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MARCH I 2011

FOCUS DENMARKTHE REGULAR BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT REVIEW

AND THE WINNER IS…Danish film director Susanne Bier wins Oscar for best foreign film

DANISH DESIGN Under the brand Made in Denmark, a new generation of Danish designers is ready to take over from Danish Modern

WORLD CLASS ENGINEERING Danish consulting engineering firms offer solutions to major challenges all over the world

WORLD’S BEST CHEF Denmark already has the world’s best restaurantand now a Danish chef has won gold at this year’s Bocuse d’Or

aberdeen.dk

Vesterbrogade 149, 1610 Copenhagen V

Offices in central Copenhagen, 1,182-2,364 sqm

Copenhagen Europe Centre is located at Vesterbrogade 149 in the beautiful and respectfully modernized build-ings originally used as the headquarters of Bing & Grøndahl, the Danish porcelain manufacturer. Today, approximately 80 tenants enjoy the business park concept at Copenhagen Europe Centre with a recep-tion, meeting rooms, conference facilities up to 150 people and the Bistro serving lunch for you and your guests.

Copenhagen Europe Centre is located close to the city centre, and the motorways surrounding Copenhagen are reached within ten minutes. Enghave train station is within walking distance and the bus line 6A goes directly to Copenhagen Central Station. Copenhagen Airport can be reached by car in approximately 20 minutes.

The business park concept at Copenhagen Europe Centre offers professional services and great flexibility, and your company is able to expand or reduce in size, swift and at a low cost.

At Copenhagen Europe Centre we have tenancies ranging from 50 to 6.000 square metres. The illustrations above show how your company can exploit a 1,182 square metre office space, and we will tailor the fitting of your new office tenancy to your individual needs.

Let the city provide the framework of client meetings: here you will find many sushi restaurants, trendy cafés, lunch restaurants and one Michelin restaurant.

Copenhagen Europe Centre Copenhagen Europe Centre

comprises 12 buildings and approx. 25,000 square metres in the former production facilities of Bing & Grøndahl. At Copenhagen Europe Centre

we offer large and small office tenancies, office hotel and conference facilities. As a professional business park

your company can use the reception, conference facilities of up to 150 people and meeting rooms. Obvious choice when need for

swift up and down sizing The Bistro serves lunch and

cater your meetings

Meet the tenant John Ingor, CFO, Tietor

room for business

Welcome to Aberdeen

Letting department +45 33 44 40 40 | [email protected]

The tenancy A unique and light office floor

comprising 1,182 -2,364 square metres with an amazing view over the city’s rooftops 3 floors at each 1,182 square

metres 50-60 work stations at each

floor Beautiful and noise-absorbing

wooden floors that make the office section particularly suit able for an open office The Bistro caters your

employees and your guests Many parking spaces Full-service available

Yearly rent from only EUR 140 per square metre per year

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Copenhagen Europe Centre

Copenhagen

Meet the tenant Jacob Honoré, CEO, ZAXIS

Office

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Office Office Office

As one of Europe’s leading property managers and managers of property investments, Aberdeen is a long-term, professional partner. We work in close collaboration with our tenants and we focus on our tenants’ individual needs. That is why we manage the letting of our properties ourselves, which ensures you a competent, effective and personal letting process.

John is delighted with the fact that Tieto has it’s address at Copenha-gen Europe Centre

“We enjoy the domicile solution combined with the flexibility at Copenhagen Europe Centre”.

Tieto has its own separate building and entrance and parking is right outside the door. Combined with the easy up and downsizing capa-bilities when the number of projects and consultants increase and fall, makes life easy and more efficient for Tieto, a global IT company with 160 employees in Denmark.

Jacob’s company, ZAXIS, has its headquarters at Copenhagen Europe Centre

“We get value for money at Copenhagen Europe Centre. It’s light, the premises are cool and it’s close to the city. We enjoy the authentic environment and the pleasant atmosphere, and the busi-ness park concept makes life easy on us”.

We are introducing 2D codes in the magazine. Scan the code with your smart phone to immediately access the internet page. A 2D code reader can be downloaded i.e. from www.i-nigma.com

4 FOCUS DENMARK MARCH I 2011

CONTENTS I EDITORIAL

In January 2011 the Danish chef Rasmus Kofoed won the Bocuse d’Or – and thereby earned the appellation of world’s best chef. Last year, another Dane made headlines as René Redzepi and his restaurant NOMA was proclaimed by S. Pellegrino as the world’s best. According to the panel of judges, the winning dishes prepared by Rasmus Kofoed at the Bocuse d’Or competition were not only a work of art, but also food for the gods.

The same can be said of Danish design: it not only looks good, but is also functional. This combination has characterised Danish design since the Danish Modern school of the 1950s, which propelled Arne Jacobsen’s ‘Egg’ chair to international stardom. The Egg is still a hit, and Danish Modern became so famous that the brand left con-temporary Danish designers standing in the shadows. But now they are bursting into view, with strong representation at trade shows like Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan. The buzzword is “Made in Denmark”. The new generation of Danish designers are building a reputation for taking alternative approaches and giving their products a playful and expressive power. And in Monocle’s Annual Forecast Issue 2011, the Danish Design School has been judged one of the world’s top five.

The Danish school system provides the framework for creativity and gives space for play as part of the approach to learning. The basic idea is that well-being is the foundation for acquiring knowledge and skills. Experience shows that this pedagogical strategy, which cultivates creativity in problem-solving, pays off when schoolchildren become students at universities and employees in companies.

Creativity combined with technical insight puts Danish engineers among the best in many areas. Danish consulting engineering firms undertake projects all over the world, where by virtue of their knowledge and expertise in climate, energy, environment and infrastructure, they can help find solutions to a long list of global challenges. Among the core areas of Danish engineering expertise are airport planning and design, tunnel construction and offshore wind turbine foundations.

Enjoy the read.

Editor in ChiefOle Frijs-Madsen

Director of Invest in Denmark,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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Susanne Bier – The Toast of Tinsel Town

THEME Danish designHatched from The EggMonocle: Danish Design School among world’s top fiveDanish design is smart design

The best chef in the world THEME World class engineeringEngineering knowledge across bordersLaying foundations for tomorrow’s energyClean water for millions in DhakaExperts in building major airportsRevolutionary concrete

A nation founded on play DANISH ECONOMYManageable changes

FOCUS DENMARK is published quarterly by the Trade Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, 2, Asiatisk Plads, DK-1448 Copenhagen KTelephone + 45 33 92 00 00, e-mail: [email protected], www.denmark.dk

Editor in Chief Ole Frijs-Madsen, Director of Invest in Denmark Ministry of Foreign Affairs of DenmarkEditor Annemarie Zinck, [email protected] Editor Nigel ManderAD and illustrations Kristin Utne, UmanoCover Mike Blake, Scanpix DenmarkAdvertising DG Media, www.dgmedia.dkTelephone + 45 70 27 11 55Distribution Rikke Bech-Pedersen, [email protected] Rosendahls-Schultzgrafisk a/s, Denmark

Material contained in Focus Denmark does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Danish Trade Council or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged, except where otherwise stated. Citations may be made without prior permission, provided the source is acknowledged. March 2011

ISSN 1601-9776

Aarsleff are specialists in marine works. We

have many years of experience with execution

of big and small projects on the Danish market

as well as internationally. We take part in

international projects through which we

participate in turnkey contracts and as

specialised contractor on specific projects.

Most recently in Estonia where Aarsleff has

executed the container terminal at Port of

Muuga and installed 800 rm of quay wall and

revetment.

Nationally and internationally

Extensive experience in harbour projects

FOCUS DENMARK MARCH I 2011 6

IN BRIEF

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Denmark: An open, helpful and safe country

Copenhagen International Airport achieved a higher growth in passenger traffic in the first 10 months of 2010 than any other major European airport, and expects a record year in 2011 reports national daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

According to data from Airports Council International, Copenhagen Airport recorded an 8.7% growth in passenger traffic from January to October 2010, compared with 5.0% for Oslo and 4.4% for Stockholm. In the same period, Paris managed a growth of only 0.4%, while at London Heathrow there was a decline of 1.8% in passenger traffic.

Carsten Nørland, sales director for Copenhagen Airports, is very satisfied with the figures and expresses confidence that 2011 will be the best year yet for Copen-hagen International Airport: “The winter traffic programme shows that the growth during the last months of 2010 is continu-ing. It is still too early to say how many flights the airlines are planning for the

More and more highly skilled foreigners choose to work and live in Denmark, reports a new survey. The number of well-educated expats in the Danish knowledge industries has risen from 33,000 in 2008 to 41,500 in 2010.

“Denmark is one of the few countries in the world where you can have a man-agement position and still pick up your children from school or daycare a couple of times a week,” says Henrik Mahncke,

A plan to construct nine “mountains”, an architectural interpretation of an alpine landscape on a 124,000 m2 site on Amager in Copenhagen, is a step closer to being realised after Copenhagen City Council recently approved a new local plan and drawings for the area.

Architectural firm BIG has designed The Battery, which is named after a former military installation in the area.

Building the Alps in Copenhagen

BIG has spent five years developing the project, which will include apartments, offices, shops, child care provision, sports facilities, cultural institutions, a hotel and a mosque.

“The Battery’s fusion of architecture and landscape makes up a unique complex that welcomes activity and involvement across age, ethnicity and social status,” the firm writes on its website.

The Battery needs final approval by the City Council in Copenhagen as well as financing before construction can start.

Deputy Head at Oxford Research, who conducted the survey.

Nine out of ten respondents expressed the opinion that Danish workplaces respect employees’ family life. And almost everyone rated Denmark highly in terms of their personal safety and the cleanliness of the environment.

“The soft values rather than the cool cash are decisive, and Denmark should be branded on those. Denmark is an open, helpful and safe place to live,” says Craig Till, Head of Secretariat in the network Expat in Denmark.

Highly-skilled foreigners often benefit from a special tax scheme that allows them to pay only 26 percent in income tax for a maximum of five years.

The survey also shows that almost half of the well-educated expats end up staying longer than originally planned while 69 percent label the Danish work culture as “appealing”.

www.oxfordresearch.dk

Up, up and away summer, but something unusual would have to happen to prevent us achieving a passenger record this year.”

Apart from experiencing high growth, Copenhagen Airport is also the most punctual international airport in Europe, a new survey by FlightStats.com shows.

tietgenbyen.com/boost


IN BRIEF

Denmark’s capital city of Copenhagen has been voted Best Destination 2011 by European Consumers Choice, a Brussels-based non-profit organisation which each year makes a selection of Europe’s best product offerings, and last year added the new category of the best European destination.

“Copenhagen is one of Europe’s most interesting cities right now,” European Consumers Choice CEO Maximilien Lejeune told iBYEN.dk, and it is easy to see why. Aided by a Monocle Magazine award, two visits from President Obama and one from Oprah Winfrey, the

Copenhagen Best Destination 2011

The successful establishment of a thermic input plant in the French city of Rouen has been rewarded with a French-Danish export prize for the Danish supplier, Aalborg Energie Technik A/S (AET).

The new plant will supply Rouen with CO2 neutral electricity and process steam for an oil producing factory. AET are experts when it comes to flexible and reliable plants that allow the use of vari-ous kinds of biomass and provide a high percentage of energy output. No less than 92 percent of the biomass is converted into useful energy.

Prize for Danish biomass plant

In Rouen, woodchips sourced from the local woods and waste wood from local production sites will be used to generate energy, while a parallel project in Italy has corn stover and elephant grass on the ‘fuel list’.

AET has established high tech plants in several European countries in recent years.

www.aet-biomass.com

international media spotlight has swung onto the city, illuminating its modern hotels and conference venues, innovative Nordic cuisine, cutting-edge design, great transport system, harbour bathing and recreation facilities, ubiquitous cycle lanes and nice-looking people.

Copenhagen won the vote for Best Destination 2011 in competition with eight other European cities, beating Barcelona and Berlin into second and third place respectively. As part of the award, Copen-hagen also gets its own presentation page on the European Consumers Choice website for a year.

Søren Kierkegaard1813 - 1855

One of the finest products of the ‘Danish Golden Age’ of the early 19th century, Kierkegaard was a profound thinker and prolific writer who achieved lasting and signifi-cant influence in several spheres.

In philosophy, much of his work is concerned with how the individual gives his or her life a meaning, for which reason he is often regarded as the ‘father of existentialism’.

In psychology, he explored the notions of anxiety and despair, while his theological work centred on Christian ethics, which led him to famously accuse the State Church officials of his day of “hypocrisy” and “playing Christian-ity”.

Among Kierkegaard’s many insightful quotes is the following:

“Life must be

understood backwards,

but lived forwards.”

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IN BRIEF

... as a point of contact for business or to add to your knowledge of what goes on in Denmark.

INVEST IN DENMARK

As part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Invest in Denmark is a custom-ized one-stop service for foreign compa-nies looking to set up business or research activities in Denmark. Its specialised staff have the corporate background, industry insight and extensive networks to advise on every aspect of locating in Denmark.

Services include connecting companies with key local contacts, arranging fact-finding tours and providing comprehensive benchmarking analyses. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Invest in Denmark has inno-vation centers and offices in key business hot spots around the world.

Invest in Denmark’s newly designed website makes it easy to navigate the business areas where Denmark offers world class expertise, and find the right experts to talk to. Visitors can also explore a wide range of successful business cases, compare Denmark with other countries using a special benchmarking tool, and find masses of detailed information and statistics on every aspect of establishing a presence in Denmark.

www.investindk.com

As part of the overall renovation of the UN Headquarters in New York, Denmark has signed a USD 3 million donor agreement for the restoration of the Trusteeship Council Chamber, designed by the famous Danish architect Finn Juhl and originally donated by the Government of Denmark.

One of the three main rooms in the UN Conference Building, the ‘Finn Juhl’ Chamber was opened in 1952. Since its inauguration the chamber has been renovated twice, in the mid-60s and mid-70s. The new restoration is slated for completion in 2012.

Carsten Sauer, Permanent Representa-tive of Denmark to the UN, described the Trusteeship Council Chamber as a unique piece of Danish design and architectural history, and expressed his pleasure in Denmark’s active participation in the restoration. “It is with great joy that I have today signed the agreement between the Government of Denmark and the United Nations,” he commented after the signing ceremony which took place on 10 December 2010.

‘Finn Juhl’ Chamber at UN to be restored

that 2.5 million Danes are on Facebook? That corresponds to approximately 45% of the entire population.Source: Jyllands-Posten

Denmark has been judged the world’s best humanitarian aid donor in the Humanitarian Response Index 2010, prepared by Development Assistance and Research Associates (DARA), an inter-national non-profit organisation working to improve the quality and effectiveness of humanitarian aid through studies and evaluations.

According to DARA, factors contribut-ing to Denmark’s top ranking are that the country has notably promoted a respon-sible attitude in its humanitarian aid work, and that Denmark is a generous donor to UN organisations, the International Red

Cross, and non-governmental organisa-tions.

The 2010 ranking assessed the perfor-mance of the world’s 23 main donor gov-ernments in 14 crises that received nearly two thirds of total emergency aid funding in 2009, including the occupied Palestinian Territories, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Haiti, DRC, Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe.

Ireland was placed second in the 2010 ranking, followed by New Zealand, Norway and Sweden.

Denmark tops humanitarian aid ranking

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NOVI Science Park

Attractively located in North Den-mark, NOVI integrates an innova-tive environment with leading sci-ence and business park activities.

We are proud to offer everything that is needed to create dynam-ic settings for knowledge-based growth, the link between the inno-vative idea, the world of research and the industry.

NOVI rates among the best incuba-tors in the world and North Den-mark ranks as a top choice when relating the quality of the techno-logical competencies to effective operating costs.

...and 80 other high-tech companies

Aalborg Energie Technik - biomass power plants

Scale Biofuel - production technologies for biofuels

Alpcon - thermo electric generators

Provital Solutions - water filtration solutions

In the Science Park...

Visit NOVI Science Park at novi.dk


IN BRIEF

Scandinavia’s largest transport exhibition for professionals from all areas of the transport industry. Transport 2011 introduces new themes includ-ing news, training, health and politics.

For more information visit:

www.transport2011.dk

The topic of this confer-ence is energy systems and technologies for the next 100 years. Focus areas include intelligent energy systems, new technologies for utilisation of sustainable energy, and distributed energy production technologies.


www.risoe.dtu.dk

This conference brings together experts from govern-ment, science and technology parks, academia and business to debate the significance of emerging new business mod-els for science and technology parks.


www.iasp2011cph.com

This congress, held by the Danish Center for Advanced Food Science, features areas including molecular functional-ity, personalised nutrition and health, food safety challenges of nano-materials, and sustain-able food production.


www.lmccongress.dk/

If there’s an event in your interest area, why not bookmark it to attend?

TRANSPORT TRANSPORT 20116-9 AprilExhibition Centre Herning

ENERGYRISØ INTERNATIONAL EN-ERGY CONFERENCE 201110-12 MayRisø National Laboratory for Sustain-able Energy, Technical University of Denmark

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYIASP 28TH ANNUAL WORLD CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PARKS19-22 JuneTivoli Congress Center, Copenhagen

FOODFOOD IN FRONT, CONGRESS23-24 MayCity of Odense, the Radisson Blu H.C.Andersen Hotel

A new laser-based instrument developed by Danish company CytoTrack can reveal whether a tumour is releasing secondary cells into the bloodstream and provide a quick answer to whether chemotherapy is working, reports professional journal Ingeniøren (The Engineer).

The instrument employs a technology called fluorescence microscopy, where blood samples are scanned with a special laser. If tumour cells are present in the sample, they respond by emitting light of a precise frequency which enables these cells to be detected and counted.

“Our instrument can provide a great advance in cancer diagnosis. Chemo-therapy treatment is often without effect,

Inspired by the self-healing robots of the cult sci-fi film Terminator, a research group

It shows if chemotherapy is working

which carries major costs for patients and society,” says CytoTrack’s MD Christian Caspersen. “Today, you can only see if the treatment is effective by looking at the tumour, and that can take several months. With our technique you can see after just two weeks whether there is a response.”

CytoTrack is now in discussions with a global player in the diagnostics market, and a decision is expected in mid-2011 on whether this company will choose to go further with the CytoTrack product. If so, the instrument could be on the market by the end of 2012.

www.cytotrack.dk

at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) is developing a computer which can effectively repair itself. The idea has caught the attention of US space agency NASA, which aims to use the technology in a piece of equipment to be sent up to Mars in the search for signs of extrater-restrial life.

Borrowing ideas from biology, DTU has developed a computer where instead of a single CPU there are lots of “cells” with different tasks assigned to them. The system is so designed that if one cell fails, another cell can take over the task. With sufficient spare cells, the computer can thus tolerate a significant amount of hardware failure while still remaining fully operational.

DTU’s self-repairing computer has obvious attractions for use in unmanned space vehicles, where hardware failure carries an extremely high cost. DTU is currently collaborating with NASA with a view to deploying the technology in a probe that will analyse gases in the Martian atmosphere.

Self-repairing computer interests NASA

On St. Maarten in the Caribbean Archipelago,

Aarsleff has constructed a new cruise jetty on

piles and extended the quay for freight and

containers as well as for big cruise liners

visiting the harbour area every year. Further-

more, the job included execution of coastal

protection and a big stone breakwater carried

out with reinforcement consisting of accro-

podes with an own weight of up to 40 tons. We

are a reliable partner who implements projects

professionally, irrespective of where in the

world they take place.

St. Maarten

Cruise jetty in the Caribbean


“I am really rather proud, this is fantastic,” says newly crowned Oscar winner Susanne Bier. “It means such a lot; it is the biggest thing you can get as a filmmaker.”

Having already won this year’s Golden Globe for best foreign film, winning the Oscar has been icing on the cake for Bier.

“I am a pretty happy person, so my approach was I am going to have fun whatever happens, but winning is amaz-ing,” she smiles.

‘In a Better World’ was in competition with four other films: ‘Biutiful’ from Mexico, ‘Dogtooth’ from Greece, ‘Outside the Law’ from Algiers and ‘Incendies’ from Canada. This is only the third time that Denmark has won the title of best non-English language film. Gabriel Axel won in 1987 for his film ‘Babette’s Feast’ and in 1988

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Bille August won his Oscar for ‘Pelle the Conqueror’.

Bier has been a filmmaker since graduating from the National Film School of Denmark, back in 1987. Yet so far, all her films bar one have been for the Danish market.

“It is very important that we can actu-ally manage with a language that is only spoken by 5.5 million people, to have a strong voice that we can communicate,” says Bier. “That a little country like Den-mark can tell stories that can impact and transcend our tiny language.”

In a Better World‘In a Better World’ is the story of two Danish families, who become embroiled with each other, and takes place both in

The 83rd Academy Awards winner Susanne Bier and the presenters, Russel Brand and Helen Mirren at the Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, Los Angeles Phot

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small-town Denmark and a refugee camp in Africa. In these two different worlds, both families are faced with conflicts that lead them to difficult choices, between revenge and forgiveness.

The Danish director admits that she is fascinated with the notion of revenge and in her view it is a modern day phenom-enon.

“It is now part of our everyday vocabu-lary. Ten years ago, it was not used with the same ease as today. Though I still think for most people it is still a frightening and alien notion.” Even though the movie’s big themes are revenge and forgiveness, Bier thinks if it is revenge you are after you are unlikely to get satisfaction from it. “Personally, if you ask me, forgiveness is a much better way forward,” she adds.

Bier confides that it is not her role as a filmmaker to push her opinions down the throat of an audience. All she can hope for is that the film will raise questions, and that we as an audience will address them ourselves.

Hollywood vs art house moviesSusanne Bier believes that it is sometimes difficult for European art house movies to reach an American audience, especially if there are no international stars.

“We, as an audience, are only going to spend our money when there is a convic-tion that we will enjoy it. This movie had no big stars in it, so thankfully winning the Oscar and the Golden Globe gives it a

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Well known international Danish film actors and directors

ActorsMads Mikkelsen - Baddie in James Bond film Casino Royal, Pusher, The Three MusketeersJesper Christensen - Baddie in both Casino Royal and Quantum of SolaceThure Lindhardt - Angels and Demons, Into the WildConnie Nielsen - Rushmore, Gladiator, The Devil’s AdvocateUlrich Thomsen - Festen, In a Better World, The InternationalIben Hjejle - High Fidelity, The Emperor’s New Clothes

DirectorsPernille Fischer Christensen – En Soap (won Silver Bear in Berlin 2006)Lars von Trier – Breaking the Waves, The Idiots, Dancer in the Dark (won Cannes Film Festival Palm d’Or 2000), Antichrist and soon to be released MelancholiaLone Scherfig – Italian for Beginners (won Silver Bear in Berlin 2001), An EducationThomas Vinterberg – Festen (won Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival 1998), SubmarinoGabriel Axel - Babette’s Feast – (won best foreign film Oscar 1987)Bille August – Pelle the Conqueror (won best foreign film Oscar, Golden Globe and Cannes Film Festival Palm d’Or 1988), The Best Intentions (won Cannes Film Festival Palm d’Or 1992)

stamp of authority. So for art house audi-ences, who do not know much about this film, winning prizes really helps.”

Bier has a good relationship with Hol-lywood. In 2006, she was first nominated for an Oscar for ‘After the Wedding’ in the best foreign film category. Then in 2007, Bier directed her first American feature ‘Things We Lost in the Fire’, with Halle Berry and Benicio del Toro. Though the film was not a box office success, it did receive favourable reviews and helped raise her profile.

Bier can see that in the future she will be doing both art house movies and Hol-lywood films. “I feel in terms of Hollywood, that I am in that privileged position of having a constant conversation and having really interesting projects, but not being totally dependent on it. And Hollywood is a very exciting and a great place to be. Though I would never not make Danish movies. I like making movies for a Danish audience and I’m not about to break that pattern,” she adds.

Her next movie ‘All You Need is Love’ looks likely to be a hybrid of a Hollywood actor, Danish funded film and a bilingual script. It will be a romantic comedy star-ring ex James Bond Pierce Brosnan. It has been described as a tender story with a much lighter atmosphere. “Enough of conflicts,” Susanne Bier smiles.

Female directorsThere are only a handful of female direc-tors who have won the best foreign film at the Oscars. And last year, for the first time in its 83 year-old history, the Best film and Best Director went to American filmmaker, Kathryn Bigelow, for the ‘The Hurt Locker’.

“In Hollywood, there are quite a lot of important female executives, but there is still a lack of female directors,” says Susanne Bier. “It is sad, that in general there is a lack of females in important positions in all industries. I still think it has to do with many young women having to choose between career and kids. I have two kids, but luckily have never had to make that choice,” she adds.

Bier admits she is not the kind of direc-tor who chases prizes or has an overall game plan. “I have never been career-minded, think-ing this is where I want my career to go.” For Bier it is all about storytelling, getting hooked on projects that she is passionate about. “But obviously, I appreciate what I have just been given.”

Stills from “A Better World”Photo below right: Susanne Bier returns to Den-mark with her Oscar and the Golden Globe.

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Thinking outside the box doesn’t have to start with a square.

HeadquartersInvest in DenmarkMinistry of Foreign Affairs of DenmarkAsiatisk Plads 21448 Copenhagen KDenmarkTel.: +45 33 92 11 16

EuropeInvest in DenmarkAmbassade Royale du Danemark77, Avenue Marceau75116 ParisFranceTel.: +33 1 4431 2193

North AmericaInvest in DenmarkRoyal Danish Consulate General885, Second Avenue, 18th FloorNew York, N.Y. 10017USATel.: +1 212 223 4545

Asia-PacificInvest in DenmarkShanghai Technology Innovation Center100 Qin Zhou Road, 2nd building, 711Shanghai, 200235ChinaTel.: +86 21 6085 2000

Start with DenmarkDenmark is rated an attractive business environment with a fast, cost efficient business establishment and transparent, stable taxation system - making it easy to set up your business

A highly skilled and motivated workforce makes Denmark the optimal location for knowledge intensive business activities

Labour market regulations in Denmark are some of the most flexible in Europe – allowing you to easily adjust your organizational set up

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We look forward to hearing from you

www.investindk.com

By Jeppe Villadsen

Maybe the interest never went away. It just felt like it had. The world had its gaze firmly fastened on classic Danish design from the days when “Danish Modern” were the words on everybody’s lips, and there was an inclination to overlook contem-porary generations of designers. Danish Design had become synonymous with the stylish func-

tionalism of the 1950s and 1960s, the period when furniture had names

like “The Egg”, “The Swan” and “The Ant” – architect Arne Jacobsen’s vision-

ary proposals for modern chairs. It was particularly in furniture design that Danish

Design established itself with such worldwide success that for some years, younger designers

were left in the shadows of the Danish masters. But not any more. Recently a new generation of design,

Made in Denmark, has gradually pushed its way into the international spotlight – not least because of a strong desire to experiment and challenge common perceptions of how things should look.

New Danish ModernWhile the classic Danish designers were nationally-orientated, the new flock of designers are globally-oriented and gain inspiration from their travels around the Americas, the Far East and Southern Europe. They are not afraid to try alternative approaches, use new materials, and mix wood, plastic and metal with playful, expres-sive power.


THEME I DANISH DESIGN

Those in any doubt should take a look at Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan – the world’s biggest and most important design and furniture trade show – which each year is visited by 300,000 people.

Since 2008, Denmark has participated with a shared stand organised by the Danish Consulate General in Milan, which brings together the best of Danish design. This year, participation in the event was kicked off with a 32 page feature “Design in Danimarca” in Italy’s leading design magazine INTERNI.

Design company Normann Copenhagen has been involved since 2008, and already by the following year had managed to gain entry to the exclusive club of design companies that have their own exhibition stand at Salone Internazionale del Mobile. The organisers of the trade show have over 500 companies on the waiting list, and it is perfectly normal to have to wait 10-12 years before even being considered.

“It isn’t an Italian trade fair for furniture design, it is a world trade fair for design,” says sales manager Peter Husted from Normann Copenhagen.

“Unless you have been there, it is hard to understand how huge it is. It is the biggest and most focused platform for design in the world. Visitors walk an average 25 kilometres per day at the trade show and all guests have a professional association with the design industry. It is the one place in the world where once a year all the major stakeholders gather. It’s visibility worldwide.”

With a clear reference to the heyday of Danish furniture design in the 1950s, Normann Copenhagen attached the name “New Danish Modern” to a collection which caused a stir at the show two years ago. The collection encompassed chairs, ceramics, lamps, children’s furniture and toys, all imbued with the same qualities which denote Danish design: quality, functionality and choice of materials. Danish design is characterised by its material

Above right: Bau, one of the products that Normann Copenhagen is focusing on at the forth-coming show, is a sculptural pendant designed by Vibeke Fonnesberg Schmidt. Bau is a pendant with personality, that combines colours, composi-tion and geometric forms in a unique and creative design.Photo: Normann Copenhagen

Above left: Fredericia Furniture is taking the Sting-ray chair to the Milan show in 2011. The chair has been one of the company’s biggest commercial and branding successes in recent years. Photo: Fredericia Furniture

Above top: Hans Wegner’s classic Y chair was relaunched in citrus colours at the last Milan show. The chair was put into production in 1950 both in the classic woods and in different colours. The last ones were produced in the 1970s. Carl Hansen & Søn, which produces the chairs, has brought back Wegner’s old colour card and has relaunched the Y chair in colours including orange, light blue and white. Photo: Carl Hansen og Søn

Left: Danish Design from the creative era “Danish Modern” still appears on the bestseller lists of “good design”. Here is Arne Jacobsen’s legendary chair “The Egg” from Republic of Fritz Hansen. Photo: Fritz Hansen

sense, visual humility, towering user value and simple, clean aesthetics. Less is more.

Underplayed style with a sure touchDanish design’s strength is its sureness of touch, avoiding over-interpreting and overdesigning things. The whole thing is a little underplayed, in a very confident and convincing manner.

Danish design is rarely flashy or visually dramatic, and this fits well with the times after the global financial crisis, as well as with increased environmental awareness. A new frugality, where the level of consumption is restrained a little. Danish design had sus-tainability built into its tradition long before it became fashionable, thanks to its simplicity and especially another rare feature: it lasts.

“One of the strengths of Danish designers is their passion for natural materials, the high quality and the great attention to ergo-nomics. For example, Stelton and Eva Trio are excellent brands



that are known everywhere,” says Arturo dell’Acqua Belavitis, who heads the design faculty in Milan and is a passionate connoisseur of both Danish and Italian design.

“Denmark has a fantastic design tradition that stretches back to the middle of the last century. Denmark has excellent design schools and today there are plenty of exciting young designers. It lies in your DNA and your background in designing cities, fur-niture and products. In a nutshell, Danish design has a fantastic reputation, so it was high time that Denmark was represented at the Milan show,” says Arturo dell’Acqua, who thinks that Denmark is too modest about flaunting its designers abroad. He adds:

“Underneath it all lies the social approach which takes into account many different types of people – an approach which stems from the fact that Denmark is a very egalitarian society.”

Denmark’s Consul General in Milan, Steen Thorsted, is in no doubt that Danish design has enormous relevance today, not least because it has to do with the humanist tradition.

“It is a hallmark of Danish design that there is some humanistic thinking behind it, and that generates great interest,” says Steen Thorsted.

The Danish design tradition also reflects a holistic approach to design which attempts to read what people need and want, and translate this into products that actually help improve their life quality.

“Danish functionalism is largely focused on how furniture and design products can be used in daily life i.e. not so much as soli-tary elements, but how they can be integrated in our daily lives. It is exactly what people abroad notice about Danish design – that we produce a very clean impression and think about how things should be used,” says the Consul General.

“The message we communicate at the Milan show is that we in Denmark have a long tradition in design, both in furniture and the decorative arts. We have fostered a number of renowned architects and designers, who are also known internationally, but today we have perhaps come a step further. We have a whole new generation of designers, who work not only for Danish firms but also across the whole spectrum of international design companies.”

Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan 2011 takes place 12-17 April 2011.

MUUTO is particularly focusing on furniture at this year’s Milan show. Here is a new sideboard by furniture designer Søren Rose Studio.Photo: MUUTO



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pure theoretical research profile, while at the same time focusing on close collaboration with the business community. This could be a fruitful strategy for the school, which aims to train students to interweave design and economic development.

A classic approach to designIn the introduction to the feature, Monocle sets out on a quest around the globe to find ”the new generation of students who might not be able to make a chair but know how to spot a problem and solve it.” In addition to Denmark, new, innovative students are emerging at design schools in Japan, Finland, USA and Russia – each with their own comprehensive approach to design and economic development.

“The Danish students are actually some of the most well-rounded of the feature. The combination of academic, practical and business training means they are versed in the art of keeping traditional craft skills alive, having a reverence and understanding of the past and thereby understanding the context in which their current output sits. Spotting and solving problems in this sense is perhaps more traditional than say at Stanford University’s new d.school or the Aalto Factory in Shanghai – where students eschew traditional design to learn design thinking, the aim being to employ their skills in a business environment.”

Hugo Macdonald believes that the Danes would be well-equipped in this vein too – essentially the skills they develop are the same as in the other design schools – but their training is still traditional in that the Danish students see themselves as design-ers in the traditional meaning of the word. Not design thinkers, ripe for solving business problems, as he expresses it.

Tradition and business hand in handBut at the same time, Monocle highlights how the Danish Design School trains its students in combining the renowned arts and crafts tradition with business know-how, which is essential for becoming a successful designer.

“When it comes to targeting economic development and societal relevance, the biggest potential of the school lies in teaching students the importance of tradition and business. Being a designer today is a completely different discipline from being a designer in Arne Jacobsen’s time. There are many more options open to a well-trained designer to contribute to societal improve-ment. Having that self-awareness and combination of humility and confidence is vital. I think it is still too early to point to an actual impact, but I will be following the recent changes keenly,” says Hugo Macdonald.

It is part of the Danish Design School’s manifesto that design should benefit society and the business community, and so the school has established a close collaboration with a number of private sector companies and business people. The students have internship agreements with public and private sector companies both in Denmark and abroad. A panel of business leaders pro-vides the school with advice on requirements and expectations regarding the design programme.

To maintain its position as an international powerhouse for business and design, the Danish Design School should continue along the tracks which have already been laid, and learn from the other schools, opines Hugo Macdonald.

The time when design was functional utility, styling and decora-tion has long since passed. Today design is associated with culture and economic development. The designers of the future must be able to do more than create a chair which is comfortable to sit in and lovely to look at: with an eye for economic growth and the manufacturer’s ability to compete, they must find new ways of thinking and acting.

The Danish Design School in Copenhagen is one of the design schools that combines design and business. In its Annual Forecast Issue for 2011, under the headline Schools for thought, the international magazine Monocle has compared five design schools from around the world, each with their own approach to training designers. Monocle highlights how the Danish Design School incorporates a 135 year arts and crafts tradition into a modern reality based on market terms.

“The Danish Design School is a particularly historic case study that appealed to me because it has recently undergone many changes – taking a look at how it can improve its efficiency and relevance in the 21st century. That self-assessment is exactly what I was looking for. Rather than an age-old school that churns out students year after year, I wanted to profile a school which understands that you can’t rely on a heritage as a badge of success; you need to adapt and change to stay relevant and successful,” says Monocle’s Design Editor Hugo Macdonald. “A foot in the past and an eye on the future. Academic, practical and business training combined is the perfect formula for creating the breed I am talking about.”

In 2010, the Danish Design School gained the status of an institute of further education, with its design programme now being based on both a hands-on arts and crafts tradition and a

By Anna Mogensen

A washing up bowl. A rather dated item in the era of smart phones and 52 inch flatscreens. But that is what designer Ole Jensen launched at the start of the new millen-nium: a soft rubber washing up bowl in bright colours. It was at first met with a certain degree of indulgence, since what would one do with seve-

ral washing up bowls now that everyone had a dishwasher?But the washing up bowl has since gone from strength to

strength in kitchens all over the world. The acknowledged design lexicon Phaidon Design Classics has chosen it as one of the 999 most innovative and influential designs of the past 200 years. The restaurants in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York use it as a champagne cooler. The washing up bowl with its characteristic folded-over edges has practically become an icon of modern Danish arts and crafts, because it is smart, simple and attractive.

But new Danish design is much more. It is also sustainable design. Design which shows that sustainability is not only about restrictions – turning down the lights or reducing the heat – but also about turning up the flame of innovation, to play and experi-ment with new materials and intelligent solutions.

Sustainable design for the futureSustainability ranges from the lighter, bright green solutions to the rich green, thoroughly worked through solutions.

Sustainability is the bowl made of FSC certified wood. It is design furniture of high quality, which will last a lifetime. It is super trendy bicycles that make it attractive to leave the car at home. And it is the charcoal purifica-tion of tap water that eliminates the need for imported water in plastic bottles. It is the new type of solar cell, and fashion clothes created from recycled polyester and organic cotton.

“In the future it will no longer be a question of whether the product is sustainable, just in which way. We are already seeing clothing collections which are both well-designed and made of organic fairtrade cotton. And we will see furniture that is not only functional and attractive, but also sustainable,” says the Danish writer and TV host Frederikke Aagaard. She is a trained architect and has arranged several exhibitions showcasing sustainable design.

An example of the new trend is Danish designer Tom Rossau’s sculptural lamps using laminated birch strips. With light wooden strips in organic forms, the lamps create a warm light and an atmospheric setting for environmentally friendly but bleak energy-saving light bulbs. Other examples are scooters and racing cars that are powered by electricity instead of gasoline. A company called Lynx has created the world’s most powerful electric car, which with 950 noiseless horsepower puts electric vehicles in a whole new perspective. The Lynx can cover 150-300 kilometres per charge depending on how the car is driven, and the accelera-tion is astonishing (0 to 100 kph in under 3 seconds).

“There are lots of opportunities, including business growth opportunities, in the areas of greentech and sustainable design production. Denmark has a long tradition for showing account-ability in production which is not just about having a proper CSR

Designer Ole Jensen has designed probably the world’s most famous washing up bowl.

By Jeppe Villadsen



policy. Denmark also has a reputation for doing the same in relation to craftsmanship. It is also what we are known for internationally – that Danish products generally, and furniture in particular, are of very high quality,” says Frederikke Aagaard.

Intelligent textilesAnother exciting area of development in the design landscape is intelligent textiles. Imagine being able to simply brush grass stains and red wine stains off a white summer dress. Or a baby’s diaper that signals when it needs changing. Imagine socks that never get smelly. Or clothes that tell the washing machine how they should be washed.

With sensor technologies and interactive clothes, tactile information from the skin (goose bumps, humidity, temperature fluctuations and pulse) can be made measurable, so they can be used to interact with the environment. Clothes will ‘notice’ the body and communicate with the environment which will then respond to our moods and needs.

That is one of the main areas for intelligent textiles: clothes coupled with electronics to make them smart and useful. But there is another area for smart textiles which is even more excit-ing, says Hanne Troels Jensen, who heads the Knowledge Center

for Intelligent Textiles at TEKO, Scandinavia’s biggest design and business school.

“It is about working with the functionality of textiles, adding extra properties so that they can do more e.g. become resistant to stains and static electricity, waterproof, tem-perature regulating and ironing-free,” says Hanne Troels Jensen.

Some of these properties can be created by impregnating or otherwise manipulating the textiles. There is also a lot of develop-ment going on in technologies which make it possible to put the functionalities right into the textile fibres, so they are there from the start. They will then last better than if one just impregnates the surface layer.

Just take environmentally friendly enzymes for the clothing industry. With new enzyme technologies, it has become possible to save enormous quantities of water, reduce CO2 emissions and cut down on the use of bleaching agents in garment production, and at the same time produce materials that are softer and more durable. An enzyme technology developed by Denmark’s leading biotechnology company Novozymes makes it possible to save 70,000 litres of water and reduce CO2 emissions by 1,000 kilos for each ton of textile during the production process.

Novozymes has previously developed enzymes that make detergent powder capable of cleaning at 20-30 degrees Celsius. The reduction of the washing temperature can reduce CO2 emis-sions by 12 million tons annually in Europe and 20 million tons annually in the US.

Frederikke Aagaard, writer and TV host, trained architect. Has arranged several exhibitions showcasing sustainable design.

Hanne Troels Jensen, head of the Knowledge Center for Intelligent Textiles at TEKO

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Tom Rossau’s sculptural lamps in laminated birch strips, which give warmth and atmosphere to the environmentally friendly LED lights.



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Strategic designCommon to many of the innovative design products with a com-mercial wind in their sails is that the design is conceived from the start. Simply stated, it is good business to use design strategically, so that design is incorporated in all parts of the company’s production.

“The design concept has expanded considerably in recent years, and today is much more than just a finish on a more or less completed product. When we talk about strategic design today, we mean design as an integrated part of the company’s overall business strategy. Design incorporated into every part of the company, the management, business development and product development,” says Christian Scherfig, managing director of the Danish Design Center.

The Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority has calcu-lated that the added value for companies that use design and design concepts as a key part of their development and business processes is 22 percent higher than for those companies that only use design as styling or finish. The UK non-departmental public body The Design Council has reached similar conclusions in a report that examines cases such as LEGO and Virgin Atlantic Airways, and describes how both companies and public authori-ties can create greater value through the integration of strategic design.

The latest survey of Danish companies shows that 23 percent work strategically with design, and 40 percent integrate design into development processes.

“These are really good numbers, but there is still room for improvement. We are trying to get even more companies to work strategically with design. At the same time, politicians have seen that design is a necessary competition parameter and so for a number of years the Danish government has prioritised design and was the first in the world to launch a design policy which aims to promote the use of design in Danish business life,” says Christian Scherfig.

Denmark No.2 on EU innovation barometer

Denmark’s fine ranking is due to the growth in the number of PhDs and the number of international publications, growth in foreign revenues from licences and patents, and increasing public sector investments in research and education.

The annual Innovation Union Scoreboard is compiled by the European Commission as part of the Lisbon strategy to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness in the knowledge society.

Source: Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation

Christian Scherfig, managing director of the Danish Design Center



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With a strong focus on establishment of offshore

wind farms in Northern Europe, Aarsleff has

obtained great know-how and is well-prepared

for development of solutions that are optimised

in terms of technology, economy and time.

Among our references are London Array Off-

shore Wind Farm, Nysted Offshore Wind Farm,

Horns Rev 2, Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, Rød-

sand 2 and Sprogø Offshore Wind Farm.

Great know-how and well-prepared solutions

We take part in the world ’s largest offshore wind projects


GOLDEN CHEF

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His winning menu at the competition consisted of monkfish cooked on burned hay, lemon thyme and chips made of roots. And for the meat dish, roast of lamb, juniper and pushed blubber with dried cranberries, including lamb in jelly with wild mush-rooms and small onions.

“This time around I put a lot more of my personality into the menu,” says Kofoed. “I was much more confident and inspired from the cooking I’ve been doing at my own restaurant,” he adds.

Cooking with the heartKofoed became a chef back in 1997 and trained at the Hotel d’Angleterre, the most prestigious and opulent five-star hotel in Copenhagen. In 2007, he opened Geranium restaurant and the next year won a Michelin Star but was forced to close due to the financial crisis in 2009. Last summer it re-opened with the same name but this time at new premises inside the national football stadium Parken.

“My favourite kind of cooking is when I cook with my heart,” he says. “My ingredients are always local and seasonal and most importantly biodynamic. This makes the food taste perfect while at the same time being good for the environment which is important. I think this is what new Danish cuisine is all about. With every new dish I always start with the vegetables and then take it from there. The vegetables help create the dish for me,” he adds.

First chef with multiple medalsFor Kofoed, the prize of becoming ‘best chef in the world’ is a dream come true.

“Winning this has always been a personal goal of mine.” By winning he’s also created history by being the only chef to have multiple medals from the Bocuse d’Or competition.

“After winning I felt like I had been given a new life, with no plans and it felt great. The last two years of my life have only been about this competition. It has been my only focus. Now I want to keep this winning feeling inside for a good while yet,” says Kofoed.

The prize money of EUR 20,000 will be shared with his young assistant chef Frederik, and a long overdue holiday is planned.

“It’s never been about the money, but I’m looking forward to getting away and relaxing with my girlfriend,” he smiles.

So where does a chef who is European and World Champion go from here? “I haven’t really thought about that and what I will do next but I still have lots of ambitions left.”

This January, Chef Rasmus Kofoed confirmed that Danish cuisine is simply the best by winning the prestigious Bocuse d’Or Prize. “It’s good to show that Noma, winning world’s best restaurant last year was not just about luck,” smiles Kofoed. “That actually it’s all about hard work and talent.”

Bocuse d’Or held every two years in Lyon, France is the world championship for chefs and often referred to as the culinary equivalent of the Olympics. “It’s the biggest competition in the world and the biggest challenge you can have as a chef,” says Kofoed. “And I like chal-lenges,” he adds.

And what a challenge it is. With 24 countries in competition, each team consists of one lead chef, and an assistant chef. They have exactly 5 hours and 35 minutes to prepare two elaborate presentations, a meat dish and a fish dish.

This year’s ingredients included Scottish monkfish, crabs and langoustines, and for the meat dish two Scottish lambs with kidneys. The whole event takes place in an open culinary theatre; fully equipped kitchens are lined up side by side, facing the jury, the audience and members of the press.

“It’s like being at a live football match,” admits Kofoed. “You have thousands of fans, 1,200 journalists and 24 judges all watching you as you cook. There’s loud music, spotlights, a noisy crowd and a time limit so the pressure is immense.”

7,000 hours of preparationThe 37 year-old is a seasoned competitor at the Bocuse d’Or, having won bronze back in 2005 and then silver in 2007. “Luckily as a chef, I have been in many different competitions, so I’ve learned how to deal with the pressure. As a chef you do work very long hours, so it’s all about being prepared with the food and having a good sense of physical and mental well being,” says Kofoed who is also the current European Champion and captain of the Danish chef team.

The Dane admits that fitness is a huge part of his preparation. “I love football and skateboarding,” he says. “It’s like being in a sports competition so I need to be on top form. I need to feel strong to be focused,” he adds.

He thinks that he has probably spent over 7,000 hours of his life preparing for the last three Bocuse d’Or competitions. This time round, he started preparations over two years ago and with the help of his assistant chef Frederik Rudkjøbing must have cooked the winning dish over 100 times. “We cooked it at least once a week changing it little by little every time.”

By Richard Steed

Left: Rasmus Kofoed on his way to winning the Bo-cuse d’Or cooking world championship in ChassieuRight: Rasmus Kofoed´s winning fish dish.


GOLDEN CHEF Ph

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THEME I WORLD CLASS ENGENEERING

By Jan Aagaard

Climate change, lack of natural resources, pollution and over-population. The realities of the modern world can seem confusing and deeply problematic, but globalisation and global challenges also represent a chance for new opportunities and solutions. And Danish engineers understand how to make use of that chance.

Denmark’s consulting engineering firms are becoming increas-ingly international in their work. Danish engineers, on account of their knowledge and expertise in climate, energy, environment and infrastructure, can help find solutions to a long list of global challenges.

“Danish consultants have seized the opportunities of globalisation and today have a permanent presence on many more markets than previously. This is the result of a deliberate internationalisation strategy and a very clear-cut business priori-tization of which sectors to assert their presence in,” says Henrik Garver, managing director of the Danish Association of Consulting Engineers.

Today, Danish-owned consulting engineering firms have around 10,000 staff stationed abroad. In 2000, there were only 1,300 staff working outside Denmark. And while the bulk of revenues was previously generated on the domestic market, today exports total almost as much as domestic revenues.

Global issuesOne of the companies where internationalisation can most clearly be seen is the consulting firm Rambøll, which with 9,000 employ-ees is Denmark’s largest engineering, design and consultancy company. Today Rambøll has projects in over 100 countries and more than 200 permanent offices in 20 countries in Europe, Rus-sia, the Middle East and Asia.

According to CEO Flemming Bligaard Pedersen, an inter-national presence is essential if Rambøll is to assert itself as a consulting firm.

“The challenges that the world faces represent a fantastic busi-ness opportunity for an industry such as ours. Climate change, lack of natural resources, migration and megacities are global issues which cannot be solved locally. So our own business needs

Danish engineering competences attract foreign consultants

While Danish consultants are increasingly establishing themselves abroad, consultants overseas are showing interest in Denmark. In the last decade, a number of foreign consultancy firms have established themselves in Denmark through acquisitions and collaborations. Today, 20-25 percent of the industry’s revenues come from foreign-owned companies.The reasons for establishing in Den-mark are various – from plans to bid on large-scale Danish infrastructure projects to a desire to utilise Danish competences on the international market.Of Europe’s 300 biggest consulting engineering firms, 12 were strongly represented in Denmark in 2009. This is an increase on the year before, when the corresponding figure was 9.

Source: The Danish Association of Consulting

Engineers


to be global. We have to utilise our knowledge and experience across borders and employ all our competences in the work we do,” says Flemming Bligaard Pedersen.

Modern consulting firms also have an obligation to relate to the major global agendas and try to influence them, says the Rambøll CEO.

“Viewed from a traditional perspective, engineers are techni-cians who have not involved themselves in the public debate on societal issues. But when we claim to have the knowledge needed to find solutions to the world’s challenges, we also have to communicate with the world around us. We must make ourselves visible, open up to societal involvement, express our opinions, propose solutions that benefit society and help to set the agenda,” says Flemming Bligaard Pedersen.

The CEO acknowledges that this approach carries the risk of the company being accused of engaging in politics.

“When you come out and say something, there is always the risk that someone else will view things differently. We must simply try to communicate as openly and transparently as we can, from a technical and scientific standpoint,” says Flemming Bligaard Ped-ersen, who adds that societal engagement is inextricably linked with the consultancy role:

“Rambøll is a holistic company. We are specialists in a number of business areas, but incorporate societal aspects in the work that we do. We simply have to involve both dimensions in order to find the best solutions.”

World class competencesIncreased internationalisation has meant that even during the economic crisis of recent years, consulting engineering firms in

Danish engineers are innovative and questioning

According to Lars Pallesen, rector of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), there are three key attributes of Danish engineers that put them among the best in the world in a number of areas. At DTU, the Nordic region’s leading institution for the training of engineers, these attributes are already seen during their studies: Solid basic knowledge: Danish engi-neering students are accomplished in the fundamental subjects such as mathematics and mechanics. This knowledge enables the engineers to find effective solutions to many differ-ent problems.

Innovative: DTU students are often set problems which cannot be solved with the help of the standard curriculum. This forces them to seek additional information and to think in unconventional ways, a tradition which they continue in the world of work.

Questioning minds: Danish engi-neers are known for their questioning approach to standard models and don’t blindly follow conventional wisdom. This helps enhance the level of professional excellence and leads to new ways of doing things.

Denmark managed to generate revenue growth. In 2009, mem-bers of the Danish Association of Consulting Engineers achieved an overall growth of 4.6 percent. Figures for 2010 are not yet available.

Growth is also expected in the coming years, and it will be especially driven by the international area, thinks the managing director of the Danish Association of Consulting Engineers, Henrik Garver. Danish consultants have excellent opportunities to assert themselves in finding ways to meet global challenges, but the international focus is putting companies under a lot of pressure, he says.

“Danish engineers have a reputation for delivering high quality services, and in a number of areas their competences are world class. However, competition is increasing in parallel with globali-sation, so Danish companies have to manage their cost base even better, and further improve the way they utilise staff skills across borders,” says Henrik Garver.

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By Jan Aagaard


Wind turbines were previously something that naturally belonged on land, but today an increasing number of modern wind farms are placed out at sea. Installing foundations for wind turbines on the seabed requires unique engineering competences, and the world’s two leading companies in this area are Danish – Per Aarsleff A/S and MT Højgaard.

The two companies – and competitors – have both been active in the offshore wind market since the first large-scale Danish offshore wind farms were established around a decade ago. They have thus built up experience and expertise in this area, which gives them a strong position on the growing offshore market, where they have a number of large-scale projects in Northern Europe.

Foundations for 175 wind turbinesAarsleff is currently installing foundations for the 175 wind tur-bines and two transformer substations which constitute the first phase of the world’s biggest offshore wind farm, London Array.

When the entire project is completed, the 1 GW offshore wind farm will cover the electricity consumption of 750,000 house-holds, equivalent to a quarter of all the households in London. Aarsleff has previously participated in a number of large-scale Danish offshore wind farm projects.

“We were among the pioneers in offshore foundations and over the years have shown that we have both the expertise and the technical solutions, and that we are innovative and can handle difficult challenges along the way. This is why we won the big task with the London Array project,” says Jesper Kristian Jacob-sen, Divisional Manager, Aarsleff.

MT Højgaard is also very active in the UK market and is cur-rently involved in the 88 wind turbine Sheringham Shoal project and the 69 wind turbine Lincs project. Together these wind farms will cover the electricity needs of nearly 400,000 households. Since 2000, the Danish contractor has participated in 12 large-scale offshore wind farm projects and has installed more offshore wind turbine foundations than any other contractor.

The world’s biggest offshore wind farm

Aarsleff and the German industrial group Bilfinger Berger GmbH are jointly undertaking the fabrica-tion and installation of 177 monopile foundations, as well as the installation of the wind turbines, for the first phase of London Array, which when completed will be the world’s biggest offshore wind farm.The wind farm is located 20 kilometres off the Kent and Essex coasts in the Thames estuary. The first phase of the London Array project has a total capacity of 630 MW. When the entire project is completed, the 1 GW offshore wind farm will cover the electricity consumption of 750,000 households.177 foundations will be fabricated and installed – for 175 wind turbines and two transformer substations. The monopiles are up to 60 metres in length and weigh around 500 tons. In addition to the monopile, the foundation also comprises a 400 ton transition piece that is up to 30 metres in height. The contract also includes installation of the 175 wind turbines.The consortium behind the London Array consists of DONG Energy (Denmark), E.ON Climate & Renewables (Germany) and Masdar Initiative (Abu Dhabi).Aarsleff and Bilfinger Berger have previously collaborated on the establishment of the Danish offshore wind farms Rødsand 2 and Horns Rev 2.When the first phase of London Array is com-pleted, Aarsleff will have installed a total of 550 foundations for offshore wind turbines in the UK and Denmark since 2000.




“Relatively early on, we took a strategic decision to make installation of offshore wind turbine foundations a focus area, since we could see that it would become a growing market. This proactive approach has given us a unique position in recent years when the market has grown,” says Thorbjørn Rasmussen, Execu-tive Vice President at MT Højgaard.

Knowledge and experienceFoundations for offshore wind turbines is a highly specialised area that cannot be compared with onshore foundations. Offshore wind turbines are either placed on traditional concrete founda-tions or on cylindrical steel tubes, called monopiles, which are driven into the seabed. The foundations, which are often sited in considerable water depths, have to support wind turbines tower-ing 70 metres or more above the waves. The wind turbine blades weigh several tons and are exposed to massive wind pressure. For this reason, the foundations must be constructed in a way which allow the turbine tower a certain amount of movement

– without risking it falling over.The expertise of Aarsleff and MT Højgaard in the installation of

offshore wind turbine foundations is based on classic engineering competences also used for the construction of concrete and steel foundations for e.g. bridges. In addition, they have special knowl-edge of, and experience with, offshore installations in challenging wind, weather and seabed conditions, as well as the logistic chal-lenges and the entire marine operation with specialised vessels.

“A number of companies have experience with the individual elements, but there are few who have mastered the entire process as we have. We systematise our approach and combine well-known calculations with new knowledge and techniques,” says Thorbjørn N. Rasmussen.

New methods and equipmentOffshore wind turbine foundations are not off-the-shelf items, but are fabricated for each project together with the wind turbine manufacturer, taking into account the subsoil conditions, water

Three major offshore projects

MT Højgaard is currently working on two major offshore projects in the UK and one in Denmark: The company is supplying 90 foundations for the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm, placed in water depths of 16-22 metres off the coast of Norfolk in the UK. The wind farm will supply 220,000 households with electricity.In another project, MT Højgaard will design, fabricate, transport and install foundations for the new 250 MW Lincs Offshore Wind Farm located about eight kilometres off the coast of Lincolnshire in the UK. The 69 wind turbines will supply electricity to about 170,000 households.In Denmark, MT Højgaard will supply and install the foundations for Anholt Offshore Wind Farm, the country’s largest so far with 111 wind turbines. The nameplate capacity will be 400 MW, sufficient to meet the electricity needs of 400,000 households, or about four per cent of Denmark’s total electricity consumption.When the new projects have been completed, MT Højgaard will have installed a total of 630 offshore wind turbine foundations in the UK and Denmark since 2000.


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depth, wave height and the size of the wind turbine. And while traditional offshore projects for the oil and gas industry have involved one or two foundations per project, offshore wind farms involve series production with the installation of 30, 80 or more than 100 foundations for a single project.

This puts very different demands on contractors, who often themselves have to develop new methods and equipment for the purpose. For example, MT Højgaard has developed a simple hydraulic system which requires only one operator to ensure that monopiles weighing hundreds of tons stand absolutely straight.

At the present time, most offshore wind farms are installed in relatively shallow waters. But in several places, they are begin-ning to be installed in deeper waters. The wind turbines are also getting larger and over time this will create the need for new solutions, that Danish engineers are using their know-how and experience to develop.

“We are involved in various concept studies and research projects where we are looking at the oil industry, which has been


through the same evolutionary process in recent decades. Maybe it will be floating wind turbines that are anchored to the sea bed, or other methods. We believe that offshore wind turbines are the future, and we are concentrating on acquiring even more exper-tise in the area,” says Jesper Kristian Jacobsen.

USA and Asia show interestThe Danish contractors expect the offshore market to show con-tinued growth in the future. There are several new offshore wind farms planned in the UK – projects that are much bigger than the current ones. There are also plans for a number of offshore proj-ects in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. So the Northern European market will continue to grow in the next 10-15 years.

While the offshore market has hitherto been concentrated on northern Europe, the US and Asia are also starting to show an interest in offshore wind turbines. China has installed its first offshore wind turbines, and in the US the first projects along the coast and in the Great Lakes have been submitted for approval.



With 12 million citizens, the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka is a so-called megacity. It also has the world’s fastest-growing population, and this is putting enormous pressure on the city’s water resources and wastewater treatment, in a geographical area which is also plagued by severe rainfall and flooding.

Over the last decade, consulting engi-neering firm Grontmij | Carl Bro has been involved in a number of water projects in Bangladesh. Based on its expertise in this area, the Danish company was chosen to execute the major work of establishing effective management of Dhaka’s water resources to the benefit of the city’s envi-ronment and the health of its citizens.

Grontmij | Carl Bro is in charge of refurbishing Dhaka’s comprehensive water supply network, as well as creating the foundation for proper wastewater treatment. The company is also provid-ing consultancy for establishing a new waterworks that purifies river water into drinking water. More than DKK 10 billion (EUR 1,34 billion) is being invested in the renewal of drinking water systems and wastewater treatment for these three projects.

To ensure reliable water supplies and good water quality for 12 million citizens, 2,500 km of water pipes will be refur-bished and replaced. It is a large-scale and complex task, which involves laying pipes beneath many narrow and heavily trafficked roads.

It is not only Dhaka’s drinking water supply that is insufficient. Today, only a small fraction of Dhaka’s wastewater is treated and purified. Most of it is

discharged untreated through drains to nearby rivers or lakes, resulting in severe environmental damage. Grontmij | Carl Bro will prepare a master plan for Dhaka’s wastewater treatment, and invite tenders for a number of projects which can solve some of the problems in the short term.

One of over 50 projectsThe company’s third project in Dhaka is consultancy in connection with the establishment of a water purification plant, which will treat 450,000 m3 of polluted river water per day, and supply sufficient drinking water for three million people. This project is financed by the Danish state development assistance unit Danida, with the Danish engineering company MT Højgaard as the main contractor.

“In all three projects we attach impor-tance to introducing new technologies and solutions that the country’s own technicians can use in the future. This will be done in collaboration with a number of Danish utility companies which will help to supply ’best practice’ in the operation of supply networks – one of Denmark’s strength positions when we make com-parisons on an international level,” says Hans-Martin Friis Møller, Director of Water at Grontmij | Carl Bro.

The Danish consulting engineering firm expects that it will employ 100 people this year at its project offices in Dhaka, where a number of Danish specialists are stationed.

Over the last 10 years, Grontmij | Carl Bro has carried out more than 50 donor-financed projects in Bangladesh including water projects and educational projects.

By Jan Aagaard

Photo top left: Grontmij I Carl Bro’s wastewater treat-ment plant in DhakaPhotos right: A population of 12 million people puts huge pressure on Dhaka’s water resources.


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LINKING COMMUNITIESThe immersed tunnel under Fehmarnbelt will be the world’s longest combined road-rail tunnel, linking Scandinavia and Europe closer together. The tunnel is one of our many infrastructure projects that increase mobility and contribute to future growth and development in communities around the world.

WWW.RAMBOLL.COM


To plan, design and build an airport is one of the most complex engineering tasks imaginable, involving many different profes-sional disciplines and hundreds of players and stakeholders. This is the specialist area of two of Denmark’s leading consulting engineering firms, Rambøll and COWI, and today they are among the world leaders.

Both COWI and Rambøll have many years of experience as consultants in airport planning, design and construction, and are regularly involved in projects worldwide. But two current projects in particular have put the Danish consulting engineering firms right up among the international elite in this field.

For Rambøll, the most important current project is the mod-ernisation and expansion of Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg in Russia, where Rambøll is the chief consultant. The EUR 1 billion

project is the largest ongoing airport expansion in Europe and will enable Pulkovo Airport to receive up to 17 million passengers annually.

Rambøll is in charge of the first design phase, which includes the development and improvement of the landing area, a new pas-senger terminal, a hotel, and office facilities. The multi-disciplinary project involves more than 200 employees across the consulting firm’s business units in Denmark, Russia, Sweden and UK.

Among the world’s top fiveThe project in St. Petersburg has put Rambøll up among the world’s five leading consulting engineering firms in the airport planning, design and construction field, and the company sees excellent opportunities for the project to lead to more large-scale assignments in the highly globalised industry.

“With experience from more than 200 airport projects in recent years, we have comprehensive expertise in this area. But this is the first time we have won a multi-disciplinary airport project on such a large scale,” says Kurt Bech, Head of Aviation and Airports at Rambøll. He leads the company’s international focus on airports with around 15 ongoing projects in Europe, Africa and the Far East.


By Jan Aagaard

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“With the Pulkovo project as reference, we can bid on major airport projects globally. We have all the competences available internally and work across the company’s units, so we can offer a package solution where the customer only needs to talk to one consultant. This is a great advantage for the customer because the overall challenge in large airport projects is management, and that is what we would like to continue developing,” says Kurt Bech.

Giant step forwardCOWI’s largest current project is in the Middle East, where the company, in a joint venture with Larsen Architects, is the main consultant on the expansion and modernisation of two interna-tional airports in Oman. Muscat International Airport will have a capacity of 12 million passengers annually, while Salalah in the south of the country will have a capacity of 1 million passengers.

COWI is heading the entire project, from planning and design to inspection of the construction. It is the largest international project in the company’s history and crucial to COWI’s interna-tional position in this area. During the preparatory work over the last couple of years, the Danish company has had as many as 400 employees working on the project.

“The project in Oman is extremely important to us. For several years we have been among the top 10 in international airport consultancy, but this project gives us a giant step forward and helps us to to qualify for other major projects,” says Jens Christof-fersen, Senior Vice President and in charge of Airports in COWI.

A learning process for allThe project comprises the establishment of runways, approach roads, terminals, baggage handling systems, control tower and all the other buildings and installations needed in a modern airport.

“It is a challenging project, which involves all the company’s different competences. An airport project of this magnitude is one of the most complex you can imagine, because it involves so many different interacting elements,” says Jens Christoffersen.

“In projects of this type, it is not possible to make complete and final performance descriptions from the start. When changes are made in one place, it has an effect on many other places. So it is necessary to make more adjustments along the way than with engineering projects of other types. It is a learning process for all parties involved, and so the project helps to expand employee competences,” says Jens Christoffersen.

In addition to the projects in Oman, COWI is working on a major project in Norway, where the capacity of Oslo Airport (Gardermoen) will be expanded from 17 to 28 million passengers annually. The airport will also be prepared for a possible later expansion to 35 million passengers. The Danish consulting com-pany is also working on a project in the airport in Bergen, and has recently won an airport project in Riga in Latvia.

Photo top left: Danish firm Rambøll is currently expanding and modernising Pulkova Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Photo top right: In Oman, Danish firm COWI is the main consultant on the expansion and modernisa-tion of two international airports.

Consulting engineering firm COWI has considerable experience in tunnel construction. The company is involved in the design of the coming fixed link between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. The project involves the establishment of the world’s longest immersed tunnel for road traffic. China Communications Construction Co. (CCCC) is the main contractor in the consortium that won the design-build contract for the project, and CCCC has chosen COWI as its international consultant.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HKZMB) is scheduled for opening in 2016, and work on the tunnel began in December 2010. The new fixed link will traverse the western part of Hong Kong with a 5 kilometre long bridge leading to a 6 kilometre tunnel under the water, and then continue with a 23 kilometre long bridge to Macau and thence to Zhuhai on the Chinese mainland.

With around 32 elements immersed at a water depth of more than 40 metres, the project extends the limits of what is technically possible. For example, the tunnel will be 40 percent longer than the world’s currently longest immersed tunnel, which forms part of the Øresund fixed link between Denmark and Sweden.

In designing the tunnel, the engineers have had to take into account that building will take place in open water under deep navigation channels plied by some of the world’s biggest ships. Furthermore, the construction must be able to withstand seismic shocks since there is a risk of relatively large earthquakes in the area.

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By Jan Aagaard

Completely new types of concrete structures that have the poten-tial to revolutionise the construction of everything from housing to bridges are ready for market introduction. The structures, based on a new technology called super-lightweight structures invented by a Danish engineer, are attracting international interest.

Abeo A/S, which was recently founded to bring the inventor’s ideas into the real world, won first prize at the Global Cleantech Open Ideas Competition 2010 in Silicon Valley, USA and gained a mention in newspapers like the New York Times.

The Danish discovery makes it possible to replace traditional, expensive and energy-consuming concrete and steel structures with concrete structures which weigh significantly less. This markedly reduces CO2 emissions during production, transporta-tion and installation, and also enables the total construction costs to be reduced.

“Building structures account for 10-20 percent of the world’s CO2 production, so an effort in this area can contribute significantly to reducing the global environmental impact. At the same time, the new structures make it possible for architects to use natural and optimally curved forms in the building, without it becoming economically prohibitive,” says the inventor Kristian Hertz of the Technical University of Denmark.

Flexible constructionAbeo is concentrating initially on using the super-lightweight structures for decking used for floor separation in concrete build-ings. An agreement with the first concrete producer in Denmark has been made, and Abeo is collaborating with one of Denmark’s and Europe’s leading engineering firms, Grontmij | Carl Bro, to introduce and integrate the technology in the construction industry.

“We are experiencing strong interest in the product and expect to see the first buildings in Denmark to be designed using the new type of concrete decking in the first half of 2011. It is impor-tant for us to have showcases on the domestic market, when we

start selling the product on the export market,” says managing director Mads Løntoft of Abeo.

According to Abeo, their new Super-Light deck units are more flexible than traditional cavity decking, allowing greater spans and flexibility in concrete buildings. The deck units are also more fire-resistant and provide better sound insulation.

“There is great potential in the use of super-lightweight structures. Especially if they are thought into the design phase and project planning, where their increased flexibility will give architects new and interesting opportunities,” says Mads Løntoft.

More products on the wayThe Super-Light deck unit is the first product based on the new invention. Abeo expects to develop a range of new products in the coming years, including the use of another principle in the new technology called necklace reinforcement where the core of the structure is pieced together on a steel wire from a number of strong concrete elements. The core provides the load-bearing part of the structure, which is supported and protected by light-weight concrete that fills the mould. Necklace reinforcement can for example be used in the construction of bridges.

“With necklace reinforcement, a new motorway bridge can be constructed next to the motorway and subsequently lifted into position, whereas today the bridge typically needs to be cast in situ, which disrupts motorway traffic and increases the consumption of materials for the casting moulds and supporting structures,” says Mads Løntoft.


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Søren Larsen, managing director, Grontmij | Carl Bro

At the offshore wind farm Horns Rev 2, Aarsleff

has installed 91 offshore wind turbine founda-

tions in a joint venture with Bilfinger Berger

GmbH, making the wind farm the world’s largest.

In addition to the wind turbine foundations, we

also installed a transformer foundation. The off-

shore wind farm was inaugurated in September

2009, and the turbine capacity is 2.3MW. The

turbines will be able to supply power equivalent

to the annual electricity consumption of 200,000

homes – or just about 2% of the total Danish

electricity consumption.

Extensive experience in offshore wind turbine foundations

Horns Rev 2 – the world ’s largest offshore wind farm


FROM ZERO TO 18

Danish children can concentrate on what they are best at – playing and making friends. This happens at daycare centres, after-school centres and in schools, where the little ones enjoy short days, play ball games and have a weekly socialising period with storytelling and cakes, conducted in a uniquely Danish atmo-sphere of cosiness and congeniality, for which there is a special word in the language – ‘hygge’.

Denmark is one of the world’s most affluent nations with a highly-educated population, so something must be right, from a socio-economic perspective at least, about the Danish approach to the upbringing and education of children.

Part of the explanation, experts in psychology and pedagogy say, flows from one of the principal tenets of Danish pedagogical thinking – that well-being is the foundation for acquiring knowl-edge and skills. Contrastingly, there is less focus on discipline and learning by rote.

This soft pedagogical approach to education is however regularly debated in Denmark and kept alive by only half-decent results in the international PISA survey, which compares chil-dren’s competences in reading, maths and science. Professor of pedagogy Niels Egelund, who carries out the Danish part of the PISA survey, points out that Denmark was previously ranked 5th globally on educational level, but has now dropped to 12th.

Everyone agrees that Danish state schools need strengthen-ing. There is also broad agreement that future reforms must not neglect the development of children’s social skills, to which so much importance has been attached in recent decades, and which has provided the good results.

But what are the paradigms and values that are applied to the upbringing and education of children in Denmark today? Focus Denmark has looked at the educational lives of Danish children from birth to age 18.

By Poul Kjær

Paid parental leaveIn Denmark, a newborn child can be looked after by its mother for up to one year at the employer’s and/or state’s expense, since Danish parents have between them the right to 52 weeks’ paid leave. The child thus receives the security that its own mother can offer, compared with externally provided forms of daycare.

In addition to two weeks’ paternity leave, which almost all Danish men take, the father can take a portion of the 52 weeks’ paid leave. Despite the widespread degree of equality in Danish society, few Danish men make use of this option. One who did, however, is Mads Jensbo, a consultant at Local Government Den-mark. He took seven months’ leave with his son Asger and three months’ leave with his daughter Sidsel.

“I wanted to have a close relation with my children, and so took leave to be with them. It meant that they have always related equally to their mother and father. In fact, I was the most popular in those periods when I was at home,” says Mads Jensbo, who adds with a wry smile that not only did he become more popular with the children, but also with his female colleagues at work.

Play, play and playWhen a child is around one year old, all families are offered pub-licly provided daycare, either in a privately run daycare home or a state run day nursery, and later at a daycare centre, which takes children from just under three years old until they start pre-school at the age of six.


FROM ZERO TO 18

School hours for Danish children are relatively short. From 0-3rd form, school starts at 8 am and finishes between noon and 1 pm; from 4-9th form, school finishes between 2 pm and 3 pm.

In the afternoon most young children attend after-school centres, while older children are offered after-school clubs where they hang out with their friends. Children manage their after-noons themselves, and the role of pedagogues is to contribute to the children’s well-being.

Mads’ children, Asger and Sidsel, respectively attend a club and an after-school centre in the afternoon. Mads says:

“Asger plays drums in a club band, and plays football and computer games with his friends. Sidsel plays with her girlfriends, makes bracelets and does woodcarving. There is a good balance in their lives between school and free time.”

Top marks in democracy and politicsThe curriculum of Danish state schools not only includes studying the humanities, scientific subjects and the creative arts, but also a weekly free period when children can talk about playground problems, eat cakes and socialise. It is not until the 7-9th form that pupils encounter tests and grades. In the lower forms, there is little or no homework, and even in the 7-9th form, there is not much homework to do.

This might change in the future. The less than impressive rank-ing of Danish schoolchildren in the international PISA surveys have caused concerns and encouraged the government to pres-ent proposals for state school reforms including more lessons, more tests and more grades.

Danish schoolchildren are however the world’s best when it comes to their knowledge of politics, democracy and civic soci-ety. This is revealed by a survey from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) conducted among 140,000 students in 38 countries.

87 per cent of Danish parents choose Danish state schools for their children; the rest send their children to private schools. Mads Jensbo and his family live in Copenhagen municipality, where increasing numbers of parents are sending their children to private schools. Being relatively well off, the Jensbo family could easily choose a private school, but they haven’t. Mads Jensbo says:

“It is important that my children attend a state school, because state schools reflect the society we live in. Some are born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Others have less resources and

The pedagogic focus in daycare centres is on

free play and spending time together with friends, and not

on activities initiated by adults. Mads Jensbo comments:

“Our children had some good years in the daycare centre with ‘hygge’ and creativity. Their social and personal limits were tested, and they built good relations with the adults. That has given

them security and a good starting point for the rest of their lives. And

when they were old enough, they were well prepared to start school.”

- But don’t you wish they had learned the alphabet and

learned to count, since they were spending 7 or 8 hours every day

in the institution?

“It is not about cramming information into children’s heads as early as possible, but instead to provide knowledge when they are ready to learn. I don’t think it should be underestimated how social play, being read to, and singing in the daycare centre stimulate children’s abilities to learn at a later stage,” replies Mads Jensbo.

Short school daysDanish children have nine years of compulsory schooling; for the vast majority of children, school starts at the age of 6 or 7 when they attend voluntary pre-school classes (0th form) which focus on play and other developmental activities. 98 per cent of Danish children go to pre-school classes.


FROM ZERO TO 18

fewer opportunities. I would like my children to learn this basic truth.”

Youth education programmesAfter taking their state school final exam, young people make choices on further education. Nine out of ten choose a youth education programme, which is either directly vocational with an apprenticeship to become e.g. a crafts operative, or a three year upper secondary school programme.

Many students experience the transition from state school to upper secondary school as a radical change, since the academic demands, homework and the number of lessons increase dramati-cally.

But for most, the change is a positive experience. Students can choose from many subjects, which benefits their interests and provides the opportunity to study a subject in depth. In addition, they are taught by university-trained teachers.

By the age of 17 or 18, young people have completed their youth education programme and are well prepared for the future. According to a new report from the Rockwool Foundation

13-year old Rebecca loved her class and her girlfriends at the Strandvej School in Copenhagen, but she quickly found new friends at the international school in Cambodia – and she benefits from her high level of English. Ph

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Research Unit, the majority of Danish children and young people (8 out of 10) are happy and satisfied with their lives.

“Children and young people in Denmark grow up in a culture of democracy and confidence in institutions. This means that the fear of a dissatisfactory life is relatively small,” says Hans Henrik Knoop, who conducts research in children’s well-being, and thereby helps uncover the secret of Danish society’s success so far.

The response was immediate when we announced that the family was to be stationed for two years in Cambodia in South East Asia: “You are destroying my youth”.

But things have not been quite as bad as that. In a short time, Rebecca has gained friends at the international school and has been to Vietnam with the school’s basketball team.

“The school is not as difficult as I feared, and I am especially surprised that I can keep up with science and mathematics,” says Rebecca, who at the completion of the Christmas term was just one point away from getting on the honour role, which is a distinction given to students who have achieved a particularly fine average grade.

She benefits from her high level of English, which means that she, in contrast to many of the other new students from especially

Asian countries, does not need extra English lessons.Rebecca has encountered stricter discipline at her

new school than in Denmark. On her first school day, she was three minutes late and was sent to the office. The day after she was given a black mark because her shorts were too short.

“You can get detention if you don’t do your homework, and we have to address our teachers as Mr. and Mrs.,” says Rebecca, who addressed teachers in Denmark by their first names. But she has quickly got used to the new form of address, and values the fact that disturbances during lessons are rare. But she is in no doubt that in two years’ time, she wants to go back to Denmark, her girlfriends, the athletics club and the Strandvej School.

Contact

Jacob NordgaardHead of StudiesSigurdsgade 26DK-2200 Copenhagen NE: [email protected]: +45 7248 9403

Margit HvilsomSenior Lecturer and Education consultantSigurdsgade 26DK-2200 Copenhagen NE: [email protected]: +45 7248 7774

www.phmetropol.dk

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Tailor-made coursesWe put together customised courses to meet your training needs, working with you on the development of courses,

lectures, theme days, etc. to make your team even stron-ger.

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Further information about continuing education options: www.phmetropol.dk

Do you have a strong and competent team?Continuing education at Metropolitan University College


FROM ZERO TO 18

From being very good at many things, Jonas now encountered being worst at almost everything. He couldn’t speak a word of English and was moved directly from a gentle Danish 2nd form to an ambitious international 4th form with mainly Asian children.

In the first few days, Jonas had to be cheered up after he left school humiliated without really knowing what actually happened there. And his English homework in the evenings ended up with him crying and announcing that he wanted to go home to Denmark.

After six months, Jonas has settled down. He speaks English fluently and has gained friends. But life for a 9 year old boy is tougher at the international school in Phnom Penh with home-work and longer school days than it was in Denmark. Jonas says:

“I had a lot more time to play in Denmark. I miss my friends and my after-school centre, where we always had fun with the adults, went on trips to the woods and made camp fires.”

It is especially the large-scale written assignments that cause trouble for Jonas. Assignments about faith and values, poems and forms of energy are demanding to a 9 year old mind. In Denmark, his longest written work in the 2nd form was seven lines about a badger.

Nor are making agreements to play with Asian children without complications in relation to how it is in Denmark. The first time Jonas asked a Chinese boy if he would like to come home to play, the answer was that there was no time for that. Chinese is studied in the afternoon when school finishes.

4-year old Lea moved from a Danish daycare centre to an international school: from days with play, interrupted only by play, to a full day with a timetable and learning the alphabet.

Before the family went to Cambodia, 9 year old Jonas had generally speaking not experienced adversity. But that quickly changed on the first day at the international school.

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Lea misses her Danish girlfriends Fillipa and Fanny, but has found good playmates in Waitai and Alise from Cambodia. She speaks ‘Danglish’ and comes home tired from school to tell us what they did in art and computer studies.

“My eyes get so tired when Ms. Sarah is talking,” she says, referring to the part of the day when the Australian class teacher Ms. Sarah is instructing them in religious festivals and traditions.

In Denmark she would have attended the daycare centre with free play for a further two years. The days at the international school are timetabled, but she has got used to it and comes home with drawings of snakes for the letter S.

“When I get home to Denmark, I am going to the daycare centre”, she says. But the truth is that when she comes home to Denmark, she will have to start school all over again. Schooling in Cambodia starts two years earlier than it does in Denmark.

BORNHOLM - Danish island in the Baltic Sea

RØNNE HAVN A/S PORT OF RØNNE A/S

By chief economist Steen Bocian, Danske Bank


DANISH ECONOMY

In the wake of the serious financial and economic crisis, things are slowly beginning to brighten for the Danish economy. Den-mark has now experienced five successive quarters of economic growth, and GDP has risen in overall terms by around 4% since Q2 2009. But seen in relation to the severity of the crisis and the substantial reduction in economic activity that occurred during it, one can at best speak of a restoration at reduced pace. GDP still remains 4.5% below what it was before the crisis began, and the unemployment graph has not shown any definite signs of reversing its direction. Despite the fact that unemployment has fallen over the last two months, there is a continued general concern that unemployment may rise slightly during 2011. From an international perspective however, the level of unemployment in Denmark is still moderate.

When Denmark is compared with neighbouring countries, it becomes clearer that the Danish economy is lagging behind. In Germany, which is Denmark’s principal trading partner, GDP has risen by 5.1% from its lowest point, and progress in Sweden has been even faster with GDP increasing by 7.1% since its lowest point in Q1 2009.

There are several explanations for the Danish economy’s poorer performance.

For one thing, the Danish property market has been through significantly harder times than those of Germany and Sweden. House prices in Denmark fell by

over 15% from 2007 to 2009, and although the last year has seen a weak increase in prices, it is far from certain that the crisis has passed. Right now, the property market is largely being kept alive by historically low interest rates. When interest rates eventually rise, a new crisis in the property market cannot be ruled out. Compared with Germany and Sweden, there is no doubt that the property market crisis is worse in Denmark. In Sweden, house prices are currently at record highs, while in Germany house prices have been stable in recent years. Falling property prices have a marked adverse effect on consumer behaviour, which helps to explain why Danish consumers have held back more than their counterparts in Germany and Sweden.

A second explanation for the lower Danish growth is that Denmark is not particularly exposed to the high growth markets in Asia and Eastern Europe. When one adds the fact that Danish exports are not particularly cyclical in nature, and so do not benefit from global growth in the same way as the German or Swedish exports, it is not really surprising that Danish exports are currently lagging behind.

A third explanation is that in the years before the crisis, wage growth in Denmark was a good deal higher than in either Germany or Sweden. When this is combined with the fact that productivity growth has been very low in Denmark since the mid 1990s, a picture emerges of an economy whose competitiveness is under extreme pressure. Naturally this also contributes to hold-ing export growth down.

Although the Danish economy is having difficulty shrugging off the crisis, which has also caused a marked deterioration in

the public accounts, the challenges faced by Denmark are manageable. In 2009 the deficit was 2.7% of GDP – and despite the fact that the deficit in 2010 is likely to be larger, we are “only” talking of a deficit of 3.6% of GDP. Measured by the economic structures, the Danish economy still looks strong.

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