Photo: The Danish Royal House
95 percent reused: Queen Mary at a meeting in an old factory
Queen Mary attended a meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Mary Foundation's Centre. It was held in an old brick building in Copenhagen where almost all the materials were reused during its renovation.
Queen Mary on Thursday attended a meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Mary Foundation's Centre, a centre at the University of Copenhagen that brings together knowledge from many fields. The centre opened in February 2022, when the Queen turned 50.
The committee was established in 2022 and is made up of leaders from many different parts of society. It has no decision-making power, but advises the centre's management on partnerships and development. The Queen is herself a permanent member. The committee usually meets twice a year, each time in a new place.
An old brick building with new life
This time the meeting was held at Thoravej 29 in Copenhagen's Nordvest district. The old brick industrial building has been converted into a shared workspace and meeting place for organisations working in areas such as art, social innovation and sustainability. As much as 95 percent of the materials were reused when the building was renovated.
The Queen was welcomed by the centre's head Simon Kjær Hansen, committee member Christian Bason and Pia Møller-Holst, director of Thoravej 29. She was also given a tour focusing on the building's architecture.
Research to solve society's problems
The Mary Foundation's Centre aims to make research in fields such as the social sciences, humanities, theology and law useful in solving problems in society. The centre builds bridges between researchers and those who deal with the challenges every day, in the public sector, voluntary organisations and business. When the centre started, the Realdania foundation gave 25 million Danish kroner to its work.
Recently the centre has worked a lot on how research can be used as a basis when politicians make decisions. At this meeting, the committee discussed exactly what the centre can learn from how other countries use researchers as advisers.