Max Vittrup Jensen
D.o.B: 29.12.1966
Civil status: Married; 5 year old daughter
Professional info
My qualities has been described as; project oriented, holistic planning, flexible, pro-active and visionary. I’m experienced with working with multiple nationalities, manage projects and people as well as independent research; self-motivated.
My passion is to remain on the forefront of the development within studies of peak-oil, climate change, financial crises and potential solutions such as transition movement, regenerative agriculture, natural building and intentional communities. This is aligned with my B.Sc. degree in Human Ecology and recent M.Sc. as Engineer (Planning and the Environment).
Work experience
I co-founded PermaLot in 2000 with the mission to help re-establish local sustianability in the Bouzov region. As part of working towards this aim I have been instigator of:
- Establishing an educational center for natural building and permaculture
- Successfully applied for and managed min. 20 grants up to 1 mio. kc
- Succeeded in generating +1 mio. CZK turnover figure 5 years consecutive
- Hosting international events such as the 7th European Straw Bale Gathering, including a TED type conference, 2 natural building colloquia and 4 national celebrations of natural building, etc.
- Hosted 3000+ visitors from 35 countries, about 2000 were course participants, interns and volunteers
- Built a 160 m2 residential straw bale house as a demonstration house for the local region
- Facilitated the construction of the infrastructure necessary to start a forest kindergarten at our educational center and of a public bus stop made from natural materials
- Managing a land trust consisting of 17 hectare certified organic agriculture (predominantly orchards); processing of the harvests
- Planted more than 1000 fruit trees and bushes; implemented landscape restoration
- Established a small food incubator, with commercial kitchen, mobile cider press and fruit dryer
- Through lobby and legal cases managed to ensure possibility for multifunctional orchard management under the EU subsidy scheme in C.R.
- Translation and publishing of a university level textbook on Permaculture; ”Permaculture, principles and pathways beyond sustainability”
- Co-developed sustainable development plans for the micro-region and publication of scientific studies and information for the local area
- Served as National coordinator for Youth Environment Europe [YEE] and Global Eco-village Network as well as Program Director for YEE Study Session at European Youth Council Budapest
Executive Director. PermaLot NGO
2000 - present
Languages
Fluent English
Native Danish
Fluent 'Scandinavian'
Basic Czech
Rusty German
Skills
Good level of IT literacy, including cloud technology and Mac/Linux
Experienced with all power tools and most heavy construction equipment
Experienced with wide diversity of farming skills and equipment
2010 - present
2010 - present
Free-lance consultant, instructor and builder
1999 - present
Simultaneous with the above I maintained a private company which has executed the following:
- Permaculture design work for private clients
- Design of buildings with natural building techniques
- Construction of 5 natural buildings in Germany and Denmark
- Facilitated workshops in USA, Denmark, Germany, Denmark, Hungary and Poland
- Presentations at conferences
This period includes numerous jobs in Denmark, Australia (1 year), USA (5 years), Norway (2 years). Employment was typically in construction trades as well as waitoring in numerous fine restaurantsa. However this period also includes jobs as paint ball field manager, bagelero, dishwasher, painter, handyman, driver, ware house worker, phone dispatcher, franchise manager, bartender... all experiences which has helped providing me a very universal knowledge and development which I've been able to utilize in later positions. The period also included 2,5 years spent living alone in the woods of N. America.
I've worked in Norway a total of 2 years in the years '89, '91 (Bogstad Camping, the Nord Kapp hall), '97 (LaMote, Wadahl Høgfjells hotel) and in '98 (Carpenter company, Norsk sengetøys lager, Lillestrøm hotel, vikar-servis and LaMote).
Carpenter, painter, waiter...Jack of all trades/Globetrotter...
1987 - 1999
Environmental Policies, Assessment, Technologies, Ethics, Social/Technological change, LCA etc.
Thesis about potential of re-creating sustainable development in rural Moravian region through measures such as education, multifunctional organic agriculture and eco-tourism.
Environmental Management; corporate and municipal. Made independent research projects about Sustainable Housing / Water management / Landscape Ecology. Thesis on challenges of implementing Transition Movement in rural area of post socialist country. Intern at Faculty of Landscape Ecology, Mendlova University, Brno, Czech Republic
University of Aalborg
2001-2004: B.Sc. (Technical Diploma), Human Ecology
University of Aalborg
2007-2010: M.Sc. Engineer (Planning and the Environment)
Education
Additional courses
- 2011 Big Bale Building Basics, PermaLot Centre of Natural Building, Bouzov, Czech Republic
- 2011 RegenAG Course: Permaculture for large agro-areas and keyline design, Melchow, Germany
- 2011 Life in Community, PermaLot Centre of Natural Building Bouzov, Czech Republic
- 2009 New Educational Approach in Sustainable Natural Building, Europaische Bildungsstatte fur Lehmbau, Ganzlin, Germany
- 2006 Project Management For Educational Professionals, Managers And Trainers, European Center for Vocational training, Lublin, Poland
- 2002 Outreach, communication and media, University of Aalborg, Denmark
- 2000 Natural Building (Self Study), El Rito College, Crestone +USA
- 1988-1989 Humanities informatics, University of Aalborg, Aalborg, Denmark; Made projects about Co-Housing and the origin of Danish Folk High School
- 1984-1986 HF [Equivalent to Gymnasium; Secondary education], KDAS, Copenhagen, Denmark. Graduation paper about Nature Schools in Denmark.
