Hanne Tine Ring Hansen calls her employees “guerrilla fighters” and they work towards “completely crazy, ambitious goals.” She is the director of regenerative building at Søren Jensen Engineering and made it her mission to push the construction industry beyond climate neutrality. She pushes for a model where construction gives back more than it takes. 

For her, the concept of regeneration is an “utopian guiding star” that drives innovation and change in projects and within the organization. All employees work on pilot projects that challenge the status quo, and small “micro-changes” are intended to pave the way for larger changes.

But these ambitions come up against an industry and an economy where short-term profit still takes precedence over long-term benefits for the climate and society. That is why the struggle is not only about new construction methods but also about changing the way we understand value.

According to Hanne, this requires external innovation and internal change: a management style that views people as part of nature rather than machines, and enables people to maintain their passion without burning out.