How the Renewable Energy Movement started in Denmark and spread around the World | with Jane Kruse, Nordic Folkecenter, Denmark

Already in the 1970s and 1980s, triggered by the oil crises,
growing environmental concerns and nuclear accidents with
devastating consequences, there was a growing movement of people
who saw renewable energy - wind power, solar energy, bioenergy,
geothermal energy and hydropower - as the perfect answer.


The movement started from the bottom up in many countries, and
Denmark in particular played an important role. One of the most
important organisations was the Nordic Folkecenter for Renewable
Energy, which was founded 40 years ago. The centre disseminated
information about how renewable energy worked in practice, using
the technologies on the ground and educating and training
hundreds and thousands of people from Denmark, all over Europe
and the world.


We talk to Jane Kruse, co-founder and director of the
Folkecenter, about the historical developments, but also about
the importance of such bottom-up movements today. Jane has not
only led the work of the Folkecenter together with her late
husband Preben Maegaard, but has also been involved in various
renewable energy cooperatives that have become a mainstream model
in Denmark and spread throughout Europe. How can our societies be
mobilised for the great energy transformation and what role does
the climate movement play in this process?