When the Danish Government and a broad majority in the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) entered into a political agreement on more and better educational opportunities throughout Denmark, DTU presented an alternative proposal. One of the objectives of the agreement was to reduce the intake of students in study programmes in the four largest cities, while increasing the intake in smaller towns. But rather than cutting admissions, DTU wanted to educate more engineers at strategically selected locations in Denmark.
Since the political agreement was entered into in 2021, DTU has come far in rolling out its relocation plan. The overall effect of the plan is that six per cent of the student places at DTU's main campuses in Lyngby and Ballerup will be transferred to other locations in Denmark by 2030. In addition, DTU is creating digital study programmes and establishing so-called residential colleges in areas with a shortage of highly educated labour. Here, students can live and work with projects in relevant companies in connection with large infrastructure projects such as Energy Island Bornholm and the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link.
The aim is to be present throughout Denmark and to establish close partnerships with private companies and public corporations. This will contribute to getting more DTU engineers into jobs.
"The Government's proposal gave us a definite push in the right direction—and we agreed at an early stage that it was of benefit to DTU. The Government's goal was to strengthen local communities and create a better balanced Denmark. At DTU, we seized this opportunity with both hands. But our dream was to educate more engineers, not fewer. And it still is. We can see a huge need in the business sector, in the public sector, and in institutions and utility companies—they all need engineers who can help solve some of the challenges faced by our society," says Carsten Orth Gaarn-Larsen, Senior Vice President at DTU, who is responsible for the relocation of study programmes.
