencies and capabilities of the company. A
small new initiative might not seem game-changing in itself but the organisational learning from
new types of projects such as new collaborations
should not be underestimated.
In most cases, the change towards a living economy will be a gradual transition, as illustrated by
Van Houtum, a Dutch company supplying a range
of bathroom solutions. The company recently
launched cradle-to-cradle certified toilet paper,
by collecting excess paper from their wholesalers
among other initiatives. The business is going well,
and the next step is to realign the company culture towards a common goal to embed a business
model in which all products are manufactured according to the cradle-to-cradle principle.
Worldwatch Institute Europes report

series on Living Economy.
133
2013

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2013

Annual Report 2013

Financial ratios and highlights - VILLUM FOUNDATION ................................................................................. 14

Postcards from supported projects ....................................................................................................................... 46

Tiny creatures reveal our origins .......................................................................................................................... 62

Better buildings and indoor climate without mould ............................................................................................. 66

New microorganisms and enzymes in biogas plants .............................................................................................. 70

Stories for all time ............................................................................................................................................... 74

VILLUM FOUNDATION and VELUX FOUNDATION 2013

Metrification of sciences ....................................................................................................................................... 78

Immigrants growing old in Denmark ................................................................................................................... 82

The eye a window into brain function ............................................................................................................... 86

Seniors workshops in Svendborg .......................................................................................................................... 90

Wilsehaven vicarage gardens from the Age of Enlightenment ............................................................................. 94

The history of technology in Greenland ............................................................................................................... 96

TAGDEL.dk an online portal for volunteerism ................................................................................................ 104

Printed by: Sangill Grafisk

Council Label. The Cocoon paper is a new and very

RODACIE a land of play ............................................................................................................................... 108

The forest and biodiversity ................................................................................................................................. 122

Oceana: Restoring the Baltic Sea ........................................................................................................................ 126

Business Innovation in a Living Economy .......................................................................................................... 130

The Board of the VILLUM FOUNDATION

The Board of the VELUX FOUNDATION

The VILLUM FOUNDATIONs funding areas

Daylight & Building

The VELUX FOUNDATIONs funding areas

will be undertaken by Director Ane Hendriksen.

Foundations as expressed in their statutes. In

The facilitating foundations

Hans Kann Rasmussen

The Foundations Administration

Business and philanthropy

Social projects Denmark

Social projects Eastern Europe

Research and research dissemination

Social projects in Denmark

Active senior citizens

Social projects Greenland

The VILLUM FOUNDATIONs total grants 2009-2013 (DKK millions)

BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPY

The VELUX FOUNDATIONs total grants 2009-2013 (DKK millions)

The VILLUM FOUNDATIONs responsibility

includes a descendant of the founder. More information

BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPY

The role of the family

V. KANN RASMUSSEN FOUNDATION,

The foundation grants support for specific, well-

Donated DKK 28,4 million in 2013.

delimited, large-scale projects for the advancement

The foundations primary objective is to support

of scientific, artistic, cultural, social and environ-

environmental research and raise public awareness

Also confers the Villum Kann Rasmussen Annual

The foundation also supports social purposes in

Award for Technical and Scientific Research.

Greenwood and South Carolina, USA, where VELUX

has production and sales companies.

search, with a focus on research in ophthalmology.

Donated DKK 240 million in 2013.

VELUX STIFTUNG, SWITZERLAND

as research within gerontology (the conditions of

Donated DKK 17,1 million in 2013.