NOAH’s Organisational Structure

NOAH is organised in different groups. National groups are taking care of the administrative and political tasks for the entire organisation, and topic groups are working on topics of their choice.

NOAH's national groups are spread across the country, but the topic groups are mostly based in Copenhagen. NOAH believes in a flat structure. In many other associations and companies, a board is giving tasks and responsibilities to individuals. In NOAH, we don’t believe in top-down control but rather in equality among people. Therefore, NOAH’s board is equal to everyone else when discussing the organisation, the different responsibilities, or the tasks.

When the board must make decisions for the entire organisation, an internal newsletter is sent to all members. The members can then accept, or react and propose alternatives to the decisions that have been made.

Twice a year, all the members from the different groups gather to talk about the organisation, the economic issues and the ways for further development. Time is also accorded to the different topic groups, so they can speak out about their actions internally and contribute to a better communication and cohesion within NOAH.

NOAH’s secretary has an administrative function and is led by NOAH's secretariat group. It is also used during the week as a workplace for the many volunteers, as well as a place to have meetings.

Internationally

The nearly 80 national organisations of Friends of the Earth are spread acrosss the continents. With 5,000 activist groups and two million members, we are challenging globalisation together, and we are supporting solutions towards environmentally sustainable societies, with social justice.

NOAH became the Danish member of Friends of the Earth (Foe) in 1988. Since then, most of the topic groups have participated in many projects, seminars, and meetings in cooperation with FoE.

FoE network, where NOAH is also a member:

Friend of the Earth International, where all the national groups are members.

Friends of the Earth Europe, where only European groups can be members.

Young Friends of the Earth Europe, for youths up to 30-years.

History

On March 15, 1969, the great hall of H.C. Ørsted Institute was filled with professors, politicians, consultants, and environmentalists. The whole day, they listened to various lectures on pollution, and the evening was supposed to finish with panel discussions and debates. Before the debate had a chance to start, a group of young people appeared and asked the participants to return to their seats. They explained that the ventilation system was turned off and that the doors to the hall were closed from the outside. 

First, the noise came. An infernal noise of recorded traffic noise and DC-9 aircraft. Shortly after, the lights were turned off, and bins of waste were ignited and doused with liquid, and a stinking smoke spread across the room. Two people lit up cigarettes and walked around, blowing thick smoke in the face of the audience, who began to show obvious discomfort. The discomfort increased, as pictures of lung cancer operations, carbon monoxide poisoning cases, and dead fish and birds, were projected on the walls.

But the young people on the stage were not done yet. They installed a big aquarium with a goldfish in it. In the water, the activists poured a splash of polluted liquid, sampled from a chemical company, causing the fish to swim sideways. When the fish appeared dead, the activists on the stage sprayed water from the lake Emdrup over the crowd. At the same time, pictures of dead fishes from the lake with lung tumors were shown.  At that moment, the atmosphere of the room was in a state of “dissolution and chaos”, as stated by the newspaper Ekstra Bladet in 1996.

A huge Nimbus motorcycle suddenly drove onto the stage, and the drivers distributed poisoned (the insecticide Bladan - today forbidden) apples to the crowd. The tasters quickly spat out their apples.

It all culminated when the lights were turned on again, and a wild duck was carried onto the stage.  While one of the activists was telling about oil pollution, two of the other activists spilled waste oil. Someone shouted:

»Is there an animal lover present who will save this duck?«

No one answered. People were totally silent. Without a warning, a man suddenly  cut the duck’s head with a pair of scissors. Still flapping and moving, the duck was carried to the first rows, pumping out blood near the feet of the guests.

Finally, the lights and the ventilation systems were turned on again, and the activists proclaimed they would start an environmental movement. Such marked the beginning of the oldest Danish environmental organisation. 

After what happened during the seminar in March 1969,  80 people wanted to create a union. First, it did not havea name, but created one by accident ; one of the members wrongly spelled the name of the seminar. Instead of 'NOA' (Naturhistoriske Onsdagsaftener), he spelled 'NOAH'. It was perfect. After finding a name, they wrote a mission statement, which has been, and still is, a central statement for NOAH today:

"NOAH works to improve the environment, by actively fighting against ecological damages and their causes - and providing alternatives"  (Preamble, 1969).

Many other Danish environmental organisations can thank NOAH for being a pioneer. 

In 1971, the Ministry of Pollution was created, the precursor of the first Ministry of Environment and Climate, where politician Jens Kampmann, unofficially, would call NOAH for briefings and advice. This is how the association put its mark on the first Danish environmental law, which came into force in 1974. Through the 80s, 90s, and 00s, NOAH has continued its effort to inform the Danish population about the environmental debates at a political level.