HUMpraxis tackles societal challenges – from violence and drugs to sustainability

Six combined research and practice projects are to provide new insights and solutions to specific societal challenges – from sustainability and dementia to drug use and violence. The projects have received grants totalling DKK 33.3 million from VELUX FONDEN’s HUMpraxis programme.

18.11.2021 l Latest news

Six combined research and practice projects are to provide new insights and solutions to specific societal challenges – from sustainability and dementia to drug use and violence. The projects have received grants totalling DKK 33.3 million from VELUX FONDEN’s HUMpraxis programme.

New HUMpraxis call 

VELUX FONDEN is currently inviting expressions of interest under the cross-cutting HUMpraxis programme. The deadline for submitting expressions of interest is 23 February 2022 at 13:00.

 

“VELUX FONDEN aims to advance Denmark’s democratic society on an informed, inclusive and sustainable basis. In the HUMpraxis programme, we focus on gaining new knowledge of and specific solutions to the social and environmental challenges we face. The six projects that are being awarded this year’s grants show how professionals and practitioners can deepen the knowledge of humanities researchers and offer practical insights into problems and opportunities. Close interaction throughout the project cycle is crucial if the research is to be effectively translated into concrete changes,” says Henrik Tronier, head of VELUX FONDEN’s humanities programme.

The six projects will focus on providing solutions to problems in very different areas, all of which are highly relevant to individuals and society as a whole. Two of the projects focus on sustainability and zoom in on combating food waste and establishing green residential communities. Two projects set out to help victims of violence and families of accident victims. And the last two projects will examine care of people with dementia and young people’s use of psychedelic drugs.

The application process

VELUX FONDEN received a total of 108 expressions of interest for the HUMpraxis 2021 call. The six projects awarded have been selected from the 12 projects which, on the basis of their expressions of interest, were invited to submit full applications and received project maturation funds of up to DKK 100,000. With the funds, the projects have, among other things, been able to free up time from the practice participants for the development and clarification of a full application to the foundation.

In the projects, humanities researchers from University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University and the University of Southern Denmark will work closely with professionals from municipalities, hospitals, associations and advisory services.

Greening communities

Quentin Gausset, Associate Professor at University of Copenhagen, heads the research project ‘Create together: From Grey Housing Associations to Green Housing Communities’, which aims to increase sustainability in Denmark by promoting environmental behaviour:

“Our previous research shows that residents in green communities have a significantly lower carbon footprint than the Danish average. The communities encourage sharing knowledge and experience and reinforce the residents’ motivation, commitment and mutual support when it comes to acting sustainably,” he says, and emphasises:

“We want to contribute to the green transition by cracking the code for creating viable communities. Together with people working in this field, we want to develop tools to help establish and scale up new green communities in different residential areas with different types of homes. Good green residential communities provide economies of scale and enable various forms of exchange and sharing economies. And greater sustainability and a richer social life in the community also contribute to significantly higher life satisfaction.”

The six projects:

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