About

Welcome to The Danish Association for Responsible Construction (ARC) [Byggeriets Samfundsansvar]. Here, you can learn about the purpose of our work, look into our organizational history or become informed on the structure on the Danish construction industry.

A firm or organisation can become a member of the association here.

Purpose

The Danish construction industry is highly complex with a variety of different actors and interests. In the Danish Association for Responsible Construction, we seek to promote best practises for sustainability standards across all the different levels and functions of the industry.

We work based on the idea that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a source of creating value for the individual company as well as society at large. In the association, we gather the front runners of the industry on these agendas.

The demands for CSR and ESG are diverse and in constant evolvement. It can be highly demanding for the individual company to stay informed on risks, opportunities, methods and best practises. Via the association, our members solve this task better and more economically, as we gather and communicate relevant knowledge, as well as develop new tools and networks in order for the industry to work more efficiently and smarter with CSR, ESG and change management.

The Charter

All members of the Danish Association for Responsible Construction sign the Charter for Social Responsibility.

The Charter translates international guidelines for social responsibility into the context of the Danish property and construction sector. Since the original Charter was developed, a lot has happened in terms of evolving sustainability standards in the industry. Therefore, in 2020, we went through a process of updating the content of the Charter in order for it to correspond to the current challenges and opportunities for improving sustainable practises in the industry.

An english version of this is under elaboration and will be launched as soon as possible.

Activities

Each year the association hosts a series of workshops, meetings and seminars at which good practice is developed and discussed within current topics under the sustainability umbrella, such as control and dialogue with suppliers, SDGs, health and safety, diversity management and circular economies. The results are described as cases and they are presented as specific tools and paradigms which are all published on the association website and freely available for use by the public.

History

The Danish Association for Responsible Construction was established in November 2014 based on a popular demand for a forum to discuss social issues in the industry across the value chain. At this time, a board of representatives from different companies in the industry led all association activities.

As the first initiative in the association, the original Charter was developed. The actors behind this were Realdania and the Danish Association of Construction Clients with help from the consultancy Responsible Assets and active contributions from 40 firms and organisations from the sector. At a conference in autumn 2014, the Charter was presented to 100 firms and organisations from the sector. The Charter was wellreceived and it was subsequently decided to set up a new association.

In 2018, Christina Schultz was hired as the Head of Secretariat to create a gear shift in the association. Subsequently the secretariat was expanded with a student assistant and later and intern as well. Today, the secretariat consists of three permanent positions supported by occasional consultancy help from among others the Association for Construction Clients, with which we share our offices.

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