Fresh air and daylight over Denmark

Fodboldklubben VB1968, Gladsaxe, is a football club that organises an annual summer football school for children and young people in the municipality, including children from families of limited means. The participation fee has been set so that everyone can participate. Slightly older youngsters, including from Værebro Park, also offer invaluable help as co-coaches, referees and speakers.

The scout association KFUM Spejderne in Rinkenæs has a tradition of a weekly visit to the residents of the Fjordbo group home, which houses mentally deficient persons aged 18-45. As the visits have now been moved to the scouts’ own premises, Fawlkjær, the scouts have received a grant to establish a disability-friendly driving path, bonfire place and shelters. 

The nature-based kindergarten Naturbørnehaven Myretuen is itself constructing a new nature playground and nature learning space that provide inspiration for further independent playing with the materials of nature: water, earth, twigs etc. Staff, children and parents are all involved in and committed to the project, and the children and childish souls of the neighbourhood are welcome to use the facilities.   

A citizens’ group in the town of Thorsø in East Jutland will together construct a shared urban garden for and by citizens, with special focus on the town’s nursing home residents and children in daycare, who can meet outdoors, cultivate the garden and perform other outdoor activities together. With the urban garden, a meeting will be established between children and elderly persons in a joint project and with ideas for an activity programme for all the town’s other citizens.  

A book entitled Verdens Lege (Games of the World) will be realised under the project. The purpose of the book is to provide photos and descriptions documenting children’s outdoor games throughout the world, as inspiration for other children and childish souls. The material will be made freely available to all users on the eReolen online library service.

A Copenhagen kindergarten with limited outdoor space will experiment with and then present a new idea for how urban childcare institutions can use their, often limited, outdoor areas as arenas for nature experiences and outdoor life. The kindergarten will upgrade a narrow, small outdoor area, previously used as storage space, to a small creative facility with a ‘mountain path’ and bonfire place etc.

A citizens’ association in the town of Ebdrup in Central Jutland will use the grant to construct a ‘boardwalk’ of wood connecting the town from church and outdoor areas to the community centre, which will be a help for elderly/other walking-impaired persons. A nature playground will also be constructed for the town’s youngest citizens and their visitors.   

An after school class will establish an open group camp site on the school premises which can be used for a wide range of activities related to outdoor life, social activity and teaching. The young students are committed and responsible, and they will be in charge of operation and maintenance. They will also operate a ‘booking system’ themselves, so that other users can enjoy the facilities.    

The association for preservation and dissemination of the natural and cultural environment in Danish forests in collaboration with local citizens in South-West Jutland; Starup-Tofterup, angling societies, Vardemuseerne et al.
In collaboration with the Municipality of Varde, the intention is to contribute to the development plan for the area, which is known for its coast-to-coast path along the nature-preserved Holmeådal and surrounded by large moors and conifer plantations.
The project aims to get more people out into nature by creating a range of useful facilities, including a disability-friendly angling jetty, so that also wheelchair users, elderly persons and walking-impaired persons have an opportunity to be out in natural surroundings, as well as an information centre. 

A citizens’ association will construct an unconventional outdoor ‘music square’ in the town of Varde in Southern Jutland; a kind of outdoor music school and creative playground. The square has been designed and developed by the project group based on more than 20 years of experience in music theory, music teaching and learning. The Time and Tone Square (‘Takt- og Tonepladsen’) is intended as an open experimental space for both amateur and professional musicians, citizens and outdoor enthusiasts, young and old.

In the Municipality of Morsø, a stationary outdoor circus stage will be established with an open tent for use by, among others, a local circus association, the surrounding schools, upper secondary schools, associations et al.

At Øresundskollegiet in Copenhagen, an active residents’ council has started a conversion and upgrade of the existing roof terrace above the entrance to the hall of residence, which will create an activity space and meeting place for the many communities of the hall of residence. In future, the roof terrace will have facilities for cultivation of kitchen gardens, yoga, social activities etc. 

The network school in the city of Aarhus will establish an original open-air hall with adjustable façade elements, an ‘inside-outside’ hall, making it possible to perform various sports and outdoor activities throughout the year.  

Risskov Gymnasium will establish a large staircase that will serve both as access to Risskov Gymnasium and open the upper secondary school towards the outside world. The staircase will create a space near the school canteen where students can take a break, and the staircase can also be used for teaching purposes in connection with outdoor group work, meetings, presentations etc.

BUILD; The Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg University, Copenhagen will develop an architectural concept for a screened and sensory stimulation space located in the transition between outside and inside in care centres and nursing homes. The space must offer an important alternative to being out in the open, which can be difficult for frail elderly and demented persons.