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