Seasonal Capacity Scaling and Learning Centres

Danish politicians’ interest in using higher education institutions (HEIs) as policy instruments in regional development initiatives has increased significantly in recent years. Recent initiatives include the establishment of regional learning centres and study stations. This article has two overall research objectives. The first objective is to discuss the use of regional learning centres and study stations and to discuss an overall conceptual framework for the establishment and running of physical and virtual learning centres or study stations. The second objective is to discuss the use of seasonal capacity scaling in the educational sector. The discussion is based on a concrete case from a regional area of Denmark supplemented with interviews of both students, teachers and programme managers. Our research shows that seasonal capacity scaling of educational offerings based on a combined physical and virtual framework may be beneficial when establishing and running learning centres or study stations.