Anders N. Andersen, chairman of Associated Energy- and Environment Offices

Denmark is known internationally for the popular involvement and participation in the implementation of energy and environment action plans, and known for a very fruitful dialogue between central planners and local energy and environment groups. The central planners are often divided into traditional sectors; but exactly cooperation, dialogue, and debate, between local impartial energy movements and the central planners from administration, power utilities, and gas utilities, have encouraged sustainable overall solutions across the usual sector borders.

In an energy and environment framework there are good reasons for gathering in local associations, in order to promote energy and environmentally conscious solutions locally. Often people carry out small cogwheel functions in their daily work, where they only have limited possibilities to get insight in, and influence the complicated relations, which creates many of the present environmental problems. For many people, the daily cogwheel function is not enough to complement their life. They wish to take active part in promoting a sustainable development in their neighbourhood. By joining forces with other interested people, they gather a considerable interdisciplinary knowledge, thus the members of Danish energy and environment offices are taking part in promotion of sustainable overall solutions across the usual sector borders.

It is not a coincident that local energy and environment groups in Denmark are organized as associations. In Denmark there is a good joke telling that two Danes can not meet without starting an association. The right to establish associations, is a constitutional right in Denmark (the Constitution ä78,1 reads: "The citizens have the right to form associations for any legal purpose without previous permission"). The Danish energy and environment offices have received public finances for several years, which has made it possible to rent office space, and employ staff. The staff at the local energy offices have independently managed information and implementation in the energy field, and has furthermore coordinated local activities on energy and environment.

The local energy and environment offices are organized in Associated Energy and Environment Offices (SEK) and have a written agreement with SEK on the utilization of the state subsidy. The agreement guarantees strong local efforts, and a high degree of self administration, at the same time as a fully satisfactory use of the public money is guaranteed. During the last 10 years, a well functioning cooperation has been built up between the local energy and environment offices through SEK. Considerable organisational, administrative, and technical experiences have been built up at the individual energy and environment offices, partly based on this cooperation.

Amongst other things, this handbook aims at spreading these organisational, administrative, and technical experiences to new energy and environment offices. The handbook sets clear parameters for the organisation and administration of an energy and environment association. In this way, it helps to visualize that a local, democratic organized energy and environment association takes part in solving the problems of modern society, just as efficient as other kinds of organizations. The technical parts of the handbook illustrate that it is necessary to work within a broad technical spectrum, when we want to point out the best solutions.