Preface 2013 was a year when a number of the Danish Council of Ethics’ activities targeted the young people of Denmark, the next generation of adults to make up their minds about the ethical dilemmas being raised in the fields of health, nature, environment and food. 2013 has seen the Ethical Forum for Young People, which addresses the eldest elementary school forms, deal with the challenges that can affect young people suffering from mental illness. Under the heading “In or out? About ethics and mental illness” the Council focused on the relations that young people with mental illness engage in – or do not engage in perhaps – given that it can be hard for mentally vulnerable young people to engage in the relations others may take for granted. The material was sent out to all elementary schools in Denmark and has been praised for involving the youngsters’ own voices, and for daring to give voice to a dilemma that can be difficult for many people to get to grips with. That topic formed a natural continuation of the Council’s earlier work on “Power and Powerlessness in Psychiatry”, the purpose of which was to create visibility and generate debate around the conditions and challenges encountered by people afflicted by mental illness. Within the domain of nature, the environment and food, the Council launched a new set of teaching material on bioenergy in 2013 for both upper-secondary and elementary schools. The material takes its cue from the Council’s report on bioenergy, food and ethics, and under the heading of “Bioenergy – climate-friendly energy source or food thief?” considers the dilemmas raised when account has to be taken of the climate, the environment, those alive at present, future generations and the poorest people in the world. The teaching material is part of “Ethics and the Building Blocks of Life”, which publishes teaching material every other year. 3
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