Aarhus 2017 creates a window for new collaborations

For local coffee producer BKI, the partnership with Aarhus 2017 has provided great experiences as well as increased the company’s local engagements and opened new possibilities for cooperative relationships. 

As a national coffee company, BKI entered a partnership with Aarhus 2017, amongst other things, to strengthen the company’s roots in the local community. The company roasts the coffee in the Aarhus suburb Højbjerg, and wanted an even bigger commitment in local community events. Throughout the European Capital of Culture year, the coffee producer has dedicated the packaging of the coffee variant “BKI Classic Gold” to Aarhus, and through the partnership, BKI has participated at several cultural events in the Aarhus 2017-programme. At the many events, BKI has sold coffee through a partnership with Kofoed’s School, where unemployed and socially marginalised people have raised resources for their school.

The engagement has not only provided unique cultural experiences, but also led to many encounters on event sites, where collaborations with new partners have developed, Eventmanager at BKI Søren Griepentrog explains: “When we go out for cultural events, we meet interesting organisations and other companies. This occasions a dialogue about the potential in new collaborative projects.”

BKI has participated at the crowd-puller Aarhus Stories, the children’s film festival Film in the Forest, and at the opening ceremony of the European Capital of Culture year in January. The coffee producer also partnered in Climate Planet – a gigantic globe placed on the harbour during the summer, with a purpose of communicating climate changes and inspire to new sustainable solutions.

Upcoming experiences
In 2017, BKI has also collaborated with local sports club Aarhus Motion, and in addition to the many Aarhus 2017-events, the company has also served coffee at local cycling races. Through the Aarhus 2017 partnership, BKI has entered a collaboration with the Folk University in Aarhus, where the coffee company’s expertise is combined with a historical knowledge about coffee, as part of the festival Hearts & Minds.

BKI now experiences an excess of new possible collaborative projects, requests and events, that has the potential of continuing in 2018. The company will amongst other projects, take part in European Volunteering Capital 2018, that Aarhus will host. All these new collaborations and projects entails that BKI now must rethink their approach to partnerships, and the company works intensively on a way to carry on the many positive initiatives. “We find that both new local and national organisations show an interest in us, and we have come to experience entirely different collaborators and approaches than we could have imagined beforehand”, Søren Griepentrog adds.

Read more about BKI here.