| Summary: | The development of knowledge centers in rural areas began in 2000 when institutes operating in the field of adult learning, university distant learning students and research merged under one roof. Today, a knowledge center operates in each of Iceland´s regional areas. They are similar in structure, operate mostly in the field of education, culture, research and innovation, but approach their tasks differently. Every institute, based in the knowledge center, is independent except for common costs and projects. In other countries similar arrangements can be found. The University of the Highlands and Islands, a cooperation of thirteen university and research institutes based in the highlands and islands of Scotland, exemplifies such an arrangement. In this article I investigate the status, role and impact of three knowledge centers in rural Iceland and explain the impact they have on the communities they operate in. The knowledge centers are: Nýheimar Þekkingarsetur in Hornafjörður, Þekkingarnet Þingeyinga in Húsavík and Háskólafélag Suðurlands in Selfoss. Data gathering was done by taking individual and focus groups interviews and an on-line survey was conducted for the inhabitants in the communities. When analyzing the data, a thematic approach was chosen and the themes found were connected to the communities, the status, role and importance of the knowledge centers, the discourse about them and education, research, and innovation. The themes were then contextualized with the theoretical framework of, on the one hand, the Triple Helix model, which describes collaboration between businesses, knowledge centers and local authorities and, on the other hand, the Quadruple and Quintuple Helices models, which add community and environment to the Triple Helix model. The ideology of the Triple Helix model links education and regional development where the goal is to reinforce innovation and increase growth and prosperity within regions. The Quadruple Helix model refers to culture, values, quality of life and local ...
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