The University Centre of the Westfjords is unveiling some changes on its websites sub-sites, with changes to its look and content – and on closer inspection, readers will discover a whole new programme of study on the website: Coastal Communities and Regional Development. Details of the new programme have been kept under wraps until now, even though it has been ready to go. Last Tuesday, the University Centre welcomed the governmental steering group on regional development. The Director introduced them to the University Centres activities, including its existing master’s programmes and its plans for a new one. The steering group member from the Ministry for Education was already well aware of the idea, as the programme has been in the works for some time. It has now been confirmed that an addendum contract to the development plan, which was in the news last week, has assured 70% funding for the next three years. The remaining 30% will not be known about until the government budget bill is passed by parliament – which is often right before Christmas. At the same time as the funding news for the programme from the development plan contract is very welcome, it has created the misunderstanding that funding is done and dusted, which it is not.

It is highly unfortunate to not have full funding for a programme which is already being advertised, and even more unfortunate to have money to spend but no students. For this reason, the University Centre feels it must advertise the programme even though funding is not fully secured.

The board of the Association of Municipalities of the Westfjords and the government consultation group on regional development approved two weeks ago a proposal for a focus on the new study programme. Under this agreement, the University Centre of the Westfjords will receive a contribution of ISK 15 million over three years from the Westfjords Regional Development Plan.

Additionally, the Association of Municipalities of the Westfjords and the Ministry for Transport and Local Government have agreed an addendum contract with the Westfjords Regional Development Plan about projects in the Westfjords related to proposals from the Prime Minister’s working group on a Westfjords action plan in 2016, which would provide an additional ISK 5 million to the programme.

The total funding requirement for the new programme is ISK 34 million, according to comparative figures with the current Coastal Management programme. The University Centre will raise ISK 14 million of that amount through tuition fees and synergy effect. With the granting of funding from the development plan and the development fund, ISK 24 million of ISK 34 million has been secured. That leaves ISK 10 million per year unfunded. The University Centre of the Westfjords has Strongly requested for the Ministry for Education to support this project, but it will not become clear until the budget bill and the signing of the new contract between the Ministry and the University Centre, whether this goal will be reached.

The programme on Coastal Communities and Regional Development is one of the key 2016 recommendations from the Prime Minister’s working group on Westfjords development. The programme is an important part of the country’s building and planning development in the academic sense, as it is high time for regional development to become a university subject, as it is in most other nearby countries.

The production of theses on development issues will stimulate an informed national discourse on the topic. As well as this, a programme in Coastal Communities and Regional Development would have a direct development impact on the town of Ísafjörður, which stands to welcome 20 new students every year as a result. Research by the Regional Development Agency of the Westfjords shows that for every króna invested in the University Centre of the Westfjords, two krónur go back into the local economy. The programme will have a positive impact on the local area and is part of building a positive image for this region. Few places in Iceland are as well-suited to host a regional development programme as Ísafjörður and it is reasonable to expect that Coastal Communities and Regional Development will become as important to the dynamic Icelandic academic sector as the existing Coastal Management programme, which continues to go from strength to strength. As well as supporting the Westfjords, the programme will also support the University of Akureyri, which has already agreed to certify it. The partnership with the University of Akureyri has been good and stands to become even more productive with this new programme.

There has been discussion of a new development programme within the walls of the University Centre since at least 2010, when the topic idea was decided upon at a joint staff and board meeting. There was little hope of securing funding for the programme at the time, however, so not much happened right away. The idea was revived in 2014, including at a meeting with outside experts, after which concerted effort began to make the programme a reality. The board appointed a preparations committee made up of three university lecturers and the University Centre director. They were: Þóroddur Bjarnason, professor at the University of Akureyri; Guðmundur Hálfdanarson, professor at the University of Iceland; and Kristinn Hermannsson, associate professor at the University of Glasgow. The preparations committee completed its work in summer 2016, when the focus moved to certifying the programme with the University of Akureyri – a task which was completed around New Year 2016/2017. The programme had been among the recommendations to government of the so-called Westfjords Committee in September 2016, though it was entirely unfunded at the time. Attempts to find funding for autumn 2016 were unsuccessful but now, a year later, the situation looks a lot brighter since most of the funding has already been secured. Yet ISK 10 million remain outstanding for the program and until this last part of the funding is secure the programme is being advertised subject to funding.