Dozens of childcare institutions in Copenhagen face closure while others will be downsized in a cost-cutting exercise in response to what the municipality says is a decline in demand for places related to a drop in the number of young children who live in the city.

In a statement issued in May, Copenhagen Municipality said that its Children and Youth Section (Børne- og Ungdomsforvaltningen) will need to downgrade the number of daycare places – the second time within a year that the number of places will be reduced.

Some 33 institutions across the capital face either complete closure or a reduction in their capacity, the municipality said. The changes are set to be implemented as soon as late 2024 or early 2025.

A final decision on which kindergartens and how many places will be reduced is to be finalised at an extraordinary city council meeting scheduled to take place on June 19th, following a public hearing period which began last month.

“We have almost 3,000 fewer children than we did just four years ago, and our forecasts predict a surplus of places in several places in the city over the next 5-8 years,” Emil Brødsgaard, head of the Children and Youth Section, said in the statement.

Brødsgaard added the process was being “sped up” to prevent the municipality’s economy “going off the rails”.

“It is clear that this will cause frustration and concern” for “families who are happy with their current institutions,” the municipal official admitted.

The current excess capacity is 90 “child groups”, each of which consists of 22 kindergarten (børnehave) -aged children or 12 creche (vuggestue) -aged children.

At particular risk from the cutbacks appear to be the so-called udflytterinstitutioner, literally “excursion institutions” but probably better known as “forest kindergartens”.

These kindergartens, which revolve around a daily routine in which small children spend the majority or entirety of their time outside, including during winter, have gained the attention of international media in years past and been praised for their potential benefits to children.

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Financial considerations “play a role” in determining which institutions will be closed, Copenhagen Municipality said in the statement.

“Therefore, many of the city’s excursion kindergartens can be affected. They are typically more expensive and some of them have a home address so children and staff can stay at the same institution [which would no longer offer a ‘forest’ option, ed.],” it said.

One forest kindergarten in Copenhagen which looks likely to face closure is the “Skovhytten” forest group, which forms part of the Jacob Holms Minde daycare institution in southern district Amager.

A parents’ committee from the forest kindergarten, which is desperate to prevent its closure, has written to the city government’s Children and Youth Section asking it to reconsider.

In the letter, seen by The Local, the parents argue that a switch from the forest to a regular kindergarten at the same address would be a change in routine for a child no less drastic than changing to a completely different institution.

They also argue for the benefits offered by the outside nature of the forest kindergarten – to which children are transported to and from by bus every morning and afternoon.

“Skovhytten’s children have very few sick days, which means correspondingly few days off for the workforce in the area,” they write.

“We generally believe that the peace and freedom from distraction that forest nurseries offer is good for children’s development,” they add.

Elisabetta Taschini, a parent of one of the children who attends Skovhytten, told The Local she still hopes the decision can be reversed, and praised the concept of childcare in a natural setting.

“It’s wonderful, they have a different way of using their fantasy, they get to know how to grow vegetables. Then they eat. They go walking. They go into nature. They use their body to experience and to learn. It’s a different approach,” Taschini said.

“This is a forest kindergarten all year long, and it’s part of this big Danish tradition that is highly regarded by the rest of the world,” she said.

“And therefore I’m really afraid that, since this kindergarten — yes, they might be more expensive than the city kindergartens, but [if you close one you can close more], so my question is just, who will be next?,” she said.

Taschini also said that parents at affected kindergartens had been notified of the closures at short notice, giving them little time to find possible economic solutions.

The elected head of the Children and Youth Section of the city government, Jacob Næsager, said in the statement that he understood if the decision was a source of frustration for Copenhagen families with small children.

“But the number of children in the city is falling, and the alternative to reducing daycare places is to let staff go. We don’t want to do that, and this is why a unanimous committee has taken the decision that we would rather spend the money on children and educational staff than on rent for half-empty daycare institutions,” he said.