ABSTRACT
Seventy-five miles west of Copenhagen along the Danish coast lies a mediumsized harbor town named Kalundborg. Living amid buildings that date back to the twelfth century, the residents of Kalundborg are not simply good stewards of their past, but they nurture the futures of their children and grandchildren. Over the past thirty years, the city’s inhabitants have witnessed a remarkable transformation, resulting from many individual steps taken without some master plan. With a nose for profit and an eye on the future, the city’s economic leaders have fashioned an intricate network of the area’s key, economic actors. Rather than simply dispose of “waste” materials and energy, the area’s businesses are recovering and selling waste byproducts to limit disposal costs and increase revenues. This expanding web of relationships creates an industrial system that mimics the interdependent relationships among members of any biotic community found in nature. It is a story that can and no doubt will be replicated in the future.
