Boarding schools are taking on greater social responsibility: “We’re moving from silos to networks” 

Social innovation in practice: Through the “A Path to Efterskole for Everyone” initiative, efterskoler are providing more young people in vulnerable situations with the opportunity to attend an efterskole. The initiative stems from the community Paths for Everyone and Danish Social Innovation Academy, where cross-sector collaboration is translated into change.

For young people in vulnerable situations, attending a boarding school can be a gateway to education or employment, new communities, and improved well-being.  

Through the “An Efterskole Path for All” (EEVTA) initiative, efterskoler can now offer more vulnerable young people and those from families facing financial hardship the opportunity to attend an efterskole. “It is quite simply a civic duty to take on greater social responsibility,” says Torben Vind Rasmussen, chairman of the Danish Boarding School Association and a member of the Danish Association of Boarding Schools ( Danish Social Innovation Academy). That is why boarding schools must adopt a new approach. 

“I have high expectations for EEVTA,” says Torben Vind Rasmussen. “Our society and culture have been divided into silos, where we, as boarding schools, have been accustomed to handling certain tasks and asking others to handle what fell outside our scope. But we have become a networked society, and this is a step in that direction.” 

STORIES OF CHANGE

How do we showcase the change we’re creating? This is a question that comes up frequently among many who are working toward long-term social change.

In 2025/26, Danish Social Innovation Academy is working to create new stories of change based on the Academy’s own work and the stories of its members. To that end, the secretariat has gathered insights and experiences from members through logbooks, qualitative interviews, surveys, and observations.

Throughout the year, you’ll have the opportunity to meet a number of members and learn more about what they take away from the Academy and the difference they make in society.

Read also the first interview with Anna Mollerup, director of Paths for Everyone

From Individual Efforts to Collective Action 

EEVTA originated from the “ Paths for Everyone ” (A Path to Efterskole for Everyone) initiative, which Torben Vind Rasmussen engaged the Efterskoler in through his membership in “ Danish Social Innovation Academy ” (The Efterskole Alliance). “ Paths for Everyone ” targets the approximately 45,000 young people who are neither in employment nor in education and was launched by “ Danish Social Innovation Academy ” (The Efterskole Alliance) in collaboration with a wide range of partners. “A Path to Efterskole for Everyone” operates as an independent organisation but, through the Efterskoler, is also part of a large alliance with over 40 partners. 

“Boarding schools play an important preventive role in the system, and it is absolutely crucial that we now have the opportunity to establish a strong network,” says Torben Vind Rasmussen. 

Several members of the Academy and the secretariat have contributed to the development of EEVTA, and Torben Vind Rasmussen highlights the close collaboration with Anna Mollerup, director of the Danish Association of Independent Schools ( Paths for Everyone ), in both the establishment and development of the initiative. In addition, there is the issue of recruitment, where the after-school programs will open their doors to more students through scholarships and new partnerships. Specifically, for the coming school year, approximately 500 scholarships of 30,000 kroner each have been established in collaboration with foundations such as Egmont and Alm. Brand Foreningen—the highest number ever.  

“We have a very close partner in the General Fire Insurance Association. That wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t attended the Open Academy and spoken with Laura Auken. And we’ve also succeeded in awarding scholarships to entirely new target groups through partners such as public housing associations and the Joint Council for Children’s Issues (both members of the Academy, ed.),” says Torben Vind Rasmussen.

“Boarding schools play an important preventive role in the system, and it is absolutely crucial that we now have the opportunity to establish a strong network.”

– Torben Vind Rasmussen

As more people join, more must succeed

Opening the door is one thing—ensuring that students thrive and graduate is another. That is why EEVTA also offers a competency track designed to strengthen schools’ educational practices. 

And here, too, the network structure is breaking with a culture in which the boarding schools have primarily operated independently, says Lene Bruun, director of EEVTA. Instead, the schools are now learning from one another through study trips, courses, and knowledge sharing.  

“There are schools that are already really good at this,” says Lene Bruun, pointing to boarding schools with as many as 25–30 percent of students from vulnerable backgrounds. 

The focus is on the student’s entire journey: before, during, and after their time at boarding school. It begins even before the school year starts, with getting to know the student well and building strong relationships with the student and their family; it continues throughout the school year and does not end until the student is well on their way: 

“We must not let go of the baton until someone has caught it,” Lene Bruun emphasizes. 

“Change requires the courage to lose your footing.
Otherwise, it’s just linear progress.”

– Torben Vind Rasmussen

New Perspectives on Education and Change

A key driving force behind the movement among after-school programs to rethink their own role and working methods is Torben Vind Rasmussen’s membership in the Association for the Development of Education ( Danish Social Innovation Academy). There, he has gained new perspectives on both pedagogy and change. 

“The Academy has created a new space to discuss the present. I’ve found myself in conversations where I’ve thought, ‘Wow’; that together we’ve entered into a vision of the future, dared to stay there, and then returned to the present. It creates a new language,” he says, highlighting experiences such as the “Centennial Walk,” which was part of the Academy’s 2024 annual theme on “The Long Term,” during which members were trained to think and act with a much longer-term perspective than they were accustomed to.  

“There, I could see that this way of thinking provided a language for something. I’ve carried with me the creative thinking that the Academy instilled in me.” 

A shift in perspective and a new language are important when you want to change practices, because many organisations want to grow—but without fundamentally changing what they do, says Torben Vind Rasmussen.  

“Change requires the courage to lose your footing. Otherwise, it’s just linear progress. When you’re in a crisis, you’re always ready for change, but it rarely turns out well because it becomes crisis management. And conversely, ‘if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.’ We must dare to move to a third place, which becomes a shared frame of reference. The Academy has been very good at creating that.” 

Torben Vind Rasmussen in * Danish Social Innovation Academy*, 2026.

Scaling Up Nationwide

For now, EEVTA is a three-year initiative, and the prospects are both concrete and open-ended. 

On the one hand, the goal is clear: The network must be expanded to cover the entire country so that all regions can establish strong partnerships. At the same time, professional development must be strengthened through courses, webinars, and knowledge-sharing, and all after-school programs must be aware of the scholarship opportunities available. 

In two years, the EPX reform will make 1,300 scholarships available through the budget—and EEVTA is a good “warm-up” for promoting and communicating about scholarships, says Lene Bruun. 

On the other hand, the format is still evolving: 

“We don’t know what the future will look like. Perhaps structures will emerge that dissolve on their own as awareness grows,” says Torben Vind Rasmussen. “The fact that we naturally form relationships with and collaborate with organisations, which works with vulnerable people—that’s probably where we’re headed.”