In a tiny, unassuming town in the middle of New Zealand’s North Island, four small countries are forever united. Most people in New Zealand have never heard of Norsewood. It’s off the beaten track and it’s certainly not heavily marketed. But one thing for certain, the town is proud of its Scandinavian origins. Even though most of its ancestry can be traced back to Norway, it hasn’t forgotten its allegiances to the entire Scandinavian region – as can be seen in the picture above.

And not far from Norsewood is another, slightly larger town that owes its existence entirely to Denmark. In this town of Dannevirke, “Copenhagen” occupies prime real estate, as you can see in this picture of Copenhagen Square.

So awareness of Scandinavia in this quiet, modest part of the world is healthy.

At a recent event hosted by the British Chamber of Commerce in Denmark (BCCD), I ran into a really inspiring person. His name is Ripley Davenport, and this spring he will set out on a 3-month mission to walk across Mongolia, a journey of over 2,700 kilometres - all by himself!

The goal is to raise awareness about human and environmental sustainability, to inspire and educate, as well as to encourage young people to follow their dreams and get active. He will also be raising funds for three charities: Shelter Box, Hope & Homes for Children, and Unicef.

During the Mongolia 2010 Expedition, Ripley will be producing a documentary film and use social media like Twitter, blogs and trackers to enable people around the world to follow him. I know I will be! It’s always fun to meet people like him who actually get out there and do something. It kind of puts cycling two kilometres to and from work to shame…

Check out the Mongolia 2010 Expedition website.

The New Oxford American Dictionary recently chose its word of the year. And what new word summed up the final year of this nameless decade? Unfriend. Fitting, no? The competition was stiff as the short list included a number of beloved words from technology and economics, such as ‘hashtag’, ‘intexticated’, ‘freemium’, and (a personal favorite) ‘zombie bank’.

So what about the word of the decade? Well, the Global Language Monitor (which, incidentally, now has the number of English words past the 1,000,000 mark) says the term ‘global warming’ was the most popular word of the decade. Apparently, ‘climate change’ was the ‘Top Phrase of the Decade’, which strikes me as odd since ‘global warming’ is also a phrase. But whatever. It’s all about the truthiness.

A rather special bond connects Eye for Image, New Zealand and Copenhagen. So I was interested to read that included among New Zealanders’ top travel loves and loathes is Copenhagen Airport. As the only specific airport mentioned in the list, which was released by the New Zealand travel agency House of Travel, this level of awareness on the other side of the world is quite something. Add to that the fact that you don’t need to tip in Denmark (which, apparently, New Zealanders love), Copenhagen Airport really is a winner. As long as the beaches, hotels and humid weather don’t ruin the experience, Denmark could be marketed as an attractive holiday destination to New Zealanders!

Cyclists: Are you bored of battling to get the final slot in the bike rack?
Pedestrians: Are you fed up of fighting past a herd of parked bikes to reach your favourite shop?

This could be the answer. It’s an underground ‘bike tree’ developed by Japanese company JFE - and it can store around 6,000 bikes in one go.

You can see it in action on this video on the Guardian newspaper website.

Now, that would be useful at Norreport Station.

The UN Climate Change Conference will be in Copenhagen in December, bringing together leaders from 192 countries in an effort to solve the world’s climate issues. But will ordinary citizens have any influence on preceedings?

Hopenhagen would like to think so. And a postive influence at that. Created by the UN and the International Advertising Association, it hopes to create a global community that will lead our leaders into making the right decisions.

Simply visit the site and add your message of hope to the list.

Looks like there’s more bad news for Iceland. Not only has the country’s economy taken a battering, but now it’s been knocked off the top of the Global Peace Index by New Zealand. In fact, Iceland has dropped to fourth in the rankings, behind Denmark and Norway.

The Index uses 23 criteria to grand the countries, from involvement in foreign wars to number of murders. And the Scandinavian countries have done well again in the list (Sweden is in the top ten). Makes you feel safe, doesn’t it?

(Our very own David Hoskin visited Iceland recently to speak at a Trade Council of Iceland symposuim and came back unharmed, so it’s not that dangerous.)

Two of us from Eye for Image are entered in the Copenhagen Marathon on 24 May. Chris Ramsden and I have been working towards this for several months. Even though we’ve both run marathons before, the thought of another 42.2 km is still quite nerve-wracking. You can’t be absolutely sure how the body will react on the day. Today, I’m wondering what will happen to the niggling pain in my ankle that I’ve noticed the last couple of training runs!

Even so, now that it’s less than two weeks away, we’re pretty excited, aren’t we Chris?

The Copenhagen Marathon has grown into a major international event, with more than 8000 participants expected this year. That’s a lot of people, but if you look carefully, you should be able to see our bright blue t-shirts! We hope you’ll see us both cross the finish line on two legs.

I was just reading some tips on how a company can promote its green initiatives. Many companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, don’t have a specific environmental policy, but most employees still do what they can to be a little bit greener.

A few years ago, I worked on a website for Vattenfall, the Swedish energy company – and one page included tips for reducing your energy use at home. Little things like not leaving electronic items on standby and choosing energy saving shower heads. They all count, so I asked a couple of people in the office what they do to be greener. Here’s what they said:

Fiona“I always make sure I have a spare bag with me in case I have to do some shopping on the way home from work. This means I don’t have to buy a plastic bag at the supermarket.”

Kelly
“When it comes to helping out the environment, the little things really do count. So I try and do my part by riding my bike to work, taking my backpack to the supermarket, recycling and buying organic whenever possible. And I don’t eat meat. Surprisingly, this probably makes the biggest impact of all: meat production is a major cause of deforestation and grassland destruction, and it drains our fresh water resources – 225 grams of beef requires a whopping 25,000 liters of water.”

Anonymous
“Don’t ask me. I don’t do anything.”

And me?
I live in Norway, and like everyone else here, I sort and recycle all my rubbish. I have six different bins in the kitchen: for plastic, metal, glass, paper, organic waste and the rest. I even have a recycling calendar on the wall, which tells me what rubbish gets picked up on what day.

Anyone got any other good green tips?

It’s the Easter break here in Denmark, and businesses are closed for an extended weekend. But I’m still at work – albeit in quite different circumstances. This time it’s helping out at the GHG gymnastics club, which is hosting the Sjælland Championships (Denmark) in TeamGym. (Eye for Image sponsors GHG.)

Being part of an event like this is quite special. Probably around two thousand people were involved on the first day alone. The sports hall buzzes with techno and pop music mixes, loud-speaker announcements, cheering, clapping – and of course a good deal of nervous energy emanating from the competitors.

It’s wonderful to see the joy and enthusiasm of the young gymnasts. And it’s great to see the support they get from their families who spend several hours waiting for the few minutes in which their kids will perform.

But I take my hat off to two very special groups of people. First, the coaches who are devoting most of their Easter holiday to helping their gymnasts enjoy the moment. Second, the championship organizers – in this case, from “our” club, GHG. Seeing the focused efforts of all the GHG organizers and supporters, this for me is what teamwork and ambition is all about – pure and simple. Businesses large and small, take note.

I’m ready for another 12 hours of it tomorrow!