Rambøll Fonden / Ramboll Foundation

Part of our long-term collaboration with University of California, Berkeley - Nordic Center at UC Berkeley and Center for Responsible Business at Berkeley Haas - is to explore and support long-term research opportunities focusing on the unique ownership model of enterprise foundations. Now is your chance to nominate academic research papers with the greatest potential to address urgent global sustainability challenges and accelerate the green transition in society, among others with a focus on structuring companies for long-term sustainability ambitions. Read more below 👇 #purposedrivenbusiness #sustainablebusinessmodel #foundationownership #research #sustainability #berkeley

A company built on social responsibility 💚 The founders of Ramboll agreed from the very beginning that the value creation of the company was not to focus primarily on profit, growth, or international recognition. Their intention was rather to turn this traditional business model upside-down and begin with the people: to evaluate the company’s success in terms of the happiness of the employees and the positive impacts their work had on society and the people living in it. Børge Rambøll thought that a company’s culture – the glue that binds the employees together – is something that is created when employees and management alike are having casual discussions and influencing each other across the lunch table. Culture is not something that exits on a piece of paper that lists a predefined set of values – it is a lived experience. But in 1986, the number of employees had exceeded 500 and this called for a change in management strategy as there was no table fit for this number of people. Despite his belief that the company culture was best sustained through casual dialogue, Børge Rambøll saw no better solution than to put the philosophy and visions into writing – after all a written introduction was better than no introduction at all. Børge Rambøll described the key point of the philosophy in the following words: “The essence is that you have to behave properly and decently as a person and treat all others as you wish them to treat yourself. This relates to individual customers, colleagues, and society as a whole. Being decent and proper does not only concern whether your tie is in place when doing business. It is about treating other people and society right in a long-time perspective”. Read the Ramboll Philosophy in full here: https://lnkd.in/dYKEuh6m If you would like to dive into the history of Ramboll and the Ramboll Foundation, you can explore more here: https://lnkd.in/d8Vvg-tr #storytime #foundationownership #ownershipwithapurpose #purposedrivenbusiness

Earlier this month, we hosted our annual Foundation Advisory Forum seminar, gathering 30+ Ramboll employees across ages, genders, markets, and geographies for sharing of insights and perspectives with the Board of Trustees. We used the occasion to ask a few of the new members a couple of questions. We asked them: 💚 Why they signed up to the Foundation Advisory Forum. 💚 What the best thing is about being foundation-owned. Check out the video below 👇 Thanks to Julian Haffner, Keleigh Hagensen, Lorena Tremps, and Mariusz Hermansdorfer for sharing your thoughts!

We support | Ideas for inclusive and sustainable futures 🌱 The Next Generation Digital Action initiative, in collaboration with the Digital Tech Summit and DTU Skylab, empowers students and early-stage technology entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds. Through knowledge, skills, tools, and networking, participants develop ideas for inclusive and sustainable futures. A hybrid 3-week innovation journey in August 2024 and an 8-day program in Copenhagen in late October 2024 have convened approximately 130 international talents. They addressed challenges related to digitalisation in education, cities, and water. Industry, academic, and public collaborators mentored the journey, providing global platforms for youth to share and accelerate their perspectives at the Digital Tech Summit 2025. The university-powered project fosters inclusive, youth-led innovation, education, and action across relevant societal issues. Focused on universal design and sustainable solutions, this initiative spans various disciplines and includes partners like Ramboll. It aims to cultivate and disseminate insights on creating inclusive innovation programmes that blend learning and solution-building for enduring impact. The initiative was funded with DKK 447,787. #sustainabledevelopment #research #education #inclusiveinnovation

Today, we welcome 33 Foundation Advisory Forum members to Ramboll’s Head Office in Copenhagen for our annual two-day seminar 🗓️ This year, we will be discussing the implementation of the Ramboll Foundation’s new philanthropy strategy, more specifically the philanthropic missions as well as the employee-driven initiatives part of the strategy 💙 Meeting up with our Foundation Advisory Forum is a unique opportunity for the Board of Trustees to engage with our primary stakeholder – the employees of Ramboll ✨ We are looking forward to many insightful discussions and perspectives exchanged 💡 #foundationownership #purposedrivenbusiness #philanthropy #ownershipwithapurpose #ramboll

Do you know the story behind the establishment of the Ramboll Foundation? 📜 At one of the daily lunches, the partners of the then Rambøll & Hannemann, now Ramboll, began talking as they always did - only this time the conversation was about the future of the company. They asked themselves, what would happen when Børge Rambøll and Johan Hannemann were no longer with the company? In other words, they began to talk about long-term ownership and how they could ensure the survival the company moving onwards. After discussing back and forth, it was decided based on a proposal from Børge Rambøll that Rambøll & Hannemann was to become a limited liability company – owned by a foundation. Børge Rambøll shared his thoughts to his colleagues around the table: “It could end in a fight between our children and the next generations if we do not take action. Therefore, we have to make our company an independent foundation.” Børge Rambøll and Johan Hannemann’s objective was to create an eternal company and a good workplace for as many as possible. Outside investors should not be able to profit from the company, and the revenue should be invested back into the company’s development. Most importantly, they wanted the employees to feel ownership of the firm. With all this in mind, they sold the company to the Ramboll Foundation. Today, it is fairly common that Danish companies are owned by foundations. Nevertheless, Rambøll & Hannemann changed the scene, when they in 1972, as one of the first engineering consultancy companies, were owned by a foundation. Learn more about our history here: https://lnkd.in/d8Vvg-tr #storytime #foundationownership #ownershipwithapurpose

Now is your chance to apply for funding for your next project or initiative within research, education, or civil society and humanitarian activities 🧡 The deadline is 15 November. Please make sure to read our donation policy before applying. Read the policy and apply here: https://lnkd.in/eiiARjFc

Supporting war-affected people in Sudan 💚 Via our partnership with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the Ramboll Foundation has decided to fund UNHCR’s crisis response in Sudan with DKK 500,000, with a particular focus on supporting people forced to flee their homes due to the serious and massively overlooked conflict and humanitarian crisis currently taking place in Sudan. The number of internally displaced people in Sudan now exceeds 10.5 million. Concurrently, Sudan hosts almost 900,000 refugees – creating an immense humanitarian disaster. The violence has claimed more than 23,000 lives, destroyed cities, and severely damaged essential infrastructure, including hospitals and schools. Areas such as Khartoum, El Fasher, and Nyala have experienced continuous and intense artillery exchanges, airstrikes and intense fighting, severely impacting civilian populations and disrupting the delivery of humanitarian aid. “By funding UNHCR, we are able to help alleviate the immense human suffering and provide support for those affected by this crisis by giving them much needed protection, shelter, life-saving core relief items, clean water, sanitation and access to critical healthcare,” says Søren Staugaard Nielsen, Managing Director of the Ramboll Foundation. It is estimated that almost 25 million people – or every second person in Sudan – will need humanitarian assistance and protection services this year. Now 18 months into this protracted conflict, the humanitarian needs remain overwhelming, with no signs of the violence coming to an end. "The crisis in Sudan is one of the largest humanitarian emergencies in the world, yet it remains tragically underfunded. Support from generous partners, such as the Ramboll Foundation, is essential to scale up life-saving work and leverage UNHCR's more than 50 years of presence in Sudan to reach vulnerable displaced families in desperate need of protection, shelter, and basic services. Together, we can make a profound difference where it matters most," says Eva Raabyemagle, Head of Private Sector Partnerships in Denmark, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. #partnership #humanitarianaid #Sudan

We Support | Social well-being in 15-minute cities 🗺 This initiative is driven by C40 Cities and Ramboll who in partnership assist pilot cities in the C40 Green and Thriving Neighbourhoods Programme to maximise the social wellbeing potential of 15-minute city interventions at neighbourhood and city levels. Drawing on Ramboll's social, urban, and infrastructure sustainability expertise, the joint efforts include crafting city strategies and plans, developing social parameters, and employing social impact methodologies. These activities help cities understand who benefits from 15-minute city interventions and identify urban vulnerabilities. "As cities accelerate their sustainable transition, it’s clear that these changes can positively impact the lives, health and well-being of individuals and communities, particularly the most vulnerable. Our conversations with cities highlight a pressing need for practical tools and skills to integrate social well-being into this transition, ensuring citizen engagement and stakeholder collaboration throughout the process," explains Christine Lunde Rasmussen, Senior Market Manager at Ramboll. Specifically, C40 and Ramboll are co-creating a toolkit to help cities define social well-being and translate their visions into actionable strategies. This toolkit will help more cities around the world create green and thriving neighbourhoods. Two of the Green and Thriving Neighbourhoods pilot projects - Warsaw and Copenhagen – are providing crucial input for the toolkit: 🌿 Warsaw, Poland: The City is transforming the Vistula River valley from a barrier to an asset. With enhancements to pedestrian and bike access and improved public spaces, the City is linking communities on both sides of the river to each other and reintroducing them to the river. The newly completed pedestrian bridge is just the start! The City now aims to create a network of resilient and people-centred public spaces. 🚲 Copenhagen, Denmark: In Jernbanebyen, the City and Urban Partners are converting old railyards into a 15-minute, zero-carbon neighbourhood. This project prioritizes inclusivity and sustainability with net-zero buildings, a wide housing range, and car-free streets. An existing building has already become a new community hub for local associations and global conversations on sustainable urban planning and design. “Our toolkit is designed to put people at the heart of urban planning and design, ensuring that environmental and social benefits go hand in hand when creating and implementing green, thriving neighbourhoods. It’s not just about building sustainable cities—it’s about creating inclusive communities where everyone can thrive,” says Helene Chartier, Director of Urban Planning and Design at C40 Cities. The project is funded with DKK 951,101.

Supporting Læger uden Grænser (MSF)' crisis response in Sudan For the past year, large parts of Sudan have been experiencing ongoing violence, including intense urban warfare, gunfire, shelling, and airstrikes. More than 10 million people have been displaced by the current conflict, including over 2 million people who have fled to neighbouring countries. The health system, already fragile before the conflict started, is struggling to cope with existing and emerging medical needs, such as emergency care and surgery, treatment, malnutrition, and disease outbreaks, causing a regular health crisis in Sudan. “The situation in Sudan is one of the largest humanitarian crises we have experienced in recent times. Millions of people have been forced to flee their homes, and the population lives under the threat of attacks, violence, and a catastrophic lack of humanitarian assistance and support. Therefore, we are incredibly grateful that the Ramboll Foundation wishes to help during this overlooked crisis with a generous contribution to Doctors without Borders’ work in Sudan,” says Malin Palmer, Director of Doctors without Borders (MSF), Denmark. We are donating DKK 500,000 to Doctors without Borders’ medical and humanitarian work in the affected areas. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dnP3zwXN #humanitarianaid #partnership