Rektor of Samtidens Akademi
2021
I work with community design: designing conversation starters, new forms of gathering and development processes that strengthen democracy, reinvent public education and re-enchant everyday life.
My academic background is in rhetoric and cultural studies, but as a practitioner I have been piecing together my own design processes over the years. The best solutions come from close collaboration with skilled graphic designers, architects, programmers or product designers who shape my many ideas into tangible games, products, publications, spaces or exhibitions.
One of the things I admire most about designers as a profession is their ability to make conscious choices. It’s not hard to come up with a lot of good ideas – the hard part is developing and refining them. So that they become practical and poetic at the same time. Sustainable and useful. Evident and deeply original.
I am the Rector of Fremtidens Akademi – a gathering place for everyone who wants to help reimagining the world. I’m also behind the social laboratory, Borgerlyst, which empowers people in their everyday lives – and Samtalesaloner, which get people into a dialogue about important issues.
Concurrently, I have worked for more than 20 years as an idea and concept developer, conference host, writer and speaker. I also frequently host annual meetings and organise solution labs at ministerial and top executive level.
I have been analysing and commenting on the zeitgeist since I won an essay competition on the future of Denmark at the age of 15, and at 19 wrote a book on cultural trends for a major advertising agency.
I have a Master of Arts in rhetoric, anthropology and cultural studies. I feel at home in Copenhagen, Ghana, New York, Havana, Nuuk, Liseleje, Beijing, Moscow, Jerusalem and Kerteminde – and am at home among food enthusiasts, diplomats, energy experts, IT pioneers, cultural figures and social entrepreneurs.
And I love to do papercuts.