More life with air and light – 20 projects shift daily life outside

Wild about Nature

For preschool children aged 0-6 years. The Municipality of Esbjerg is organising the project with the aim of investigating the effect of kindergarten activities in nature, and giving all children the opportunity to attend a forest kindergarten for a certain length of time. For this purpose, two learning boards will be purchased to help support the project and to ensure exciting and educational games, dialogues and activities.

Daylight and fresh air for pupils at Kofoeds Skole

Kofoeds Skole in central Aarhus wants to make it easier for all the school’s pupils to participate in outdoor activities – for example by investing in various forms of outdoor equipment for using in the woods and on the beach, on fishing trips, for ‘sea teams’, for garden teams, for exercise classes and for general socialising. Kofoeds Skole caters for unemployed and socially vulnerable citizens aged between 18 and 67 years, and the school works to strengthen its pupils socially, academically and personally through workshop activities and collaborating with other pupils.

Birds without Borders

The association Christiansøs Naturvidenskabelige Feltstation (CHNF), which promotes knowledge of and interest in the nature on the Ertholmene archipelago, has received a grant for the knowledge dissemination project ‘Birds without Borders’, which will, among other things, extend the scope of the ringer’s communication activities at the field station so that, in addition to his research, he is able to pass on his knowledge and inspiration to visitors through short guided tours and, later, in the form of inspiration material. 

Wilderness Meeting Room

The Municipality of Faaborg-Midtfyn is establishing the ‘Wilderness Meeting Room’ project, which is part of the overall pilot project ‘Out into the Countryside – Be Part of a Community’, which runs from 2022 to 2024. The purpose of the project is to test new methods of working with veterans and vulnerable young people. The project is aimed at all veterans on Funen – injured and non-injured – and has for the first two years worked with approx. 50 veterans and 150 young people. The project has organised a wide range of activities in the countryside, for example mountain-biking, tree-climbing, sailing, shooting, horse riding, underwater hunting and various forms of ‘bush craft’.
Based on these experiences, a group of vulnerable young people and veterans will build a raft cabin/meeting room outdoors for use by other vulnerable groups. The ‘meeting room’ will be equipped with the same functions as an indoor meeting room, but is still as close to nature as possible. The room will be heated with a wood-burning stove, and used for battery-powered AV presentations.

Grenaa Info Jetty

Kyst- og Fjordcenteret; Grenaa Naturskole, will establish an info jetty at Grenaa Naturskole. The focus will be on Danish fauna and flora and the marine environment, and will make it possible to engage in teaching activities at the waterside in Grenaa harbour. At the moment, it is not possible to get close to the sea and the coastal landscape. Grenaa Naturskole offers, among other things, season-specific nature tours for local schools and kindergartens, canoe trips etc.
A permanent bridge will extend from the beach to the info jetty, so that it is possible for wheelchair-users and those with impaired mobility to participate in ‘nature dissemination on the water’.

Carpentry workshop in the woods

The scout group KFUM Spejderne Egtved and Vejle wants to build a carpentry workshop in the woods. Later on, the scouts will develop activities through the involvement of the local community – including schools, day care institutions and senior citizens.
In collaboration with Egtved Skole, the scouts have been keen to support the activities they already share, and have also wanted the parties to be inspired and learn from each other in order to develop activities which are directly connected to the scouting or schooling activities that are traditionally offered. Today, the school uses the scouts’ campfire hut and outdoor kitchen for ‘cooking lessons’, and it has established a vegetable garden for its own benefit and enjoyment as well as that of the scouts, and with a joint carpentry workshop it will be possible to share new tools and experiences – working with wood.

Nature playground and communal orchard

The local citizens’ group Gesten Lokalgruppe wants to construct a communal meeting place, orchard and nature playground for the benefit and enjoyment of all the town’s citizens. The citizens’ group intends to do the planting and establish the playground, and will invite the locals to participate in planting their own shrub or tree. 

Climbing tower and adventure environment

The primary and lower secondary school Sdr. Nærå Friskole and the continuation school Sdr. Nærå Efterskole want to build a climbing tower and adventure environment on the school premises. 
A few years ago, the continuation school established a rappel tower for its Fire and Police line of specialisation, and it now wants to develop the facilities by establishing two sides with climbing walls. The rappel tower is used for teaching specialist and elective subjects at the continuation school, but by adding the climbing walls, it will be possible to create an outdoor adventure environment for the benefit and enjoyment of both the continuation school and the primary and lower secondary school pupils as well as all climbing enthusiasts in the local area. Furthermore, the schools are in dialogue with a climbing association on entering into a collaboration on the development and use of the climbing wall as well as the training of local climbing instructors.

Outdoor Space for Rehabilitation and Training in Aakirkeby

The Regional Municipality of Bornholm will establish the ‘Outdoor Space for Rehabilitation and Training in Aakirkeby’ project. The project is part of an urban development project that is seeing the establishment of a sustainable rehabilitation and sensory garden at Aakirkeby Hallerne for the disabled as well as senior citizens living in the town/on the island. The new outdoor space will make it possible to move some of the rehabilitation activities and fitness equipment for senior citizens from the rooms, training facilities and halls and out into the fresh air and green surroundings. The new space will also be organised to allow grandparents and grandchildren to exercise and play side by side.

SPROGENSE – Outdoor Reading

North Funen Business and Tourism (NEET) is receiving funding for the SPROGENSE project which, among other things, promotes reading in the open air in outdoor storytelling, learning and immersive study dens. The annual language festival SPROGENSE is held in collaboration with the Danish Language Council. The festival organises platforms and discussions, games and activities with and about language indoors and outdoors throughout Bogense. For this purpose, two storytelling, learning and immersive study/reading dens are being developed and implemented which will be erected outdoors. The reading dens are being set up on stationary and mobile units which can be placed at different locations so that as many people as possible are able to use them. The outdoor reading dens mark the kick-off of an overarching strategy aimed at exploring language in alternative ways outdoors and at bringing people together outside to talk with each other, immerse themselves and develop.

Heart Park 

The housing association Søby-Højslev & Dommerby Borgerforening in Skive will establish the ‘Heart Park’ project to create a meeting place for the villagers in Søby, Højslev and Dommerby – or the ‘heart cluster’ as they refer to themselves. The vision is to support the well-being of all the residents in the three villages in the ‘Heart Park’. The villagers are managing the entire project themselves, and will be responsible for most of the construction, upcoming events, knowledge-sharing and much more.

Learning and Park Environment and Herb Garden at Hedensted School

The Municipality of Hedensted on Jutland wants to establish a project with the title ‘Learning and Park Environment and Herb Garden at Hedensted School’. The school has 850 pupils, and is located at the centre of Hedensted and close to three kindergartens, a library, a sports hall and a care centre. In addition, several residential neighbourhoods are situated in close vicinity to the school. The outdoor area can therefore also be enjoyed by many other local groups. The project aims to create an inspiring area around the school that will encourage pupils aged 6-16 years to move about more, as well as encouraging outdoor teaching and more interaction between the different year groups.

Outdoor spaces at Skovhaven – a green and accessible learning environment

Egmont Højskolen near Odder wants to establish three outdoor teaching spaces in the school’s forest garden for using in all kinds of weather: Havehuset, Madhuset and Gårdhuset. Furthermore, firmer surfacing will be laid on the forest garden’s main paths, which are suitable for wheelchair-users and which integrate the forest garden with the network of paths around the school. The plan is also to extend the paths with a wide walkway through a small wood which adjoins the school’s property. Egmont Højskolen is an ordinary folk high school which is particularly involved with the physically and mentally handicapped. The school has 215 students, of whom several have disabilities. The school was founded in 1956 as a folk high school for the disabled, but in 1972 became a folk high school for everyone – while focusing on inclusiveness at all levels.

Specially designed outdoor landscape and learning spaces for children with extensive developmental disabilities

Stensagerskolen, which is run by the City of Aarhus, wants to establish specially equipped outdoor landscape and learning spaces for children with severe developmental disabilities. A total of three separate outdoor courtyards will house a movement and workshop space, a music and café space as well as an outdoor sensory room.
Stensagerskolen is attended by up to 250 children and young people with extensive developmental disabilities. In light of the students’ special challenges and needs, rooms and spaces are needed where the students can take a step back from everything happening around them. The school’s ambition is to meet this need by creating fluid transitions between the interior and exterior environments, and by ensuring there is space for each child to develop individually. The project will increase the number of conflict and stress-free niches and areas as well as creating an outdoor ‘oasis’. 

Nyborg Mathematics Park

The Nyborg Aktivitetspark association is receiving funding for the establishment of the fourth phase of the outdoor mathematics park, which focuses on understanding the concepts of weight and time, as well as supporting the development and offering of courses for teachers so the new ‘hands-on’ teaching methods can be rolled out nationwide.
The teaching park is used for teaching both dyslexic and other pupils mathematics and arithmetic, as well as for courses for teachers – in collaboration with the Ministry of Children and Education, Aarhus University and selected schools and educational institutions. Nyborg Aktivitetspark has previously received funding for the establishment of the second phase of Denmark’s first outdoor teaching area/special playground specially designed for learning and play related to practical mathematics and arithmetic.

Flock to the Dock – young people in Sæby creating new places to meet at the harbour

Sæby in the Municipality of Frederikshavn in northern Jutland will, together with the educational company By Rum Skole, realise the ‘Flock to the Dock’ project, which will see young people from Sæby creating new places to meet at the harbour.
By involving young people living in Sæby from the outset, the project will, through interdisciplinary collaboration, create three attractive and active outdoor meeting places between Sæby town centre and the nearby harbour. The three meeting places will, in their own respective way, invite and inspire the town’s young people and other citizens to spend time and be active outdoors in the daylight and fresh air. Through design and construction workshops for young people, it will create attractive environments for relaxation, dialogue and learning on the route between Sæby town centre and Sæby harbour, and in the process put the harbour’s architecture, history, outdoor spaces and use up for debate in the Municipality of Frederikshavn.

The Green Learning Spaces – for a brighter future

ActionAid Denmark is housed in a former secondary school in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, which is run as a joint NGO centre that houses 15 other organisations, including Ungdomsbyen and the Green Youth Movement (Den Grønne Ungdomsbevægelse). The project aims to establish an outdoor learning and trading space in the communal courtyard, a roof terrace with an orangery, a teaching platform as well as a flexible covered assembly room with a chalkboard wall.
Today, all the activities take place indoors, and it is only when the weather is fine that teachers and those chairing meetings choose to move out into the courtyard. The idea, therefore, is to establish a number of active outdoor spaces that will make it possible for users to do things in completely new ways, while matching many of the organisations’ green agendas. The applicant organisations annually host 200-250 primary and lower and upper secondary school classes, 30-40 internal courses, 50-60 external evening courses as well as over 300 association meetings – with users totalling approx. 10,000 a year.

The Spiral

Brande Højskole wants to establish the project ‘The Spiral’ – an outdoor multi-activity feature. The project involves the finalisation and installation of the outdoor feature ‘The Spiral’, designed and made by the landscape architects Schønherr. The shape of the spiral is based on the Fibonacci spiral; with its proportionally growing arcs it creates naturally varied spaces to match a varied functional programme. The shape of the feature is conceived as a terraced structure on several levels with steps and plateaus. It is both a sculptural structure and an activity zone – the form balances equally between aesthetics and function. The dynamic idiom will encourage different activities, teaching, hanging-out, investigation and discovery – including theatre, yoga classes etc. 

The Stage in Stoholm: the town’s outdoor meeting point

The civic association Stoholm Borgerforening will, in collaboration with the Municipality of Viborg, implement the local project ‘The Stage in Stoholm’ – an outdoor meeting venue for the whole town.
Today, Stoholm has an old stage, which was last renovated in the 1980s, but it has rarely been used since. The stage is closed, and has only been available for organised activities in the town. The new stage will be open to the public 24/7. It will be able to host larger events where a traditional stage is needed with battens and bars for lighting etc.However, the venue is also designed to encourage physical activities such as cycling, parkour, climbing for children etc.The stage can also be used as an outdoor meeting place, for picnics etc. The project will also include the development of the platform levels to make them accessible to people with disabilities.

‘The Kitchen Garden’ – new sensory and kitchen garden at Gødstrup Regional Hospital

The Department of Nutrition at Gødstrup Regional Hospital in the Municipality of Herning will establish ‘The Kitchen Garden’ – a new sensory and vegetable garden. The project involves establishing a new sensory and kitchen garden, and redesigning the hospital’s outdoor areas to match the vision of tomorrow’s health service, which involves taking a holistic approach to the architecture, the surroundings and optimised working procedures. In addition to being a quiet and relaxing outdoor space with plenty of daylight and fresh air, and which can be used by patients to make the most of breaks in their courses of treatment, local produce will be grown that can be used directly in the hospital’s meals each day.