The Green Guide in Herning was engaged in 1998 with subsidies from the now discontinued Green Fund under the Ministry of the Environment. From 1998 – 2003, the guide was employed by a locally anchored steering committee with co-financing from the municipality. From 2003, the Green Guide has been fully financed and employed by the municipality.

The Green Guide is a local environmental guide for citizens, enterprises and the institutions of the municipality. The mission of the Green Guide is to work for anchorage of environmentally sustainable thinking through resource support and cooperation with local players, dissemination of know-how, indications for sustainable options for action, ”midwife” and initiator of sustainable activities and projects.

Purpose

To anchor sustainable thinking among citizens, enterprises and the municipality’s own institutions and administrations – and thus contribute to creating behavioural change in a sustainable direction.

Quantifiable objectives

May be many and diversified depending on the projects launched. One of the general quantifiable objectives is that many people know the guide and make use of her, that many people have a good mind to cooperate and launch sustainable initiatives with resource support from the guide.

Target group, players and initiators

The original initiators were a number of local green groups together with the municipality as a co-financer. The target group consists of citizens, associations and groups, enterprises and the municipality’s own institutions, which are thus also players.
The Green Guide herself is an important player and works within relatively open frames with room for seizing open opportunities.

Time frame

Presently, the Green Guide is under permanent employment.

Resource consumption: time/DKK, voluntary and any other resources

In addition to the salary of the Green Guide, the guide has a minor budget (DKK 75,000,-/year) for events, preparation of pamphlets, exhibition materials etc.
Many voluntary resources are attached to the work of the Green Guide through cooperation on environmental projects etc.

Activities

Education, information and knowledge-building among the different target groups in the form of, for example: Newsletters, columns, website, exhibitions, market days, lectures, topic days, courses. Through this, also indications for options for action and building of competence of action.

Resource support to Agenda initiatives taken by citizens and associations.
Networking through resource support to local green councils and groups. Work with concrete municipal environmental objectives such as introduction of organic food and environmental management.    

Evaluation Anchorage perspectives

• Dissemination, information and ”ripples on water”
• Options for action
• Organisation/frame of work (agreements, procedure etc.)
• Measured effect, environmental impacts (hardcore indicators)

Information and knowledge – for participants and others

A large part of the guide’s work is dissemination of information on the environment and green life-style, and indications for sustainable options for action through newsletters, columns in the local papers etc. Many reactions and questions to the column show that the information is read and used.

Ownership among players

One of the tasks is to create co-responsibility and co-ownership among the players in connection with sustainable development. Therefore, co-decision and equal cooperation are central elements of the work of the guide. Some projects originate from the players, others from the guide, but there is always focus on the needs and wishes of the target group.

Competence of action

One of the tasks of the guide is to contribute to creating competence of action.
Competence of action is created where information is combined with testing in practice, experience and exchange with others. Therefore, both education /information, courses, projects and network groups contribute to creating competence of action.

Options for action

This is difficult to quantify, but it appears in a number of the networks in which the guide is participating and acting as a resource person: The Green Council for the Day-care centres of the Municipality of Herning, The Local Environmental Council, Nature at the Country show, The internal agenda group, project work groups etc.

Other key values

There are many initiatives and wishes that only need a bit of resource support to become reality. Therefore, the personal resource support given by the guide as well as her/his experience, knowledge and networks are of key importance. This is exactly the fertiliser needed to make the projects grow.

Dissemination, information and ”ripples on water”

The work of the guide has a good dissemination effect, since many of the initiatives launched have developed and expanded: the Ecology project developed into the establishment of The Green Council. Green booths at the Country show have given birth to development and cooperation on nature at the Country show etc. The column in the local paper has, on request, been extended to real estate circulars. The Green Guide’s former steering committee has become The Local Environmental Council, today with several sub-groups. Questions from citizens regarding environmental purchasing have developed into a cooperation on the publication and door-to-door distribution of a local environment and purchasing guide ”Herning Environmental Guide” every second year etc.

Options for action

The guide is to indicate and contribute to creating options for action in a sustainable direction. This may take the form of cooperation with the purchasing department on green purchasing agreements, assistance with conversion to organic food, information on local green purchasing options etc.

Organisation/frame of work (agreements, procedure etc.)

The Green Guide is employed by the municipality in the Environmental division, but has open frames with room for seizing local opportunities for sustainable development, and with the possibility of spending resources where suitable and possible in the light of time and economy.

Measured effects, environmental impacts

It is difficult to estimate the extent to which the Green Guide’s work has contributed to sustainable behaviour among the players, since this is both difficult and time-consuming to quantify. However, to cite a few examples: Organic purchasing in day-care centres has increased from around 10 % to 40 % since the work in the institutions started. Waste separation has been introduced for a number of events at the Country show site.

The number of projects launched and applications for events can also be measured, but it only reflects the anchorage effect to a minor degree.

As a general rule, the chances of success of the projects (including possibility of anchorage) are assessed before implementation. 

Conclusion and recommendations

Barriers/challenges and circumstances having promoted the project and the anchorage
The fact that there is a local environmental resource person who can create networks and be visible over time is a fundamental element of the green guide project.

If it becomes necessary to prioritise, the following should be taken into consideration: Rather one permanent and qualified resource person than one/several large and resource-consuming campaign or dissemination projects.

Barriers: When there is a lack of coupling with sustainable attitudes in the municipal system and in political decisions, this is a barrier for the Green Guide’s work to have full effect.

Advantages: It is a large advantage for the work of anchoring environmentally sustainable thinking that the Green Guide towards the players does not have the status of municipal official in the authority sense of the word. That the guide has open frames for the work and a budget at her disposal are also important factors.

Anchorage model ­ 

The model describes the relationship between hard and soft indicators in the short and long-term perspectives. The number of x’es states how much weight has been put on the different areas.