Baseline study chapter on Aalborg, for the EUniverCities project (URBACT), first draft

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1 1 Baseline study chapter on Aalborg, for the EUniverCities project (URBACT), first draft Willem van Winden, UrbanIQ August Introduction This chapter describes the state-of-the-art regarding city-university collaboration in the city of Aalborg, Denmark. It opens with short description of the city and its university and the university of applied sciences (sections 2 and 3). Next, it describes the main co-operations currently in place, based on the flower model (section 4) of city-university co-operation (figure 1). Finally, it shortly describes the main challenges in this respect as identified during the interviews with main stakeholders (section 5), and summarizes the intended directions for the local support group and the local action plan (section 6). Figure 1. The flower model 2. City Aalborg is the fourth largest city in Denmark; the city has nearly 130,000 inhabitants (the wider municipality has about 200,000). The city is located in the northern part of the area Jutland on the south side of the strait Limfjorden.

2 2 Over the 20 th century, the town became highly industrialised, but like in so many other cities, the industries declined since the 1970s. The city had to find a new growth direction. The creation of Aalborg University in 1974 (a merger of a number of well-established institutions, combined with the establishment of a number of new faculties) marked a turning point, from which the city moved from industry to knowledge. Since, many jobs were lost in (large) industrial companies, but new ones created in the educational institutions and high-tech firms. The focus of the city s policy shifted to increasing attractiveness and luring students, knowledge workers, and knowledge-based companies. A key ambition of Aalborg is to develop and brand itself more as an international knowledge city; it wants to be an attractive city for (international) knowledge workers, students, and companies. With this in mind, it has invested recently in quality of life and cultural amenities (i.e. the Utzon centre, Nordkraft), and also it builds new student apartments (every student who comes to Aalborg is guaranteed accommodation). In its knowledge economy ambitions, the city faces competition from Copenhagen and other larger cities in Denmark (notably Arhus) that offer a larger and thicker labour market. Aalborg is relatively strong in ICT and telecom (Intel employs 150 people; RTX is a substantial player with 80 engineers), and has some significant international players, but is lacks critical mass and thus career perspectives. The city imports a lot of young talent, who come to Aalborg for higher education. But the city s labour market is far too small to absorb them: Many young people move elsewhere (mainly Copenhagen) after finishing their education. In recent years, more young people start their own business, but some interviewees stress that more of this would be helpful to boost the local knowledge economy. Aalborg s airport is a key asset. It offers very frequent flights to Copenhagen, but also to international destinations. So far, most of the cities investments have been in hard infrastructure; some argue that making buildings is not enough: the time has come to elaborate on content and the programming of activities. In this light, the development of the Experience Zone is a significant new direction (more on this below). The city wants to improve itself on being a creative city: it seeks to attract and retain creative companies and people, and capitalize on the creative abilities of its own inhabitants and students. The development of the Experience Zone should contribute to enhance this creative environment. 3. Universities The most important university is Aalborg University (AAU). It is a research university, offering a broad range of studies and active in a number of research domains 1. The number of students has increased from 3,000 in the 1970s to the present 15,000. Aalborg University is internationally renowned as a leading educational institution adopting problem based learning (PBL). In this approach, AAU wishes to secure flexible interaction between 1 natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, technical and health sciences.

3 3 theory and practice in the programmes. One of the main features of the PBL model is that the students work on a problem oriented basis and complete projects of an advanced academic standard. Teaching and student work revolves around complex real-life problems that the students wonder about and try to find answers to in scientific manners while working together in groups. The problem-based learning philosophy of the university lends itself to practical collaboration with firms. (It works in a lot of fields, but on the PhD level, the problem is that Aalborg lacks real big (engineering) companies that can take up PhD projects). In a recent study, Nordregio (2011) quotes the PBL-Aalborg Model as a best practice: The model gives students the chance to work with the business community and to solve real-life problems, which in turn makes them appreciated in the labour market. (Nordregio, p. 65) Aalborg University plays an important role in post-experience education: it offers a wide array of programs as part-time, continuing adult education, ranging from Master's programs to single courses within different academic fields. Student life in Aalborg is focused in the inner city, and many students live there (increasingly so, because many more student apartments are built in the centre). But the main campus of Aalborg University is in the eastern part of Aalborg, at some kilometres distance from the city centre. It was developed in the 1970s as a greenfield campus on the edge of the city, a large area hosting all the faculties and university buildings. Aalborg University also has a campus in the city of Esbjerg (the Western part of Jutland), and some years ago (after intense debates) it also opened a branch in Copenhagen. By now, AAU-Cph offers 7 Bachelor programmes and 14 Master programmes covering the entire spectrum of the academic field from natural sciences to humanities. More than 1,500 students are enrolled at AAU-Cph working side by side with PhD students and researchers. The problem-based learning method is the key attraction force for students. The second institute of higher education in Aalborg is the University College of Northern Denmark ( It offers Bachelor courses in a variety of fields, and has several centres for applied research. It has 10,000 students (1,000 of them foreigners), a staff of 780, and a budget of 80m In total, the city of Aalborg hosts about 5,000 foreign students. 4. City-university co-operation: an overview In Aalborg, there is a deep recognition of mutual dependence of city and university. Both parties realise that the city must be attractive and internationally oriented in order to attract the best students, scientists and knowledge workers, and to be able to compete with other localities and universities. Overall, working relations are excellent. On the top level, there are close relations between mayor/aldermen and the board of the university. On the practical level, the city-university nexus covers a number of fields. Table 1 shows a large number of current collaboration activities in the domains as identified in the flower model (based on a mapping exercise of city and university; the University Collage was not involved). All the parts of the flower are well covered.

4 Table 1 overview of co-operations 4

5 5 Project in focus: the Experience Zone The Experience Zone is the latest and most integrated (and perhaps most ambitious) initiative in which city and university join forces. It deserves special attention, as this project will be the focus during the Urbact-project. The City of Aalborg wants to increase its attractiveness, enhance its image as creative city, and (international) appeal, and the university shares this ambition. From this perspective, they are developing an initiative called the Experience Zone. The main idea is to engage students in all sorts of ways, and enable them to make their expressions a visible part of the city life. In the years to come, many more students will live in the inner city (many apartments are being built). Their presence and energy is a key asset for the city s attractiveness. The Experience Zone should turn the city into a platform or playground for student activities and expressions of any kind: cultural events, arts exhibitions, concerts, but also research and education related activities: the zone should become a facilitator for students to practice their skills, to work on real life issues and challenges, or to show their competences, creations and innovative ideas. It should be easy and straightforward to take initiatives and organise activities. Geographically, the Experience Zone will cover the entire inner city. The experience zone is in a very early stage. To develop and elaborate the concept, a core team (about 15 people) has been set up, with members from four key city departments 2 (with the cultural department in the lead), the tourist board, university representatives, and students. Examples of activities in the experience zone: International open BBQ for foreign students; wall painting in which the audience can participate; temporary sports facilities; rehearsals or concerts by student groups; experimentation space for art students; letting empty shop space to students businesses or artists. Ultimately, a close and deep co-operation with university departments is needed to realise the potential. A longer-term ambition is to involve a wide range of research and education programmes of AAU and UC in the programming of the experience zone. This would require the involvement of many more people. All stakeholders realise that this will take a lot of time and effort. 5. Key issues and challenges Based on the interviews conducted for this baseline study, we identify the following key issues and challenges regarding the co-operation between city and university in Aalborg: Over the last decade, in their investments, both university and city have focused on the hardware. The university has invested much money, time and efforts in the development of new campuses, mainly in Copenhagen. The city has invested substantially to increase its attractiveness for students and knowledge workers: student housing, cultural amenities like the House of Music and Nordkraft, and the waterfront. Some argue that now the time has come to invest more in the soft side: liveability and liveliness depend not (or not only) on infrastructures and facilities, but also the way 2 The departments of Culture, Health, Education, and the Mayor s office

6 6 they are used, and the activities and events that take place throughout the year. The concept Experience Zone is an excellent platform to work on this. It will be a big challenge to deepen the local engagement of the university. The prime objectives of the university are to excel in higher education and academic research, and naturally, funding is channelled in those directions. It remains a challenge to increase local engagement without losing track in the two main priorities 3. The university will only invest substantially when there is a clear win for them. For the Experience Zone to become a success, this must be taken into account. Synergies are more easily reached in particular academic fields like cultural studies and arts; It is more difficult and challenging to involve the hard sciences (natural sciences, technology etc.). The interviews revealed that entrepreneurship is a key theme. Among students, it is increasingly seen as a promising track after graduation, many students discuss the option of starting up a firm, and the number of start-ups is on the rise. For the city, new entrepreneurs are a potential source of economic dynamics and may compensate for the lack of attraction of Aalborg for multinational companies. Much is already being done to support entrepreneurship, from the university and the city side. But so far, efforts are focused on technology-oriented fields and faculties; In large sections of the university, the entrepreneurial spirit is still far away. It will be a challenge to see how entrepreneurship can be fostered in these segments as well, and to realise fruitful crossovers and multidisciplinary initiatives. Internationalisation will remain a key issue for city and university. Some argue that attracting international students it should not become a religion: city and university need to think deeply and strategically about their contribution, and how to made the most out of it. The strict immigration policies of Denmark make it more difficult for foreigners (especially non-eu nationals) to stay after graduation. 6. Directions for the local support group and the local action plan The local support group will consist of the key decision makers in the university and the city, representatives from scientific institutes, and students. They will further develop the concept of the Experience Zone. The international exchange activities will help the team to get ideas from other cities. Also, the city of Aalborg is ready to host a peer review session to have ideas from the partners on the further development of the Experiences Zone. Interview partners: Lis Rom Andersen, Head of Cultural Department, City of Aalborg Inger Askehave, Vice President, Aalborg University Jesper Mailand, director, RTX Prof. Hans Kiib, professor of Architecture, University of Aalborg 3 In 2006, OECD noted this problem: The Danish University Act has designated a third task for the universities, but no significant funding stream has been allocated to support this task. While the incentive structure appears insufficient, there is a strong focus on rewarding academic excellence and competence (OECD, 2006).

7 7 Jan Peter Nielsen, Mayor s office, City of Aalborg Birgit Pia Nohr, special consultant, University of Aalborg Kirk, student originating from USA, university of Aalborg Tonny Thorup, head of secretariat, City of Aalborg Sources: Nordregio (2012), Strategies for Interaction and the Role of Higher Education Institutions in Regional Development in the Nordic Countries, Nordregio report 2012:2, OECD (2006), Supporting the Contribution of Higher Education Institutions to Regional Development, Peer Review Report Jutland-Funen in Denmark (written by John Rushforth, Peter Arbo, Jaana Puukka and Jakob Vestergaard), OECD, Paris