Push to offer higher education in small towns

The mayors of several municipalities in Denmark have urged higher education institutions to set up campuses away from big cities.

In a survey, published in the Jyllands-Posten newspaper on 31 July, around 90 per cent of the mayors of 47 municipalities said it was “important” or “very important” to have more higher education options in small towns and villages. The concentration of institutions in larger cities has lead to an exodus of young people from rural areas, several mayors said.

“When young people want to study, they move to Aalborg or Aarhus. If we don’t want to lose the next generation in the regions, we have to consider relocating education to areas where local businesses can easily cooperate,” Lene Kjelgaard, the mayor of Thisted municipality, told Jyllands-Posten.