The Foundations’ Yearbook 2022 – good stories that make a difference
23.01.2023 l More news
From communities working on Sustainable Development Goals to top-level research mapping the development of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Foundations’ Yearbook, you can meet a selection of the many passionate individuals who, with grants from the foundations, are handling some of the biggest challenges of our time.
With the reopening after the COVID-19 pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine, and a climate under increasing pressure, 2022 was a year characterised by major challenges and uncertainties. With support from VILLUM FONDEN and VELUX FONDEN, young and old alike have – with great commitment – created communities across generations, collaborations between Danish and Ukrainian universities, and developed new solutions to climate challenges above and below the water.
This year you can read about:- Professor, researcher in DNA sequencing and previous Villum Young Investigator, Mads Albertsen, who shifted the focus from researching the wider world of bacteria to providing sociocritical data that revealed the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Senior citizens, who in the project SAMMEN OM VERDENSMÅL (Together for SDGs) worked with libraries across Denmark to put the climate and communities on the agenda.
- The foundations’ impact-investments in the US, where the belief in a green future is great, and entrepreneurs are converting CO2 into building materials and sustainable fuel.
The VKR Group was founded by Villum Kann Rasmussen, inventor of the roof window. Motivated by a desire to give back to the society that had given him so much, he established two philanthropic foundations, VILLUM FONDEN and VELUX FONDEN. Since their founding in 1971 and 1981, they have been honouring his wish by donating money to the people and the projects that can improve our lives and the society we live in.
Where does our money come from?The companies of the VKR Group employ approximately 19,900 people in 40 countries. Their hard work, day-in and day-out, makes it possible to generate the profits that, over time, have formed the basis for the foundations’ philanthropic work. A portion of the VKR Group’s annual profits are turned over to the foundations, which invests the money into a diversified portfolio in order to achieve the highest possible returns, and in so doing enabling us to maximise our philanthropic grants.
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