Student societies at the Faculty of Arts

The Faculty of Arts is one of the largest university faculties in Denmark, with three schools, 22 departments, 94 degree programmes and approx. 10,000 students.

The faculty also has a wide range of clubs and societies (more than 100, in fact), which are run on a voluntary basis by the students themselves. These clubs and societies include everything from Friday bars, social clubs and student revues to student magazines and lecture societies. They all play an essential role in ensuring that the faculty offers the kind of vibrant academic and social environment that is such an important part of life as a university student.

There is a student club or society for everyone! Explore Arts' club and societies in the new app, which you will find a link to below. 

The overview of Arts' clubs and societies, which you will find further down the page, will eventually be phased out when all associations have become a part of the app.

Find your student club or society with Arts' new app

Arts has just launched a student club and society app. Regardless of whether you are for football, student council or a Friday bar, there is a student club or society for you. 

Click on to download the app and find your club or society.

As a club or society, you can also register and manage your association in the new app.


More info for student societies 

What is Arts ForeningsForum?

Arts ForeningsForum is a network for all the clubs and societies run by student volunteers at the Faculty of Arts.

The purpose of the network is to....

  • ... provide a forum enabling the faculty’s clubs and societies to share knowledge, collaborate, exchange ideas, share events and inspire each other.
  • ... function as a channel of communication between the faculty and all the clubs and societies.
  • ... support the work of the clubs and societies based on their own input and needs.

The network has a Facebook group with more than 200 committee members from all the many clubs and societies. Emails containing important information from the Faculty of Arts are also sent to the entire network on a regular basis. There are a number of (voluntary) meetings, events and activities within the network each semester.

What is a voluntary club/society?

A voluntary club/society is an independent unit that consists of a group of people forming some kind of community for a specific purpose. For instance a sports club, charity group, travel organisation or social event group.

Voluntary clubs and societies in Denmark are not obliged by law to register their activities, and nor do they have any tax liability or duty of public disclosure.

This means that they are not subject to any legal requirements. However, there are still a few formal requirements with which they must comply if they want to be recognised in a legal sense.

There are five basic legal requirements which apply when clubs and societies have to administer their own finances or want to own anything:

  1. They must produce their own articles of association (basically a set of 'rules')
  2. They must select a management (a committee or board)
  3. They must have some members (and the articles of association must define the type of members the society is aimed at)
  4. Their finances must be kept separate from the finances of their members
  5. They must host a founding meeting (and take a sommarty to prove that they have been officially founded)

More information about the five basic legal requirements from the Danish Institute for Voluntary Effort

A club or a society which decide not to produce articles of association, not to select a committee and not to define their own financial situation and membership can still be called a club or society and can arrange all the activities they like. But from a legal point of view, without the five basic requirements, they are just a group of people who meet up to organise their own activities.

How to register a club or society

The first step is to register your voluntary club/society. Once it has been registered, it will be given a CVR number. A CVR number is needed if you want to set up a bank account or receive public funding.

Registering a voluntary club or society is quick, easy and free – anyone with a NemID can do it.

Clubs and societies can be registered online on the Danish Business Authority website, Virk.dk. Please note that registered voluntary clubs and societies need to renew their registration once every three years. This can be done on Virk.dk and is also free of charge.

Guide

  • Follow this link to the Danish Business Authority website, read the information and log on to Virk’s self-service system using your NemID.
  • You must include the following information:
    • Name of the club or society
    • Address
    • Email address
  • The Danish Tax Agency (SKAT) will automatically approve your registration and send a message to the digital mailbox of the club/society in question, stating that a certificate of registration can be downloaded at skat.dk.

The CVR number allows you to set up a bank account (a NemKonto Easy Account) for your club/society. The bank you choose will need to see the articles of association and the summary from the founding meeting as well as other relevant information.

 

Special information for parties and Friday bars  

Parties, Friday bars and other clubs/societies that need an alcohol licence because they are intending to serve alcohol must apply to the legal team at the Rector’s Office, and must be registered there. 

If you want to set up a Friday bar or organise a party, you can find out what you need to do here and see which forms you need to complete.

Organising events on campus

The Faculty of Arts provides rooms and facilities for all the activities run by clubs and societies at the faculty. Clubs and societies can borrow study areas, classrooms and common areas for their activities and events.

If you are organising a social event such as a party, a Friday bar or any other event that involves eating and/or consuming alcohol, you can borrow a study area or a common area such as a cafeteria.

If you are organising an academic or academic/social event that does not involve eating and/or consuming alcohol, you can borrow classrooms as well as study areas and common areas.

More information about how to borrow rooms and facilities for events at the Faculty of Arts. 


Special information for Friday bars and parties

Please remember that clubs and societies that plan to sell alcohol at their events must obtain an alcohol licence from the police.

Contact

Do you have questions about anything related to student clubs and societies at Arts? 

Then contact Arts' wellbeing coordinator Louise Griberg Spaabæk, at grib@au.dk


Is your club or society missing in the overview on this page?

That would be because we have not heard of you just yet! Contact Amanda so we can add the club or society to our list, and feel free to join Arts ForeningsForum - the facebook group for all student societies at Arts.