Intermunicipal cooperation and municipal structure

In Norway, the smallest rural municipalities and the largest urban municipalities are part of the same generalist municipality system. Within this system, municipalities rely on cooperating with each other to fulfill their roles.We research how municipalities, both large and small, can make this collaboration work optimally and how each municipality should organize itself to succeed within the Norwegian municipal system.

Telemarksforsking has conducted both regional and national studies, mappings, and evaluations of a broad range of inter-municipal cooperation models. Key clients have included the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development (KMD), the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS), regional councils, and municipalities.

Experiences with inter-municipal cooperation have also been a central theme in studies of municipalities' work with innovation and digitalization.