People not buildings deliver the goods
The decision to move closer together in Foulum will not be changed so we must look ahead and give positive and constructive input with regard to how we can organise ourselves under the new conditions.
The auditorium in Foulum was almost full on 9 January 2019 when yet another staff meeting was held regarding conditions in Foulum. The aim of the meeting was to raise the level of awareness and knowledge about the decisions that AU and ST have taken concerning the buildings at AU Foulum. Technical Manager Bent Lorenzen from ST Estate Facilities in Aarhus explained the situation and answered questions. He was supplemented by the heads of department Erik Steen Kristensen, AGRO, and Klaus Lønne Ingvartsen, ANIS.
The bottom line is that ST needs to save money in order to meet its budget demands. This means that, among other things, the amount paid in rent needs to be reduced by cancelling the leases for 6000 m2 in Foulum. An alternative solution would be to cut back on the number of employees, but nobody thinks that is a good idea. Even though we do need a certain level of physical facilities, we should keep in mind that people and not buildings deliver the goods in the form of research, policy support and education.
Doubts and facts cleared up
The decision is necessary and will not be withdrawn, so there is no point in wasting energy on futile attempts at getting it revoked. Indeed, several of the staff at the meeting urged their colleagues to be positive, constructive and foresighted in their approach to the issue.
The employees in Foulum have alternated between being mystified, insecure and dissatisfied about the decision, since the savings will lead to disruption. Buildings will be emptied, staff will move to other offices, and facilities will be torn down.
Some of the negative feelings are perhaps due to lack of knowledge about the deeper meaning of the decision. What is it based on, who makes the various decisions, what will actually be happening, what are the possibilities for the future, and how much influence do we have? These are some of the questions that have circulated among the employees in Foulum. At the staff meeting, Bent Lorenzen explained the situation and there were lots of opportunities to get answers to all our questions.
You can view Bent Lorenzen’s presentation here (in Danish).
You can also read the article ”Moving closer to each other…”, which is about a previous meeting in Foulum about the same subject.
The future can be bright
It might be that some aspects of the so-called ’condensation’ – i.e. that we have move closer to each other – are irksome, but ”When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
We now have the opportunity to present ideas about the future development of Foulum – both in the down-to-earth short run in connection with offices and rooms for exercise and socialising, and in the more lofty and visionary long run in connection with perspectives for AU Foulum.
Claus Bo Andreasen from DCA is the anchor for gathering and processing input from employees with regard to these two aspects. As he showed in his presentation at the meeting, he has already received numerous good ideas.
You can see Claus Bo Andreasen’s presentation here (in Danish).
You can give your ideas either directly to Claus or to your department representative (AGRO: Birgit Sørensen Langvad and Bent Tolstrup Christensen; ANIS: Malene Stjernholm and Jens Bech Andersen) or to Foulum’s staff club.
The next step in the process will be a seniorVIP meeting on 30 January 2019, to which Claus Bo Andreasen will send invitations. The aim will be to discuss the research-related possibilities for continued positive development of AU Foulum. The perspective plan will be updated in the course of February-March 2019 and the strategy for AU Foulum will be coordinated with the other strategy efforts in ST.