Rethinking sustainability through work and second chances

This article is the transcript of the episode Rethinking production, inclusion, and sustainability with Theresa Hansen from the series The EDUS Podcast. Text adapted for the written version. Listen to the full episode.

Within the framework of the European EDUS project , Teresa Hansen reflects on how production, social inclusion and care can be woven together in practice, showing how sustainability can move beyond principles and become part of everyday systems.

Sustainability is often framed in terms of materials, waste and environmental impact. But this perspective alone is not enough to explain what happens in practice. Sustainability also takes shape through work, education, relationships and the conditions that make access to opportunities possible, or impossible.

In Theresa Hansen’s work, these dimensions are not separate. Within the Danish organisation Råt&Godt, production, training and social support coexist within the same operational space: reclaimed materials become objects and, at the same time, opportunities for learning and entry into the labour market.

In this conversation, within the framework of the European EDUS project, we explore how this model is built day by day, what it means to work with young people on the margins of the labour market, and why sustainability, in order to be effective, must be understood together as both an environmental and a social issue.

Your work sits at the intersection of training, production and inclusion. Can you tell us how this combination came about, starting with your role and the organisation you work for?

I work at an organisation called Råt&Godt. Råt&Godt is a private company that provides educational and employment inclusion services, mainly for young people with fewer opportunities, young people on the margins of the labour market who are neither employed nor in education.

We also produce furniture and indoor and outdoor products, mainly using recycled materials, reclaimed materials and waste from other manufacturing companies. In addition, we provide a range of services related to recycled materials, and we are involved in networks and projects focused on sustainability, responsible production and consumption, and labour market inclusion.

I have been working at Råt&Godt since 2019. I have a background in development and international relations, and I work in project management. I am a development consultant on different projects, but I also contribute to the overall business development of Råt&Godt.

The work you describe begins even before the workshop itself. Access to the programme seems to involve several steps and several actors. How do young people arrive at Råt&Godt? What is the process that leads them into your pathway?

They are referred to us by the municipality, or by municipalities in our local area. Many also come through their own personal networks. They may have a family member or someone else in their network who knows us and wants to show them what we do. In these cases, we offer them a private visit before they decide whether they would like to come here or not.

Many also come through the municipality’s youth guidance services. However, they still need to be formally referred by the municipality, because it is the municipality that decides whether this is the right programme for them and whether they meet the requirements.

Being referred to the programme is a first step. Joining it involves a more selective and individual process. Once a young person is referred to you, how do you assess whether the programme is suitable?

We have an internal process. We set out a series of expectations, so that young people can understand whether they are able to meet them before starting.

Some may have substance abuse issues or other difficulties that make engagement, or the transition into education or employment, more complicated. In those cases, we ask that they have either moved beyond that situation or are at least willing to work on it.

We also want them to be motivated. It has to be their own choice, and they need to want to work towards employment or further education.

At Råt&Godt, training is not separate from work: it happens within the production process. How is the educational pathway structured in practical terms once someone joins the programme?

Most of the program takes place in our workshop, where the students are part of our regular production. hey take part in every stage of the work. When we have a commission, for example making a table or designing an interior space, they are involved in the process. Tasks are adapted to their level of competence and experience.

At the same time, they also attend classroom lessons: Danish language, mathematics, social sciences and life skills. Together, these elements make up the programme. Some may also take external courses as part of their three-year pathway.

Is the pathway the same for everyone, or is it built around each student?

No, it is tailored to the individual student and to their wishes for the future. It focuses mainly on what the student wants, but naturally also on what we observe in terms of skills and talents.

We try to nurture those talents and expose them to different opportunities and directions.

At the same time, the pathway is also based on the workshops we have and the work we do here. But overall, we try to adapt it to their specific wishes.

The model becomes clearer when seen in everyday life. What does a typical day look like for someone entering the programme?

The day begins in the morning and at half past nine we all meet together. We stand in a circle and each person defines their goal: what they will do, how they will do it, and why. The «why» is essential. Even a repetitive task, such as removing nails from a piece of wood, has meaning because it is part of a larger project, for example a school canteen. So that task matters because it is part of something bigger. At the end of the day we come together again and reflect: «Did you reach your goal? Why yes or why not»?

We also try to value students for their effort. You may have had a goal of producing one birdhouse or three birdhouses, and maybe you only managed to cut the wood for one. That may have happened because you had a very difficult day, or because you already knew that morning that you had not slept and there were other problems going on.

We value the fact that you came to work, turned up, made an effort and tried to reach your goal. Tomorrow is another day and you can try again.

From this description, a way of building habits, confidence and perspective emerges. You are also offering a different way of facing everyday challenges. Is that part of your work too?

Yes, it is part of our work. Prestiamo attenzione anche alle altre difficoltà che gli studenti possono avere. We also pay attention to the other struggles the students may have. We have a social worker here, and she plays a central role in tailoring the whole programme together with our director. She manages communication and partnerships with municipalities, with social workers in those municipalities, and with the STU education office. She is also there to help students with any problems they may have.

That can mean guidance in relation to family or social networks. It can mean making sure they read all the mail they receive from public bodies. It can mean helping with a budget, with a housing situation, or with applications for education or work. Besides that, we also have a psychotherapist with whom students can make appointments with. They can come alone or with a family member. She can offer individual therapy, or, if needed, therapy involving the family as well.

Taken together, these elements suggest that the programme is designed to support them more broadly. You are working on several levels at once: technical skills, teaching, everyday life support, mental health. Would you say the programme is built around this wider perspective?

We have a holistic approach to work and education.

We know that the whole person who needs to be ready to engage in society. You cannot hold on to a job if everything else is falling apart. So, you need to develop the whole person and support them in becoming ready.

The impact of this kind of work often emerges in the stories people carry with them afterwards. Is there one story that feels especially meaningful to you, one that makes you feel the work you do here really makes a difference?

I could tell so many stories! We have many students who come back to share their successes with us, and sometimes they also come back to tell us about setbacks and how they dealt with them. Recently we had a former student who, after finishing her pathway here, continued her studies. Two or three years later she came back when she graduated with top marks. She was so proud and simply wanted to show us that she had made it. It was wonderful to see her and to hear her say how much it had meant to be here and to receive the support we gave her, especially from our social worker, Katrina.

We also had another former student who, when he started here, struggled with anxiety and substance dependency. He had been out of education since he was fourteen and had never had a job. At first, it was already difficult for him simply to manage to come here. Gradually, he began to feel safer coming here and, over time, slowly built up experience and grew into the work. He was always very welcoming to customers and new employees, and it was a real joy having him around when he was here. At one point, he took a break from our program to go to rehab. He got clean, and when he came back to us, he was ready to do an internship at another company.

In Denmark, work capacity is assessed by the municipality, taking into account both a person’s effort and the number of hours they are able to work.

Based on that, you can take a part-time job while continuing to receive public support, so that you can live fully even with part-time employment. He went through that process with the other company, got a job, and is still working there more than three years later. Recently he came to an event we held with an organization called Better Psychiatry, and he shared his story there. He is happy to talk about his experience, and it was very clear that the support he received here meant a great deal to him and helped him believe in himself. Now he is doing so well, living a good life, and clearly on the right track.

From what you describe, it seems clear that sustainability here is not only environmental, but also deeply social. What does this broader vision of sustainability mean to you?

Yes, of course. We work with sustainability in the broad sense.

Our main purpose is truly social responsibility. It is about helping people find their talents and their place in society, and contributing to the creation of a better society.

We do this by helping our learners, but also by helping companies become ready for inclusion. You do not need to be able to work full-time in order to be a valued employee. There are many tasks people can carry out that do not require a full-time position, and people can contribute whether it is a few hours a week or forty hours. Many companies in our area may already have tried to take on interns sent by the municipality who were not yet truly ready for work, and sometimes that becomes too complex for a professional manufacturing company or another workplace, because at the beginning a great deal of support is needed around that person.

That is why we step in with that support system and try to bridge the gap between the employee and the company, helping both sides become able to connect and cooperate.

For those listening from different places who might want to learn from your example, what networks and partnerships are necessary to make this kind of work possible?

We could not do what we do without a large network of companies, organisations and foundations. We work across different dimensions of sustainability. Naturally there is the social side, and there is the environmental side, where we create projects and designs using reclaimed and recycled materials. But we also need to generate profit while doing this. We need a sustainable economic base in order to continue our work, to employ social workers, carpenters and other professional staff who may take more time to complete a task precisely because they are including other people in the process.

We work with recycling stations, which are municipal centres or companies where people can bring what they no longer need — wood, furniture or other materials — and where these things are sorted so they can be recycled or reused whenever possible. Sometimes we receive materials from these centres, and sometimes we help them with certain stages of the recycling process. We also have partnerships with universities, for example to create designs or to find new ways of recycling. We work with manufacturing companies that have waste materials, as well as materials from demolition and renovation projects. Sometimes we also receive support from private or public foundations to develop projects that explore new opportunities in this field. We also develop projects that try to find new ways of helping people or new ways of recycling materials.

Our projects always arise from a question. The principle guiding them is simple: people and materials deserve a second chance.

When you think about the future, what kind of impact do you hope to see in the students who pass through Råt&Godt?

We hope our students are able to build a good life for themselves and for the people around them. We also hope they reflect on how they can contribute to society. We are especially excited when we see former students working in a traditional carpentry company, for example on a project where they need to lay a new floor and realise that the old floor is still a good product. Perhaps it can no longer remain a floor and there is a reason it had to be removed, but they do not want to throw it away, which would otherwise be the standard way of doing things. So they call us and ask whether we can use part of it, or they find another way to recycle it. When that happens, we know we have made some kind of impact, and that is great.

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