OECD commends Central Denmark Region - Region Midtjylland

Chinese, Spaniards, Australians, Poles and Italians.Not to mention French, Russian, Indiansand Icelanders. The place is teeming withyoung people from all over the world at VIACampus Horsens, which offers technical and commercialcourses at university level, such as Global Business Engineeringand Value Chain Management. More than 40nationalities make their way through the large, modernbuilding every day, and out of 3,500 students, half arefrom abroad. One of them is Monika Predajnova. Sheis 21 years old, from Slovakia and studying MarketingManagement in her third semester. She is doing well atVIA in Horsens. “When I talk to my friends back homein Slovakia, studying the same as me, I’m glad that I’mstudying here. They learn so much theory that theywill never need to use, while the course here is muchmore practical,” Monika explains.Horsens rather than LondonShe has always known that she wanted an internationaleducation. So she applied to and was alsoaccepted for educational institutions in the Netherlands,the UK and Denmark. In Denmark, she actuallygot accepted at two places – at Aalborg Universityand VIA Campus Horsens. Of all the options, she choseHorsens.“I can study marketing here. I think it will be easierfor me to get a job with this degree than if I study historyor any of the other courses that I was acceptedinto at the other places. And besides, Horsens is closerto Germany, where my mother lives,” she explains. Thechoice wasn’t all that easy. Monika loves London andwould really like to live there at some point in her life.But she reasoned that getting a degree in Denmarkwas better for her.Free education“First, I stand out a little from all the rest when it stateson my CV that I have done my degree in Denmark. It’sa bit different. And secondly, I can take the course herefor free,” she explains. Finance is important for a youngforeign student. Monika’s mother covers her housingcosts in Horsens and gives her some spending money. Ifshe had studied in London, each semester would havecost money in addition to living costs.“Then I would have had to take out loans and getinto debt. By taking my BA in Denmark, I’ll be able toafford to take an MA in another country, where youhave to pay for it,” says Monika.More teaching, please!Generally, she likes the environment at VIA, which shedescribes as international and accommodating.The teaching is top notch, the tutors are friendlyand helpful, and they take their time to talk to the students.However, she would like to have more lessons.Some days she has only two seminars, and that’s notenough, she says.“My friends back home in Slovakia have a lot morelessons. Some of them have days when they are inschool from seven in the morning until seven at night.I don’t envy them, but I would like to be able to choosefrom several electives and learn more and improvemyself,” she says.Language barrierThe international environment makes it easy to bea foreigner at VIA, and Monika has a great sociallife. But it can be difficult to get to know the Danishstudents. According to Monika, the Danes always sittogether at lunch, and they don’t mix much with theforeigners. She believes that this comes down to thelanguage barrier.“I have friends from all over the world here, butvery few Danish friends. And the few Danish friends Ihave are friends because I pushed myself onto them.In fact, they have told me that I am their first foreignfriend,” she laughs.She would like to learn Danish and attends the languageschool in Horsens. After eighteen months, shefinds it fairly easy to read Danish, and the grammardoes not cause her major problems. But the pronunciationis another matter!So she mainly sticks to English. But Monika’s Englishhas suffered during her stay in Denmark. Themany different nationalities with different Englishskills and accents make it hard to remember howproper English should sound.“I really wish that we could be given English lessonsalongside the course. Students elsewhere inEurope are offered this, and I could really do with ithere,” she says.Next summer, and before Monika finishes herdegree in Horsens, she plans to take a gap year andtravel the world. She wants to find a job and have fun.Maybe in Malta.Wants to live in DenmarkMonika is keen to experience more of the world andhas already tried travelling alone in India and othercountries. After graduating, she dreams of living inLondon, Prague or maybe somewhere in Italy.“But when I’m older – around 40, say – I want toreturn to Denmark and settle down permanently. I likeDanish society, where you certainly pay high taxes,but on the other hand you get free medical care andfree education,” she says.Moler clay cliffs in good companyWith the support of Central Denmark Region, Denmark hasapplied to have the two moler clay cliffs on Limfjord addedto the UNESCO World Heritage List, i.e. Hanklit on Mors andKnudklint on Fur. In connection with its application to UNESCO,Central Denmark Region is becoming part of a project groupthat contributes geological knowledge and involves the tourismand commercial aspect. The application was sent to UNESCO’ssecretariat in Paris in September 2012, where the materialwas assessed, and UNESCO’s proposals and wishes wereincorporated in the application material. In mid-December,it was returned to the Danish Agency for Culture. The DanishMinister for Culture may decide to submit the final applicationto UNESCO on behalf of the Danish Government. The applicationwill then be evaluated under the auspices of UNESCO until 1February 2014.Information: sven-henrik.brandstrup@ru.rm.dkDIALOGUE theme: The Region through outsiders’ eyes 15