Danish for progress - Aarhus.dk

Aarhus
Danish for progress
RETHINK:
Aarhus is European
Capital of Culture in 2017
– Side 6
Growth area
with 1.2 million
inhabitants
– Side 10 – Side 14
construction
going
green

The magazine Aarhus. Danish for Progress,
reaches out to the City of Aarhus international
collaborators. The magazine is published
once a year, and is covered with the most
interesting current stories from Aarhus.
Stories about how Aarhus creates development
and new solutions - Aarhus.
Danish for progress
Aarhus. Danish for progress
1st edition, fall 2012
Aarhus. Danish for progress is published
by the City of Aarhus
Editor: Maria Fønss Vestergaard, mavj@aarhus.dk
Layout: WorldPerfect / Photo: Katrine Mark
For more information about Aarhus, please visit
www.withaarhus.com or
www.aarhus.dk/english
2 || Aarhus Danish for progress

Table of
Content
4 Smart Aarhus
The future will be more digital
paperless City Council
5 New technology at eye level
6 Culture
European Capital of Culture in 2017
new oxygen for the city’s cultural life
Growth
9 International Community supports growth
10 Growth area with 1.2 million inhabitants
12 Serbian city uses Aarhus as a mentor
13 Many applications for the IB World School in Aarhus
aarhus Excels in Digital Citizen Service
CareWare
finding energy solutions at the end of the rainbow
14
Sustainability
Construction going green
15 The recipe for a good bicycle city
free bicycles throughout the city
16 Amongst the happiest cities in the world
17 www.withaarhus.com
18
inclusion
Digital teaching solves severe reading problems
19 Local inclusion project in Tilst
Top 10 senior citizens’ project in Europe
Aarhus. Danish for progress || 3

The future
will be More
Smart Aarhus is the name of an initiative that is to
place digitalisation and innovation high on the agenda
both in Aarhus and in the Central Denmark Region.
Smart Aarhus deals widely with solutions and will
look at anything from specific apps and technology
that makes everyday life easier for citizens, to more
abstract concepts such as Open Government and
Open Data. After all, creating the city of the future is
not just a question of technology – it is mainly about
the people who live in the cities.
This is why Smart Aarhus starts as an open process in which
a number of working groups will look at different areas, including
sustainability, intelligent energy systems, open data,
digital entrepreneurship etc.
New digital solutions
The goal is to reap the benefits of information and communication
technologies, while at the same time striving to
meet the challenges that will occur as our society becomes
ever more digitalised and more and more people move to the
cities. Aarhus wants to take a lead when it comes to thinking
up new solutions for public services, the business community
and the urban space.
Smart Aarhus is a wide collaboration between the city’s stakeholders,
and it was launched by Aarhus University, the Alexandra
Institute, the Danish Technological Institute, the IT
Council in the Central Denmark Region, VIA University College,
the Central Denmark Region and the City of Aarhus.
lgk@aarhus.dk
4 || Aarhus. Danish for progress

New technology at
eye level
At the Vikærgården rehabilitation house, citizens
from Aarhus test state-of-the-art technology
The cognitive rehabilitation at Vikærgården is carried out with a robot and iPads.
Paperless
City Council
Politicians on the Aarhus City Council
take the lead and show the way to the rest
of the municipality – they attend meetings
without papers.
When the 31 politicians on the Aarhus City Council attend
meetings, they carry no papers with them. Instead, they
access documents on their iPads. This saves the City of
Aarhus about 2 million sheets of paper – every year.
If you were to stack all the saved sheets of paper on top
of each other, the stack would stand 220 metres tall.
This corresponds to almost four times the height of the
tower on Aarhus City Hall.
Vikærgården is something as rare as a real ‘living lab’. A place
where citizens can test different welfare-technological solutions.
Bespoke solutions
The City of Aarhus offers citizens with impaired functional capacity
or who suffer from illness a chance to stay at Vikærgården
to find the solutions that can make it possible for them to keep
living in their own homes for as long as possible.
A stay in one of Vikærgårdens 64 residential units lasts two to six
weeks. During this period, the citizen goes through a highly specialised
rehabilitation course, using state-of-the-art technology.
The citizens test different welfare-technological solutions, and
along with the staff, it is assessed which solutions each citizen
should have in their own home after the stay.
Testing the most recent solutions
Vikærgården tests state-of-the-art welfare technologies, for instance:
| | Telemedical solutions, e.g. online video communication
| | Solutions that make the citizens more self-reliant, e.g. voice
control of the doors, windows, curtains, light, TV and radio in
the citizen’s home
| | Rehabilitation technologies, e.g. robots for cognitive training
| | Solutions that improve the working environment, e.g. intelligent
ceiling lifts
The vision of Vikærgården is to exploit technological options to
the optimum and to be known and recognised locally, nationally
and internationally as a trustworthy and attractive partner for
citizens, businesses, researchers and developers alike.
ikj@aarhus.dk
Paperless meetings are easier
The City Council politicians consider this
new way of working a step forward:
“It is easier to attend meetings without papers. I doubt that
any politician today wishes to see the return of the age of
paper,” says Mayor Jacob Bundsgaard.
The Chairman of the City Council’s technical committee,
Jette Jensen, agrees: “The paperless meetings are a
great relief. It is easy, clear and quick to use, and with the
digital solution, we can always be sure that everybody has
the same documents available at their fingertips”.
Saving paper is far from being the only advantage
gained from paperless meetings. The greatest savings
are found in the administration, which no longer has to
produce and send out meeting documents on paper.
FACTS
Vikærgården consists of 64 residential
units designed individually with a
wide selection of both known and completely
new welfare-technological solutions.
Training facilities for physical and cognitive
training, kitchen training and outdoor
training. Wellness and sensory area
with massage, spa, music,
light, aromas, birds
and fish.
nej@aarhus.dk
Aarhus. Danish for progress || 5

Aarhus is European
Capital of
Culture Based on the theme Rethink,
Aarhus and Central Denmark Region will
in 2017 be the European Capital of Culture in 2017. This
results in more than 300 culture- and sporting
events in the coming years, and 12 mega events,
which will attract more than 50,000 visitors each.
The full program of the Capital of Culture project in Aarhus
will be available to everyone. The most important events of the
year will be free, so everybody can participate. The program has
a broad scope. The Capital of Culture will reach rooftops, backyards,
factories, parks, forests, and lakes, and as it unfolds, businesses,
hospitals, town halls, schools, and kindergartens will be
invaded. The established cultural institutions are also significant
partners in the project.
Active citizenship
The goal is that Aarhus 2017 will encourage active citizenship.
”With the title of Capital of Culture, we take a significant step
in the city’s development, and we leave a clear imprint for the
future. In 2017, the city will unfold its entire potential and showcase
new solutions to the challenges of the future”, says the
Mayor of Aarhus, Jacob Bundsgaard.
Commitment and talent set the
foundation
It is Aarhus Municipality, in collaboration with the other 18 municipalities
of the region, and Central Denmark Region that are
behind the application to become the Capital of Culture.
”I am completely convinced that we can create a Capital of Culture
that will cause a stir. We have a significant talent base with
dedicated resources, and we already have a substantial foundation
to build from”, says Alderman of Culture and Citizen Service,
Marc Perera Christensen.
More than Culture
However, the Capital of Culture project is much more than culture.
It is a vision for city- and business development, tourism,
innovation, and infrastructure, which will make it even more attractive
to live and work in Aarhus and the Central Denmark
Region.
The preparations for the Capital of Culture project have in 2012
already been going on for five years. More than 8,000 people in
the Central Denmark Region have contributed to the process,
which has created new and exciting networks across municipalities,
culture, and businesses.
International jury
It was an international jury of 13 people that chose Aarhus as
Capital of Culture in 2017. The title as host of European Capital
of Culture is distributed between the EU member countries, and
in 2017 it is Denmark and Cypress that are ensured the title.
The only other Danish city which previously has held the title is
Copenhagen in 1996.
mrn@aarhus.dk
Read more on www.rethink2017.eu
6 || Aarhus. Danish for progress

New oxygen for the city , s
cultural life
The city’s old freight yard has been converted
into a 10,500 m 2 cultural production centre.
In May 2012, 3,000 music-loving guests invaded
the international music festival SPOT Aarhus’ new
cultural heart, Godsbanen (the Freight Yard). They
probably did not give any thought to the fact that
they were dancing and drinking beer where railway
workers for more than 75 years slogged away, carrying
all kinds of goods in and out of freight waggons.
The site that has become one of the country’s largest
cultural production centres was a busy railway goods
yard from 1923. The Freight Yard has now been converted
into 10,500 m 2 filled with visual arts, dramatic
art, literature, music, film and everything in between.
However, the Freight Yard is also a meeting place,
networks, good food and interesting architecture. A
place where new meets old and something completely
unique surfaces.
At the official opening, Minister of Culture Uffe Elbæk
said: “The Freight Yard is a modern community
centre times 10 – a cultural bomb, which ensures that
cultural life in Aarhus is oxygenised in the right way”.
The rustic old halls, the beautiful main building and
the brand new building in between are teeming with
people of all ages and in all shapes and sizes, who
come here to create or experience culture. Or maybe
just to enjoy the atmosphere or go for a walk on the
roof. Artists live in the guests’ apartments; the Aarhus
Folkekøkken restaurant offers cheap and sustainable
food, and the City’s Open Workshops lends equipment
and give guidance to everybody.
The Freight Yard is a part of Aarhus’ effort to be European
Capital of Culture 2017.
Visit the website at www.godsbanen.dk.
doke@aarhus.dk
FACTS
The Freight Yard houses the
following facilities:
Studio stages, rehearsal rooms/project
rooms, the Ridehuset hall, multi-purpose
rooms and lecture hall, theatre stages,
office spaces, guest residences, open
workshops and the Aarhus Folkekøkken
restaurant.
The Freight Yard’s permanent residents are
an enterprising mix of cultural players from
Aarhus – within film, music, theatre, visual
arts, literature and much more.
7

25,73%
of the foreign labour force in the metro region is
highly qualified (2010)
7,87%
of the population in Aarhus is
international (2001)
In diversity of
international
population
Aarhus scores 89 of 100 (2008)
8 || Aarhus. Danish for progress

International
Community
supports growth
The recipe for success in dealing with
global talent includes partnerships, pragmatism
and best practice solutions.
International Community under Erhverv Aarhus is the
professional and social network for international employees
and their families in Business Region Aarhus. The
network organisation was established in 2008 to strengthen
the international profile of the region and promote
growth.
“
We have built up an extensive network
and we know the needs and challenges
of the internationals very well. Where we
detect a need, we promote an initiative.
”
– Says Project Manager Tiny Maerschalk.
Extensive support for partners
International Community supports its partners by providing
best practice experience and functioning as an extended
HR service for businesses dealing with global mobility.
“Many companies continuously seek to attract and retain international
talent. To support them we offer practical assistance, seminars,
various networks and much more. We act as a facilitator, as
an ‘expat expert’,” explains Maerschalk.
Pragmatic approach
International Community has already launched numerous
initiatives. One major achievement is the ‘One Stop
Shop’, which makes contact to Danish authorities much
easier for internationals and employers. Today, this initiative
has developed into four International Citizen Service
centres nationwide.
·
·
·
About
International
Community
Established in 2008 by Erhverv Aarhus
based on a strong initiative on the part of the
City of Aarhus, Vestas, DuPont and Aarhus
University. Arla Foods, Bestseller and Grundfos
have since joined the network.
2,300 members including companies, institutions,
associations, expats and Danes.
Wide-ranging activities such as conferences,
company visits, seminars on networking
and job hunting for spouses and
practical assistance
programmes.
tm@internationalcommunity.dk
VisitAarhus estimates that the number of cruise line visitors
in 2012 will reach 45.000. The housing development ”The
Iceberg” can be seen in the background.
Aarhus. Danish for progress || 9

90 MINUTS
60 MINUTS
2.2 MIO.
within 90 minuts drive
1.2 MIO.
within 60 minuts drive
0.7 MIO.
in Business Region Aarhus
315,000
in the city of Aarhus
1.27 MIO.
in the Central
Denmark Region
Greater Aarhus is currently growing
rapidly – over the last 10 years, the
city has gained 25,000 inhabitants,
and building projects worth more
than 30 million Danish kroner are
planned.
In global competition, cities and urban
regions play an increasingly significant
role. With its approx. 315,000 inhabitants,
Aarhus is a small city on an international
scale, yet it is still the secondlargest
city in Denmark. And the vision
is clear: Aarhus needs to grow. Critical
mass is essential to the city’s international
competitiveness, and the objective
for the City of Aarhus is to grow by
75,000 inhabitants, create 50,000 new
10 || Aarhus. Danish for progress

The new University Hospital in Skejby,
will become one of northern Europe’s largest
hospital villages, with a site area of
approximately 1.25 million square meters.
AARHUS UNIVERSITYHOSPITAL
Aarhus holds 20,000 IT jobs within a
10 kilometer radius.
IT-CITY KATHRINEBJERG
MEJLGADE
AROS / YOUR RAINBOW PANORAMA
Aarhus is the city at the end of the rainbow.
Aarhus University is ranked
number 51 in the world’s
100 largest universities,
according to the
Leiden University Ranking.
AARHUS UNIVERSITY
AARHUS DOCKSLANDS
Building projects for more than
30 billion are scheduled in Aarhus.
MARSELIS FOREST
In Aarhus the city, the beach,
and the forest are all in
bicycle distance.
MOESGAARD MUSEUM
Aarhus has 22 concert
organisers, 16 museums and
amusement parks, and more than
400 cafes and restaurants.
workplaces, 50,000 new homes and
15-20,000 more study places during the
period 2005-2030.
The region’s
critical mass
The business region of Aarhus is growing,
too. The business collaboration
Business Region Aarhus, which involves
Aarhus and eight surrounding
municipalities, currently covers some
0.7 million inhabitants. Business Region
Aarhus develops initiatives across municipal
borders for the benefit of all nine
municipalities by strengthening and developing
the area’s role as one of Denmark’s
two large growth and knowledge
centres. Within 60 minutes of Aarhus,
there is access to 1.2 million people,
and within 90 minutes from Aarhus,
there is access to 2.2 million people.
New towns
within the city
The city abounds with large construction
projects and ambitious urban development
plans.
Aarhus Docklands is one of the city’s
most striking urban development projects.
Right now, the northern part of
the former commercial harbour is being
converted into an entirely new city district,
which will have a floor space of approx.
800,000 m 2 for homes, businesses,
education and cultural institutions.
The first residents moved in this year,
and over the coming years, the area will
become home to Bestseller, the education
and research park Navitas Park,
and the city’s new multimedia house.
An entirely new light railway connects
the harbour to the campus of Aarhus
University, the new university hospital
area in Skejby and the suburbs of Lisbjerg
and Elev, where new towns are
planned.
This growth strengthens Aarhus’ ability
to retain and attract inhabitants and
businesses, and thereby to gain a stronger
position in global competition.
mavj@aarhus.dk
Aarhus. Danish for progress || 11

Serbian city
uses Aarhus
as a mentor
Aarhus is helping the Serbian city of Nis to develop a strong public sector.
One of the results in the city with 390,000 inhabitants is the creation of a
job centre modelled on Danish job centres.
Two cities can easily learn something from each other
even if they are more than 2,000 kilometres apart on the
map of Europe.
This is certainly the case for Aarhus and the city of Nis
in southern Serbia.
Since 2006, Aarhus has helped Nis modernise the city’s
citizens’ service and administration through a project
supported by the EU and the Danish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, and the work has, among other things, resulted
in the opening of a job centre in 2010.
Here, the Serbian staff have been trained in how Danish
job centres with many years of experience and knowhow
combat unemployment.
There is plenty of unemployment in Nis. More than 25
per cent of the city’s citizens are without a job.
“Job centres are a new thing in Serbia, so, for instance,
we teach them how to create workplaces by collaborating
with local businesses,” says Project Coordinator Flemming
Meyer from the International Office under the Employment
Services Department, and he adds:
“You might say that the headline of our teaching is that local
problems can also be resolved locally”.
Great cultural differences
The players on the Serbian job market are not used to
using each other, so it is a new culture that Aarhus is
trying to introduce.
“This is not something we can change by simply snapping
our fingers. It’s a question of small, slow steps, but we
have got a good collaboration going, and they are heading
in the right direction,” says Flemming Meyer.
Sending unemployed
academics to Serbia
Nis has also become an activation offer for unemployed
academics in Aarhus, who are given the chance to go
to the Serbian city to work for six months at a time. The
academics have got their own office, from which they
support the Danish projects and collaborate with an international
NGO on democracy development.
“This is a win-win project. We get eyes and ears in Nis to
follow the development of our work, and at the same time,
we give unemployed academics international experience,
which places them in a better position when they look for
work in the future,” says Flemming Meyer.
Making a difference
One of these is 30-year-old Jørgen Seeberg. He has an
MA in European studies, and he has just returned to
Denmark after an extended stay of eight months in Nis.
“It has been an exciting experience both privately and professionally.
I was in charge of advising management and
employees in Nis as the extended arm of the City of Aarhus,
and I believe that my efforts made a difference,” says
Jørgen Seeberg.
A possibility for
Danish enterprises
Nis is one of 11 Serbian cities with which Aarhus collaborates.
Employment Councillor Hans Halvorsen is a
great fan of the collaboration, which he hopes Danish
businesses will make use of in the future.
“Our collaboration with cities in Serbia provides new
knowledge, outlook and inspiration, and Danish businesses
can benefit from this, too. Among other things, they can
open doors to the Russian market, with which Serbia has a
free trade agreement,” he says.
efi@aarhus.dk
12 || Aarhus. Danish for progress

Many applications
for the
World School in
Aarhus
In 2009, Aarhus worked at many levels to be
allowed to offer an IB upper secondary school
programme. IB stands for International Baccalaureate
and it is an internationally recognised
youth education. Among other things, a
needs analysis was carried out, which showed
that Aarhus would be able to fill at least one
pre-IB class, one IB 1st year class and one IB
Finding energy
solutions at the end of
the rainbow
2nd year class per year. In August last year,
the IB World School at Langkær Gymnasium
opened for two pre-IB classes with a total of
some 50 students. The great interest is continuing
this year, where two pre-IB classes
will be set up with 30 students each, while
eight youngsters are on a waiting list. At the
same time, there will be approx. 50 students
in the IB 1st year. In the long term, Langkær
expects to have between 150 and 180 IB students
once the entire diploma programme has
been phased in.
cls@aarhus.dk
A united Europe working towards solving energy
issues is highly important for cities such
as Aarhus in order to meet the local goal of
becoming carbon neutral and achieving a secure
energy supply, while our city will grows
by 75,000 inhabitants and 50,000 new jobs.
Moreover, it is vital to obtain a constructive
dialogue with companies, universities and organisations
in the energy sector, which have
to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions.
Aarhus contributed to this dialogue by
inviting 27 of the most prominent Danish
business representatives to meet the European
decision makers during their stay here
in Denmark.
hf@aarhus.dk
EU ministers for Energy and host Jacob Bundsgaard, Mayor of Aarhus, at the top of the City of
Aarhus, in Your Rainbow Panorama, Olafur Eliasson’s impressive glass sculpture on the roof terrace
of the ARoS Museum of Art. Photo: Martin Dam Kristensen.
Aarhus
Excels in
Digital
Citizen Service
Arhus is at the top, when it comes to servicing
citizens through digital channels. This is
the result of a new survey, which compares
the biggest cities in Denmark, Norway, and
Sweden.
Denmark has established national standards
in areas such as secure communication and
digital invoicing, but in many fields it is up to
the specific municipally to ensure successful
digital citizen service. This results in a significant
difference in the digital citizen service in
the larger Danish cities.
Aarhus is on top in this field in Denmark as
well as in Scandinavia. The services which
set Aarhus apart are secure communication,
digital invoicing, as well as the option
to apply for child care and building permits
electronically.
lgk@aarhus.dk
CareWare
Experience the most recent inventions
within welfare technology
With an annual conference and exhibition,
CareWare focuses on new welfare-technological
solutions. Solutions that create a
good and efficient social and health system
for both citizens and society. These may be
solutions that apply new technology to create
a greater sense of security, self-reliance,
physical and cognitive rehabilitation, selfmonitoring,
social interaction etc.
The City of Aarhus organises CareWare in
collaboration with a number of partners. At
the exhibition, Danish and foreign companies
demonstrate their most recent solutions.
In 2012, for instance, exhibitions included
a bed that can be converted into a
wheelchair, and visitors had the chance to
meet the robot Silbot, which can be used to
train memory and concentration capacity.
CareWare will take place again on 10-12
April 2013 in the City of Aarhus. Please visit
www.carewareweb.dk
ikj@aarhus.dk
Aarhus. Danish for progress || 13

Construction
When new buildings are constructed in the City of Aarhus, focus
on sustainability is a requirement. The city takes a lead in the
work to limit energy consumption.
In the City of Aarhus, CO 2 emissions from energy consumption
in homes and other buildings constitute at
least 35 per cent of all CO 2 emissions in the city. Analyses
of the city’s buildings also show that consumption in
homes and other buildings could be a lot lower.
The goal is to reduce energy consumption by making it
easier for citizens and businesses to renovate buildings
energy efficiently and construct new buildings that are
energy-optimised, e.g. by means of intelligent energy
systems. The City of Aarhus therefore works actively in
these fields in collaboration with climate partners.
Sustainable municipal buildings
The City of Aarhus is at the forefront of sustainable development
in its own buildings. Thus, a new administration
building for the Department of Technology and Environment
is equipped with solar cells, solar collectors,
a ventilation recovery system and recycled glass on the
facades. The building also makes use of natural daylight
and ventilation, among other things. A total of 1,100 m 2
of solar cells are installed for electricity production and
450 m 2 for utility water heating and absorption cooling.
This means that the building has an energy consumption
of 0 kWh/m 2 .
Taller buildings
Another way of limiting residential energy consumption
is urban densification when new city districts are
constructed. Urban densification means that the City of
Aarhus builds more residential square metres within a
given area, i.e. taller buildings. By way of example, urban
densification is being used in an area by Lisbjerg to
the north of Aarhus. In this area, construction of buildings
up to six stories tall will be permitted to allow room
for as many residents as possible.
alai@aarhus.dk
Read more: www.co2030.dk/da/CO2030-in-english.aspx
14 || Aarhus. Danish for progress

Free bicycles
throughout the city
They are easy to recognise. Small, snazzy bicycles with
a city map mounted on the handlebar, parked in rows by
stands around the streets of Aarhus.
Since 2005, Aarhus has offered city bikes as an ecofriendly
and free offer to citizens and tourists. And a lot
of people make good use of this offer.
“We have increased the number of city bikes
to 450, because the demand for them is so
great. Children and adults use them to go
to school or work and for other short trips,”
– says the day-to-day leader of the city bike scheme,
Henning Thorsager.
The 450 city bikes, which can be unlocked by means
of a twenty-kroner piece, are distributed at 56 stands,
and maintenance of the bikes is a popular job offer for
unemployed people.
efi@aarhus.dk
The recipe for a
good bicycle city
Over a period of four years, the City of Aarhus has poured some 80 million Danish
kroner into the creation of better conditions for cyclists, and the effort has paid off.
More bicycles on the bike paths instead of cars on the
roads and a greater focus on cycling as a healthy, sustainable
form of transport. This is the recipe for Aarhus’
success as a good bicycle city.
Six per cent more cyclists per year
Since 2009, the City of Aarhus has spent some 80 million
Danish kroner on making Aarhus a better bicycle city,
and the effort has proved successful. The number of cyclists
has increased by six per cent from 2010 to 2011
alone. Civil engineer Pablo Celis, who is Bicycle Coordinator
at the Department of Traffic and Roads in the City
of Aarhus, explains what Aarhus has done to make more
people choose to ride bicycles.
“For instance, we have increased operation and maintenance
of our bike paths to ensure that it is enjoyable
for cyclists to move about in the city traffic. This includes
clearing the bike paths of snow during winter so that it
is easy and simple to travel. We have also converted a
number of streets in the inner city so that the focus is no
longer on the needs of car drivers, but on the needs of
cyclists,” he says.
New bicycle streets
Working towards becoming Denmark’s best bicycle
city, Aarhus has converted two streets, Mejlgade and
Frederiksgade into the first bicycle streets in the country.
The pavements have been made wider, so that pedestrians
no longer have to step out into the roadway. Cars
are still welcome, but bicycles are given preference.
Right now, Aarhus is creating better parking conditions
for the cyclists as well as ‘park and ride’ terminals on the
edges of the city, where citizens can park their cars and
ride their bikes the last part of their journey in the city,
using bike paths.
alai@aarhus.dk
Aarhus. Danish for progress || 15

Dan Buettner, the author of Thrive:
Finding Happiness the Blue Zone Way,
set out to find the happiest places on
earth. And Aarhus was one of them.
The residents of Aarhus cheerfully part
with up to 68 % of their income in taxes,
knowing that in return they are guaranteed
free healthcare, free schools and a
top notch free university. A robust city
of 315,000 with a vibrant cultural scene
and a diverse number of religions represented,
the sense of community and
equality, as well as easy access to the
nearby sea and surrounding countryside
all combine to make Aarhus perfect for
a happy life.
lotk@aarhus.dk
16 || Aarhus. Danish for progress

www.withaarhus.com
The website www.withaarhus.com
is the entrance to learning more
about Aarhus – whether you are a
student, an employee, a business
owner or a tourist. The establishment
of the website is part of the
work to promote the international
city brand, ‘Aarhus. Danish for
progress’.
“
Mayor Jacob Bundsgaard says:
To me, www.withaarhus.com sends a
signal to say that the city is collaborating
to become even more open and international.
If we are to get through the
recession in a positive way, we need to
be open and welcoming towards each
other and towards the world around us.
”
The city branding is a part of this.
lotk@aarhus.dk
Aarhus. Danish for progress || 17

A heavy burden has been lifted from
Nicolai’s shoulders
It was like having a new boy in the class when
12-year-old Nicolai returned to Holme School
after a course at the Competence Centre for
Reading.
“
Nicolai had trouble learning to read right from the
time he started school. We have practised with
him over and over again every evening and had
him checked over several times. This has been really
hard for him.
– says Nicolai’s mother, Karin Nørkjær.
“
Now, he has become a confident, independent
and much happier and more content boy. It is as if
a heavy burden has been lifted from his shoulders.
Nowadays, he has often done his homework on
his own by the time we get home from work, because
he has had help to manage on his own at
the computer.
Nicolai’s form teacher, Anders Flaskgaard, has
also had to get used to being able to pose
greater demands on Nicolai:
“
It was like having a new boy in the class.
bida@aarhus.dk
“
“
“
Digital teaching
solves severe reading problems
“When we use IT, we give pupils
with reading difficulties back their
action competences,” – says Visti
Søvsø Hansen, Head of Competence
Centre for Reading in Aarhus.
Every year, the Competence Centre
helps 150 children with severe
reading difficulties learn to read so
well that they can follow ordinary
teaching at their own schools.
Intensive training
The recipe for turning children with
reading difficulties into competent
pupils is to use more relevant IT in
teaching, says the Centre’s leader.
The course lasts 18 months. The
children spend 10 weeks at the
Competence Centre, where they
join classes of six pupils and go to
school and at the same time train
reading and writing intensively. The
rest of the time, the Centre’s consultants
go to the pupils at their
schools as needed.
At the Centre, the children learn,
for instance, to use the word programme
CD-ord (CD word), which
reads difficult words aloud. When
they write, they can get help from
a text messaging type function, so
that difficult words pop up on the
screen.
Close collaboration
In order for the initiative to succeed,
the Competence Centre collaborates
closely with parents, schools
and their management.
“Our greatest challenge is that
we have to carry this right into
the pupils’ own classes, where
they may have been used to ‘little
Svend’ sitting around doing
nothing. Now, it is a competent
pupil that returns,”
– says Visti Søvsø Hansen.
The Competence Centre for Reading was established in 2009.
18 || Aarhus. Danish for progress

Top 10
senior
citizens’
pro ject
in Europe
The City of Aarhus’ Senior Citizens’
Project has been selected as one of
the 10 best senior citizens’ projects in
the 27 EU member countries.
“
FACTS
When you have worked with children all your life
and been very involved, it is nice to be able to
wind down gradually. The senior citizen scheme
also allows me to work with things that I am very
enthusiastic about – for instance ceramics.
– says Merete Bak,
senior citizen employee at Langenæsstien.
“
The City of Aarhus is ranked very well on the list of good initiatives
for senior citizens. This is concluded in a survey conducted
by the consultants GHK Consulting Group among public and
private enterprises in the 27 EU countries on behalf of Business
Europe and European employers’ associations.
Good working life for senior
citizens
In connection with the collective agreement in 2008, funds were
allocated to recruitment and retention of senior citizens. The
City of Aarhus was allocated 15 million Danish kroner for this
purpose, to be used by agreement with the trade unions.
The objective of the City of Aarhus’ senior citizens’ projects is
to promote a good working life for employees aged 55+ and to
give workplaces across the municipality the opportunity to develop
new ideas to retain their older employees.
Special senior citizen jobs
Merete Bak is one of the senior citizens who has benefited from
the possibilities offered by the project. She has taken early retirement
after working as an educator in the Langenæsstien day
care facility for 0-6 year-olds. For the next two years, she will
work eight hours per week in a senior citizen’s job in the day
care facility:
“I am glad that I can continue my work and gradually wind down from
working life. I also think it is good to try out new models for the work of
senior citizens if the idea is that in future we are to remain in the labour
market longer,” says Merete Bak.
The senior citizens’ project also offers a mentor education for senior
citizens, a week-long senior citizen strength course, a mobile
task force that collects knowledge about flexible arrangements
for the working life of senior citizens, and local development
projects – e.g. with a focus on developing a good senior citizen
working life for childminders.
bida@aarhus.dk
One of the City of Aarhus’ goals is that all citizens are
to feel a part of a community and have equal rights and
equal value – based on the individual’s background. The
Departments of Children & Youth and Social Services
are therefore choosing new approaches in order to shift
attitudes and find new solutions for the children and
youth area. In the suburb of Tilst, the two municipal departments
are collaborating with associations, the business
community, parents and educational institutions
about the promotion of local development and projects
that increase inclusion. If the results are good, the projects
can be implemented in the rest of the municipality,
too, over time.
The vision for the initiative and the project in Tilst stems
from the City of Aarhus’ Children and Youth Policy
about:
| | Happy, healthy children and young people with
self-esteem
| | Personally robust, lively, creative children and young
people who have a high academic level and are
equipped to meet the challenges of the future
| | Children and young people who are aware of their
citizenship and make use of it
| | Children and young people who participate in and
include each other in communities
bida@aarhus.dk
Aarhus. Danish for progress || 19

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www.aarhus.dk/english