If you have recently moved to Denmark and have settled almost anywhere in the country, there’s likely to be a relevant job, networking or social event for internationals going on near you in the coming weeks.

The “Welcome September” initiative, promoted by the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) along with local and national authorities, encompasses social events as well as events about working life and Danish culture.

The programme, which is over a month long and includes dozens of events in cities and towns across each of the country’s five regions, also includes online webinars, so you can attend from your home if unable to find anything that piques your interest nearby.

More than 30 partners including municipalities, state authorities, business organisations, student organisations, business regions, and associations are taking part. 

The full programme can be viewed on the Agency for Digital Government’s Life in Denmark resource website.

Examples of the events include job search seminars, city walks, information sessions about the healthcare and childcare systems, family days, ‘meet a Dane’ events, job fairs, and job support talks – but this is far from an exhaustive list.

In a press release on its website, DI said the month-long focus on international residents was in response to Denmark’s growing foreign workforce and need to recruit more skilled labour from abroad.

“Denmark is competing with other countries for labour, but we are not doing well enough on parameters that relate to attracting and relating to international labour,” the organisation writes.

“The social life aspect and the challenge of getting a network outside of work drags Denmark down the ranking list. It’s hard for many internationals to settle here. Welcome September is about changing that,” Bente Toftkær of DI’s Global Talent department said in the statement.

Welcome September is part of the business development board Copenhagen Capacity’s national initiative Kompetencer til et grønt Danmark (“Skills for a Green Denmark”), which aims to attract and retain internationally qualified labour in Denmark.

“We want to ensure a good arrival and introduction to the local area and local networks everywhere in Denmark. This is crucial if international newcomers are to thrive and stay in Denmark and ultimately contribute to the Danish economy,” Copenhagen Capacity  COO Nikolaj Lubanski said.

Thousands of international residents of Denmark in total were expected to attend the events across the country, he added.