Comments on the criticism in the Danish newspaper Berlingske of public sector consultancy
Researchers and management deny that financial interests have dictated their actions and they confirm that professional criticism was behind a specialist report. See documentation on the case.
There has been new criticism of the role of Aarhus University in connection with the consultancy provided as a political basis for preparation of the Government's agriculture package.
In November 2017, Berlingske published a sharp criticism of the academic basis for a public-authority assignment carried out by Aarhus University. The criticism of researchers from the University was prompted by calculations from the Danish Society for Nature Conservation and Bjørn Molt Pedersen.
In brief, the calculations under fire indicate the amount of additional nitrogen that will run off from Danish fields if farmers are permitted to fertilise their fields up to the financially optimal nitrogen level. The calculations formed a scientific clarification of marginal run-off. The calculations were carried out using the NLES4 calculation model, which is a further development of NLES3. The memo was includedtypo3/ in the Government's agriculture package on an equal footing with a large number of other memos.