Partnerships create space for participation

Aarhus 2017 collaborates with a number of partners in creating the setting for the European Capital of Culture volunteer programme, Rethinkers. The programme prioritises the activation of all citizens in the many events during the year as Capital of Culture, while at the same time creating a long-term engagement in cultural life.

The sports brand hummel is rooted in Danish sports traditions, which is reflected in the company’s support for team spirit and projects, where sports play a part in creating positive changes in the world. hummel delivered the Rethinkers’ distinctive orange jackets that makes the volunteers recognizable and has kept them warm during the many events in the winter season. Morten Vestberg, Senior Karma and Communication Specialist at hummel says:

”It is so great, how thousands of volunteers create good karma throughout the region at the many Aarhus 2017 activities – for that, we owe them a big thanks. Volunteering and sports are important parts of Danish culture, which at these events also show its strengths by creating unity and understanding between people. We would like to encourage all citizens to take part in the many organised activities – because it is through sports and culture we can change the world, and that is exactly what Aarhus 2017 and hummel aim for”.

The local coffee producer BKI is committed in a collaboration with Kofoeds School. Students from Kofoeds School work with the Rethinkers serving coffee to events throughout the year as Capital of Culture. 50 pct. of the sales revenue goes to Kofoeds School and the collaboration is meaningful to BKI, Event Manager Søren Griepentrog explains: ”We are deeply rooted in Aarhus, and with our aim of being a responsible company, one of the main elements is engaging in the local community. We are coffee producers and experts in roasting the coffee, so serving the coffee is not our main capacity. That’s why we thought it was a good approach to collaborate with someone, who might not currently hold a position in the labour market, but who wants to gain experience in providing a service and meeting and talking to people. The volunteers have a very positive attitude and seize the opportunity to contribute. It makes sense to us that we can both raise resources and engage the volunteers from Kofoeds School”.

To deputy manager at Kofoeds School in Aarhus, Peter Bruun Hjorth, the collaboration with BKI is meaningful as well: “The school exists in order to create space for growth and development. We collaborate with BKI because we see that the collaboration creates this space in a different way from what we do on a daily basis. It resembles a situation from the labour market, where you can rediscover that you possess qualifications, that you can make use of in society. The purpose is to make our students try something meaningful, while at the same time getting the feeling of contributing to our school, gaining insight into possibilities of volunteering and expanding their network”.

Laila Brodie is one of the highly active volunteers at Kofoeds School and now in the collaboration with BKI as well: ”It is very enjoyable and it is nice to see your work contributing to something meaningful and doing something to help other people. You gain new contacts, I might gain the courage to do more things and you get successful experiences, which might unlock new possibilities in the future. No matter whether in sunshine or in rain, you’re out and about” Laila says.

Facts:

// Kofoeds School is a place for unemployed and socially marginalised people. Through work in sheltered workshops, training, counselling and social gatherings, the school provides its students help to help themselves. Every day, more than 600 students attend the school’s departments.

// 3000 volunteers are engaged as Rethinkers and the programme Frivillighed for Alle (Volunteering for everyone) employs initiatives to include marginalised groups as volunteers.

// Aarhus 2017’s volunteer programme is supported by the Tuborg Foundation. Frivillighed for Alle is supported by The Poul Due Jensen Foundation and TrygFonden.