Student Well-being is Central to the Innovative Education Concept from Esbjerg

Ground-breaking and holistic. This is how Education Esbjerg describes its innovative education concept, E.1, which is launched today. The concept will significantly increase the well-being of the students and thus tackle one of the biggest challenges in the Danish education system.

From left to right: Morten Albæk, philosopher, author, founder and CEO of the consulting company Voluntas. Peter Olsson, CEO Director AP Ejendomme, Peter Kirk Larsen, Lawyer and Managing Partner Kirk Larsen & Ascanius, Jesper Frost Rasmussen, Mayor Esbjerg Municipality, Bjarke Ingels Founder & Creative Director BIG Group, Henrik Uhd Christensen, CEO VIKING Life Saving Equipment, Lone Saaby Director Education Esbjerg

The starting shot has sounded for a completely new way of thinking about education in Denmark. Education Esbjerg today launches its new education concept with the name E.1 [E-one], which in particular has increased well-being as a focal point. The vision is to train whole, strong people who, during the training, will be linked closely with the region's companies. The concept ensures the students the strongest starting point to face the labor market with courage, enthusiasm and responsibility.

"With the education concept E.1, we are creating the framework of the future for education with young people at the centre. It's not just a vision – it's a duty. We are committed to thinking about education differently and looking at our students in a new way in order to create greater well-being, more meaning and better connection to the labor market. Together we are taking the future into our hands and with E.1 we are leaving an imprint that can fundamentally change the way we educate," says Peter Kirk Larsen, one of the initiators of the project and member of the board of Education Esbjerg.

In concrete terms, the concept consists of three pillars: Well-being, business collaboration and digitalisation.

Each well-known phenomenon in the education sector - but in Esbjerg, the entire approach to education will now be built around the three in unison.

"We have seen many examples of how well-being, digitization and the relationship with the labor market are respectively incorporated into various educations. What we haven't seen is a combination of all three elements. This is what makes the E.1 completely unique. We insist on seeing the students' needs, giving them insight into their mental and social well-being and letting them take responsibility for their professional development by combining it with practical work. They are more than student assistants for the companies; they become trusted employees who make a difference with their professionalism - and become more well-rounded people along the way," says Lone Saaby, director of Education Esbjerg.

The project arouses enthusiasm among Minister of Education and Research Jesper Petersen (S). According to the minister, the ambitions for E.1 fit in well with the government's ambition to create attractive study places in several parts of Denmark.

"There are important goals behind Education Esbjerg's commitment and ambitions. The project will promote Esbjerg as an educational city for the benefit of both young people and employers in the region. The thinking is well in line with the government's focus on creating good educational opportunities across the country and increasing well-being among students. Being close to the labor market during your studies is also beneficial for the students. I look forward to following the concept in the coming years," says Jesper Petersen.

E.1 must be physically tied together in a completely new construction of international class. It is the renowned architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group – BIG, which has created the sketch project for Education Esbjerg's upcoming landmark, which consists of a total of 30,000 m2 of educational buildings and a master plan for the Esbjerg Strand area. Education Esbjerg has also entered into a cooperation agreement with AP Ejendomme to realize the education building.

From autumn 2023, the University of Southern Denmark will offer a new law degree on the current campus in Esbjerg with space for 50 students. The university's chancellor believes that the new education concept E.1 can contribute to strengthening the cooperation between the educational institution, the local community and the individual student.

"Throughout the past 23 years, SDU has worked purposefully to build regional campuses with strong educational and research activities outside Odense. This also applies in Esbjerg, where our campus contributes with education and research and enters into close cooperation with the surrounding local community, which has most recently resulted in a master's degree in medicine and a law degree. It is absolutely crucial that the good collaboration continues to be strengthened for the benefit of students, university, companies and local communities - I hope and believe that Education Esbjerg's new initiative can contribute to this," says Jens Ringsmose, rector at the University of Southern Denmark.

Aalborg University sees the great business potential in the green transition in the region and is therefore collaborating with Education Esbjerg on the development of a new Power-to-X master's degree.

"At Aalborg University, we support creating the best framework for relevant educational offers in Esbjerg. We have a long tradition of offering education in Esbjerg, and therefore we also work concretely with Education Esbjerg and partners in the region to develop a Power-to-X education offer at master's level, if the necessary funds can be found. An educational specialization that can deliver candidates who can contribute with solutions to society's green transition," says Per Michael Johansen, rector at Aalborg University.

Both universities look forward to including the regional business community in the education courses, which will thus be completely unique compared to what is known from other education programs today. It is something that arouses great enthusiasm in Esbjerg's mayor, Jesper Frost Rasmussen (V).

"It is fantastic to have a project with such great ambitions on behalf of Esbjerg. Imagine that we can put Esbjerg on the map with such a significant construction at the same time that the new education concept puts a pioneering focus on better well-being among the students and increased cooperation with the business world. It is important for the cohesion of the whole of South-West Jutland, where the concept will undoubtedly be an important foundation stone for us to secure qualified labor for our business life in the future," he says.

Facts

• E.1 is a pioneering educational concept that has a particular focus on well-being, business collaboration and digitalisation.
• With a mix of social activities, personally arranged development courses and ongoing well-being measurements, students' well-being during education is increased.
• E.1 builds on Education Esbjerg's already successful initiatives – a mentor program and a graduate program – and continuously adds more new offers for students and companies that support the transition from theory to practice.
• E.1 is a 100 percent digitally supported educational platform, where new technology creates new opportunities for collaboration and learning.
• In a survey for the Danish Agency for Education and Research, one in ten students said that they have mental health problems that have lasted for more than half a year.
• Of these students, 20 percent respond that their mental health problems severely limit them in their studies.
• Bjarke Ingels has designed the 100,000 m2 building on Esbjerg Strand, which E.1 will be located in. Education will take up 30,000 m2, while 44,000 m2 is allocated to housing and 16,000 m2 to commercial tenancies.

Contact

The press can obtain further information about the project from communications and press officer Camilla Hansen on phone 42 67 00 38 or [email protected]