What AU spent on Denmark's Political Festival, Folkemødet

Once again this year, Aarhus University was strongly represented at Folkemødet on Bornholm, with a broad cross-section of researchers from all faculties, members of the university’s senior management team, and the research vessel Aurora prominently positioned in Allinge Harbour. But what does it cost the university to take part, and what does it gain from being present alongside politicians, the media, special interest organisations and, well, the public?

Following Folkemødet 2026 on Bornholm, Omnibus has gained insight into the costs of Aarhus University’s participation. A breakdown of each faculty’s expenditure, including details of what the costs covered, can be found at the end of the article. 

Technical Sciences was by far the biggest spender among the faculties. Their total expenditure came to just under DKK 370,000, while Health Sciences, at the other end of the spectrum, spent just over DKK 50,000 on this year’s Folkemøde. 

Valuable meetings

There are, of course, differences in how the two faculties have prioritised their participation, just as there are differences in the number of events and debates they have organised or taken part in. However, both deans are satisfied with their participation and the outcome of this year's Folkemøde. 

Dean of Technical Sciences Eskild Holm Nielsen believes that participating in Folkemødet has once again been worth the investment.  

In addition to hosting debates and communicating research on topics ranging from data security to brewing, the faculty has also prioritised having representatives from its leadership team present on Bornholm to raise the profile of its higher education policy positions among Danish policymakers. 

“We have done this by participating in several forums at Folkemødet attended by relevant actors who can otherwise be difficult to reach,” Eskild Holm Nielsen writes in an email to Omnibus. He points to “decision-makers and key figures from business and industry, organisations, government agencies and institutions, foundations, and the education and research sector, all gathered in one place over the course of a few days at Folkemødet.”

"For example, Vice-Dean for Education Louise Haase Møller hosted an event attended by several youth politicians, which provided an opportunity to focus specifically on higher education reforms.” Such opportunities would not be available to Tech were it not for Folkemødet,” writes Eskild Holm Nielsen, who, in his capacity as dean, also benefited from having key actors gathered on Bornholm.

This enabled researchers, foundations, companies and government agencies to discuss the development of the so-called Carbon Fields initiative and opportunities for collaboration on scaling up CO₂ and bio-based solutions.

“Such dialogues would normally require extensive coordination over a longer period of time, but here they could take place with all the relevant parties gathered in one place,” writes Dean Eskild Holm Nielsen.

The faculty took part in a wide range of activities during Folkemødet, including events on the research vessel Aurora alongside the rest of Aarhus University, at the BIO Stage with the research centre CORC, and in Engineer the Future’s exhibition space, the Tech Tent, together with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Aalborg University (AAU), the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) and the Danish Society of Engineers. In the Tech Tent alone, Tech hosted 11 activities focused on research communication.

Engineer The Future is a technological alliance consisting of over 50 companies, educational institutions and special interest organisations. 

Tech shares the cost of the stand with the other actors, including the Technical University of Denmark, Aalborg University, the University of Southern Denmark and the Danish Society of Engineers.

Dean Eskild Holm Nielsen informs that the membership of the alliance is part of the faculty's expenses for Folkemødet, with the Tech Tent providing the setting for the alliance’s presence on Bornholm. 

“We prioritise our collaboration on the Tech Tent with the other university-based engineering programmes at AAU, SDU and DTU, as well as the Danish Society of Engineers. “We cannot afford not to be part of this collaboration,” writes Eskild Holm Nielsen 

A health agenda for DKK 53,000 

While Technical Sciences had an official presence at a host of events during Folkemødet, Dean of Health Sciences Anne-Mette Hvas adopted a different strategy. At a different price altogether. The faculty has spent just over DKK 50,000. 

"We have prioritised putting three topics on the health agenda that we know the public is interested in. I think we've been really good at targeting what people have been interested in," says Anne-Mette Hvas, who is pleased that the three central events organised by Health Sciences were extremely well attended. 

According to Anne-Mette Hvas, Health Sciences made the desired impact with three professors and three topics: women’s health, ultra-processed foods and neurodivergence. 

“The representatives we had on Bornholm really contributed to the debates we organised ourselves and to several other events during Folkemødet. I couldn't wish for more," says Anne-Mette Hvas.

Folkemødet 2026 was the biggest edition to date since the event was first held on Bornholm in 2011. This year, the roughly 60,000 visitors had a choice of more than 3,400 events.

This text is machine translated and post-edited by Mie Skov Jeppesen.