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English Summary

The Green Fund was established by the Danish Parliament in 1994 to support initiatives that get people involved in promoting an environment-friendly and ecologically sustainable development. Green Fund grants are set aside from a yearly appropriation. Between 1994-1997 the Green Fund has had DKK 145 million available for grants, of which around DKK 45 million have gone to so-called Green Guides. These are local environmental guides who are attached to residential areas, sporting organisations or similar, and who provide practical information about "green living". The remainder of the Green Fund's resources have gone to around 580 highly varied projects, such as conferences, exhibitions, video productions, courses, demonstration projects, market days and special events. This evaluation concerns primarily these 580 projects. The Green Guide scheme is being evaluated separately. Distribution of the Green Fund's resources is handled by a three-man board appointed for one year at a time by the Minister of Environment and Energy.

At the end of 1997, the Green Fund invited tenders for its own evaluation. The contract was awarded to the National Building Research Institute (SBI). The evaluation started in mid-February 1998 and will be concluded at the end of August 1998.

The evaluation report is arranged as follows: The first background chapter explains the overall design of the evaluation and the methodology of the individual evaluations. This is followed by a chapter describing the Green Fund's board and management and the approved and rejected projects on the basis of the material collected. The next chapter contains a themed discussion of a number of questions about the Green Fund. The last chapter gives the conclusions of the evaluation, together with recommendations. About the evaluation The evaluation is divided into a number of sub-projects, which are reported on in appendices. These are then drawn together in this main report. The principal focus of the evaluation has been those projects that have sought support from the Green Fund. These projects have been evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Apart from the project evaluation, the combined evaluation also includes an investigation of what other significant players in the Danish environmental scene think of the Green Fund as well as a qualitative study of the Green Fund's board and administration. The basis for the evaluation includes earlier evaluations carried out for the Green Fund. The Fund and the projects SBI has classified the projects that have received grants from the Green Fund into 9 different groups. This grouping has formed the basis for the qualitative project evaluations. The diagram below shows types of project supported by the Green Fund and the grants awarded to them. It should be noted that the boundaries between the various categories are blurred and that some projects could have been placed in other groups.

Table 1: Approximate number of projects and the amount awarded in relation to SBI's categorisation of the supported projects.

The projects supported by the Green Fund seem to have been implemented largely as intended. From the qualitative project evaluation we can also conclude that many of the projects seem to have had a good effect in relation to the project's own objective.

It is also concluded that the Green Fund's board and management have fulfilled the statutory requirements for the Fund's activities relevantly and well. At the same time, a discussion is raised as to whether the Green Fund could have achieved more in relation to its objectives if it had used other strategies. This discussion, with accompanying questions and themes, should thus be seen as reflections that can be used by the Green Fund for a debate on future strategies for its activities. Themes in the evaluation The themes put forward for discussion in this evaluation concentrate on different aspects of the interaction between the Green Fund and the supported projects. The first theme looks at the significance of the people who have primarily received support from the Green Fund. The second theme brings in the supported projects' target groups and the meeting between the project maker and the target group. Continuing from this, the third theme looks at what the content of the projects has been or should have been. There is then a theme looking at how the board and administration have fulfilled their roles, and the final theme looks at the role of the Green Fund up to the present time and discusses its future perspectives. Conclusions and recommendations The main purpose of this evaluation has been to assess whether the Green Fund has lived up to its object by supporting initiatives that get people involved in promoting an environment-friendly and ecologically sustainable development. The main conclusion is that the Green Fund's board and management have fulfilled the statutory requirements concerning the Fund's activities relevantly and well. In other words, the Green Fund has in all essentials lived up to its object.

The experience gained from this evaluation of the first four years of the Green Fund's activities provides a basis for a discussion of whether a greater effect could have been achieved with different strategies. The fundamental discussion is whether the Green Fund should act primarily as a fund for developing ideas or whether it should focus more on contacting a broad section of the population. If the Green Fund wants the latter, its grant policy will probably need some realigning. There should, for example, be greater focus on the "average Dane's" way of life, and more project makers should be brought in who are not necessarily of the brightest green variety. At the same time, it is important to stress that the Green Fund, as a fund for developing ideas, has helped to provide the basis for many of the types of projects that can carry this work further.