Obituary about Carsten Obel

It is impossible to comprehend that we will no longer see him arrive at the office with windswept hair, a little late and always with a little smile and a "Hi, everything all right?". Carsten really cared for his employees, and he was always ready to listen if there was something that was professionally or personally more difficult than usual. He often said that when things were difficult, he would be at the forefront, but he was also happy to take a backseat when an employee enjoyed success, so the recognition landed where it should. He was always in a good mood, full of self-irony and humour. He was generous and caring and took on far more responsibility – both work-related, social and human – than most of us would have the strength to. He always met people on their own terms, no matter who he talked to.

Many of us will miss Carsten; he had an incredible network, both in Denmark and internationally, and he left an impression whatever he was doing. His ideas were wild and always relevant – he saw potential everywhere, in people as well as in projects and knowledge. He was full of visions and a real ability to see many different angles in a whole – that was what Carsten could do and it led to many exciting ideas for projects. He always wanted to make a contribution when he took part in something, and you could be certain that he had qualified input when he spoke or wrote an email.

Carsten Obel was a medical specialist in general practice and one of the few professors in the Nordic region with focus on the mental health of children and young people. He was interested in how as many people as possible could live a good life, realise their potential and contribute to society, given the individual prerequisites they had. His great passion was to contribute to strengthening children and young people's mental health and he was dedicated to giving them the best possible conditions throughout childhood. He contributed to this through his research in the area over a quarter of a century, with innovative collaborations with local municipalities and companies, and as a frequent participant in the public debate. Carsten was the initiator behind skolesundhed.dk, which today is called BørnUngeLiv. BørnUngeLiv is a joint Danish digital platform that gives municipalities the opportunity to work systematically with mental health. Today, BørnUngeLiv is used in the majority of Danish municipalities.

Carsten was hard-working far beyond any reasonable expectations, and also highly adaptable. He was never a fan of the operational side of things, although he still took on much of it – his real strength lay in being visionary and in sharp analyses, driven by an insight that both we, society and international research will now come to miss. We are grateful for the time we had together with him.

Let us pay tribute to Carsten’s memory.

Mindhood – The Research Unit for Mental Public Health

Aarhus University