Last Week in Denmark (05.08-11.08) Episode 25 Year 4
Car-free Aarhus; Value of your education; Private pensions
Editor HQ
State of Denmark
It has been a sunny week in Denmark :) Well, if you ignore the whole debacle of Swedish teenagers coming to Denmark as guns for hire and the more-or-less lack of Olympic medals for the national team. We’ve had beautiful days to enjoy coffee in the garden, pick fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, nibble on the blackberries, run to the nearest beach, and let vitamin D supercharge you.
Sunny days are also good for tourism, and can even lead to smart ideas. The Copenhagen pilot program in which tourists can enjoy different attractions for free in exchange for climate-friendly deeds has been a great success and will hopefully inspire the rest of the country. For example, tourists can sail around Copenhagen for free while collecting trash from water. Who knows – maybe all of Europe will follow our example :) Don’t underestimate the impact that millions of tourists can have over a short period of time.
Unfortunately, tourists can also be teenage gang members from Sweden, so the Danish government will increase controls at the Danish-Swedish border. Since April, we have had 25 episodes where Swedish teenagers committed crimes in Denmark. In addition to increased surveillance, the investigative efforts will be strengthened by stationing Danish police in Sweden and Swedish police in Denmark.
Sometimes tourists (and not only) can also be accessories to crime without even knowing. Nature’s green death, the bacteria Xylella fastidiosa, infects and kills plants by taking away their ability to absorb water and nutrients. Be careful what you bring in your suitcase back to Denmark! Italy and Mallorca have already lost countless olive and almond trees to the disease. Read more about the campaign #PlantHealth4Life (in English) here.
We end this week’s edition with an invitation to a free online course on “How to spot and react to disinformation and information manipulation?” created by the platform together.eu. Why? Because sometimes critical thinking can literally be life-saving.
Thank you for reading and sharing Last Week in Denmark!
LWID Universe
Linkedin: Read about the key changes to Denmark’s latest immigration overhaul in this interview article with Rikke Gahrn Wolfsen, Head of Denmark Immigration & Director at EY. Another interesting article from the Linkedin Team is about family reunification which you can read here.
Instagram: Share with us videos from your summer holidays.
Danish Politics HQ
Weekly political overview
According to standards, there should be one pedagogue per maximum six children in kindergarten (maximum three children in nursery). Unfortunately, less than 50% of the personnel hired have a pedagogic education. The government wants to create the possibility of training at the workplace.
Municipalities are already encouraging unskilled personnel working in nurseries and kindergartens to undertake education to become an assistant pedagogue. If you have worked two years in a nursery/kindergarten and are over 25 years old, you can get qualified in 42 weeks. To become a pedagogue, you need three and a half years of education.
An initiative called ”Minding the baby,” rolled out in 10 municipalities for the past couple of years, is showing results in reducing the number of children being fostered outside the home. Through the program, a health nurse and a family therapist make regular visits to vulnerable families to support them through the process of parenthood.
Since the last parliamentary election in 2022, 17 members of the Danish Parliament have switched political parties. This week, Christian Friis Bach, a prominent and long-term member of Radikale Venstre (Social Liberals), changed to Venstre (Liberals).
The three government leaders are discussing who should be Denmark’s next commissioner. For the last 20 years, the post has been occupied by three women: Mariann Fischer Boel (Venstre), Connie Hedegaard (Konservative) and Margrethe Vestager (Radikale Venstre), respectively. Experts point out that if Denmark continues the tradition, it can expect one of the more important “ministries” in the new EU Commission. A decision will be made soon.
Focus
Aarhus City Council agreed on a green mobility plan that might set the tone for the rest of the country. The main idea is that the people of Aarhus should use buses and bikes more than cars (especially fossil-fuel cars). The city center will become a zero-emission zone, while certain roads will now collect tolls (as is done in other EU countries).
255 million DKK will be invested until 2030 to expand the bus infrastructure so that trips between stations are faster. Additionally, 50 million DKK per year until 2027 will be invested to increase the frequency of buses. In a pilot program, car drivers will be able to park outside the city center (Lisbjerg, Tilst, Viby) and take the bus for free.
The cycle infrastructure will be further extended, and more charging stations will be installed around the city to encourage the switch to electric cars. The light rail will be further expanded to Brabrand.
Tap water will get more expensive in the future. Waterworks are consumer-owned companies (you can attend the yearly general assembly of your waterworks). To protect the quality of water, they need to either buy up the land around groundwater or pay local farmers to not use pesticides there. Expect a 75-100 DKK yearly price increase.
Danish Economics HQ
Weekly economics overview
“When the share value falls, you should buy,” says an investment economist from Nordnet. Grim perspectives on the US economy caused the entire global share market to lose value at the start of the week (to a level that made doomsayers announce another economic meltdown), pushing many scared investors into selling. It was not a great move, considering that the stock market had almost recovered by the time of publishing.
Another tip – consider investing in Danish companies. They are generally not so dependent on the global economy, have a low level of debt, and are present in industries with growth and progress.
23 municipalities are spending 50 million DKK a year to support sports talent development. Football, handball, badminton, and swimming are the priority sports.
The shipping giant Maersk reported a profit of 7.2 billion DKK for the first six months of the year. The Houthi attacks on cargo ships in the Suez Canal have forced many shipping companies to re-route around South Africa, making the shipping price skyrocket, which led to a bigger profit than expected for the company.
Focus
What is the value of your education? The economic-political think tank Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd (AE) presented an analysis where you can see how much a person is expected to earn in a certain profession over a lifetime. They used what a worker without higher education can expect to earn over their lifetime (13.6 million DKK) as the baseline.
The top five most valuable educations are: medicine (18.8 million DKK more than unskilled work), biotech (18.1 million DKK), pharmacy/dentistry (15 million DKK), leadership (15 million DKK), and law (14.6 million DKK).
The less well-paid educations are: arts (0.4 million DKK), assistant pedagogue (1.4 million DKK), graphic design (1.7 million DKK), university bachelor (1.7 million DKK), and culinary (2.1 million DKK).
A record number of people are looking at private pensions: More people (especially young people under 35) are paying extra in pension contributions. In fact, 41.6% more are paying for private pensions compared to five years ago. You can read our guide about pensions in Denmark here.
Entrepreneurship Corner
Join the free in-person course “Doing Business in Denmark” in Aalborg from October 10-31. Sign up here.
Join the free Beyond Beta Accelerator #Batch9 starting on October 22. You can apply starting August 14 here. This is a great opportunity to grow your business to the next level.
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
Insights into the Danish way of life
Although the tourist wave decreased significantly in August, the past week brought hundreds (if not thousands) of people to the country for a different reason. This time each year we celebrate Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW), which takes place bi-annually in August and February. While we often refer to Paris, Milan, or London as the hubs of worldwide fashion, those in the industry will often argue that the Danish capital plays a quieter but not less important role in shaping fashion around the globe.
What might make Copenhagen a unique city for style has to do with its way of life, which, contrary to other cities, doesn’t really allow for “uncomfortable” fashion. Scandi weather demands practicality and durability, bringing to the surface the shortcomings of brands that fail to prioritize quality and sustainability. One simply cannot afford to wear bad wool in Danish winter winds or wear jewelry that will go green at the first rain (which is probably tomorrow).
The question of sustainable fashion, which has played an increasing role in CPHFW over the last few years, brings uncomfortable but necessary dilemmas to the table. Is a brand truly sustainable if its products are made from recycled materials but cannot be recycled themselves? Is “eco leather” truly “eco” compared to real leather if its plastic will peel and force you to replace the item in two years?
When the question is whether to choose between food on the table or slow fashion, consumers can hardly be blamed for resorting to fast-fashion (and cheaper) brands. On the other hand, countries like Denmark necessarily hold more responsibility for shaping choices that are more conscious, understanding that cheap fashion very often equals underpaid labor for someone else. Aside from nice catwalks, CPHFW is a chance to reevaluate our choices and relationship with dressing and reflect on how present we are when choosing what clothes we inhabit.
Weekly overview
So far, Denmark has won only one gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Viktor Axelsen earned his second Olympic gold medal (after Tokyo 2020) in men’s single badminton. Besides the gold medal, Denmark won silver medals in team dressage (equestrian) and sailing, plus a bronze medal in men’s Greek-Roman wrestling. The bronze medal was won by Turpal Bisultanov (born in the Chechen Republic).
You risk fines of up to 1,500 DKK when you use a SUP (Stand Up Paddle) without a life jacket. The police have also acquired more patrol boats, so they will be more present on the water.
A new study from the World Health Organization shows that vaccination against COVID-19 has prevented 17,000 deaths in Denmark in the 2.5 years of the pandemic. In Europe, it has saved 1.6 million lives. As a reminder, the virus did not disappear; it’s still very much present among us.
Shelters for hikers in unused cemeteries. Feldingbjerg Church (between Skive and Viborg) opened a shelter for the hiking route Kalk Kaminoen. The event triggered a debate about the future of unused cemeteries and church spaces in sparsely populated areas. Some want them to be repurposed as assembly halls, culture houses, stores, libraries, mail delivery services, meeting rooms, co-working spaces, etc.
Denmark is under invasion from Spanish slugs. They are an invasive species and a serious agricultural pest. The first time they invaded Denmark was in 1991, and despite efforts from the government (which even established a killer snail telephone line), they are still here today. Why? Each slug leaves around 400 eggs behind.
The Danish police are lobbying for systematic facial recognition to identify perpetrators from video footage faster, thus saving on labor. There is wide support among the members of Parliament for the idea, so we should see progress soon.
International Community in Denmark HQ
“A national network of advocacy clubs for internationals,” an idea by AMIS (A More Inclusive Society)
We aim to create a space where you can learn how you can influence Danish society, how you can make changes within, and how you can improve the equality of opportunity for internationals living in Denmark. A space where you can find like-minded people who want to build an inclusive Denmark, a safe place for people coming from all backgrounds.
Roughly, the idea is to find groups of people interested in working for the benefit of the international community in Denmark, provide them with a toolkit on methods and ideas, invite them to a physical event for live training, and then encourage them to pursue their local agenda. Their own agenda depends on the local challenges they are facing and what they can do to remove those obstacles for the benefit of us all.
Now, the question is, are there people interested in this project? Is it worth pursuing? The organization wants to apply for funding to implement it but wants to hear if you have any constructive feedback for them or if you want to be part of making this project happen.
Write to info@amis.dk
Announcement Board
On August 9th, the world celebrates the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, and RentCulture is proud to introduce the Tribal Design Forum (TDF) to the Nordics. TDF is India’s only community of artists, designers, and creative professionals from various tribes, and for the first time, they are curating TribalFutures—a unique, month-long online event from August 1 to August 31, 2024. Sudhir John Horo, TDF's convenor, shares that the event focuses on contemporary issues through art, design, and technology.
Romanian Language Day Copenhagen, August 24, 14:00 - 19:00. Read more about it here. They are also looking for volunteers.
International media about Denmark HQ
How Little Denmark Got Homegrown Giant Novo Nordisk To Lower Ozempic Prices (KFF Health News)