Case: Getting to Denmark

Client
An invite-only network of global leaders from tech, business and public service

Location
Copenhagen, Denmark

Duration
Three days

For scholars of state building, »Getting to Denmark« has become shorthand for developing a well-functioning, low-corruption state where institutions work as they should. Now, while many discuss the ideal, few understand its inner workings.

We organized a three-day visit to Copenhagen for 30 senior leaders to explore what sets Denmark apart and how it achieved this status.

The group was an invite-only circle of about thirty senior professionals. Entrepreneurs, investors, senior public servants and academics who meet for off-the-record conversations on global issues.

For this visit, they wanted to understand:

The time frame was tight. Three days on the ground, no media, high expectations of depth and candour. Our role at Folio was to create the concept, curate the people and places, and stage every setting to support serious conversation rather than ceremony.

We treated Copenhagen as a compact case study. A city where government, companies, universities, foundations and civic life sit within short distance of one another. Instead of trying to show everything, we built a focused sequence of encounters that each spoke to one part of the same question.

The content was structured around themes that matter to anyone who cares about functioning states. The welfare state and the labour market. The pension system. Life science and health. Defence and security. City development. Food culture as a form of soft power. Each theme was tied to a concrete place and a host with real responsibility, with short framing followed by open discussion.

The group began on the water with a former lord mayor, using the harbour as a moving backdrop to understand how Copenhagen went from near bankruptcy to its current status as a clean, growing, liveable capital. At a leading architecture firm, they saw how that urban logic now informs projects worldwide. The day closed over dinner with former national leaders, tying city making and climate policy to Denmark’s wider role in Europe.

Day two moved inside the institutions that set rules and incentives. At Parliament and the Prime Minister’s Office, a former cabinet minister explained how policy is made in practice and how trust is maintained in a system that relies on compromise. Over lunch with the president of the largest Danish university, the group explored education and research in an economy built on knowledge-intensive sectors. An afternoon visit to a major life science foundation showed how independent capital can influence health, research and industry over decades.

The final day examined power and values from several angles. A visit to the royal residence addressed how monarchy functions inside a modern democracy and why symbols still matter. A session with a senior executive from Denmark’s most famous toy company looked at a global brand as a vehicle for national identity and innovation. Lunch at the Confederation of Danish Industry centred on exports, labour markets and the balance between business, government and unions. A closed briefing at a specialist public affairs firm with defence and security leaders brought hard security into the picture, before an evening talk on religion and society rounded off the visit with questions of ethics and everyday culture.

By the time the group left Copenhagen, Denmark was no longer an abstract model but a set of specific rooms, people and decisions. They had spoken with those who have actually held office, led institutions, built companies and guarded the country’s security. Settings had been chosen to make those conversations concrete. Harbour policy on the harbour. Pensions and welfare with those who manage them. Security in a room designed for discretion.

For us at Folio, »Getting to Denmark« is now a standing concept. A way for leadership groups to use a small Nordic country as a live case study in how state, market and civil society can interact when institutions are relatively strong and trust is high. The format can be adapted to different emphases, from welfare and labour markets to innovation or climate, and tuned to the questions a specific group brings.

If you are exploring similar deepdive visits to Denmark or other Nordic contexts, we are happy to discuss how a tailored version of Getting to Denmark could work for your group.