Rural development and tourism

Today I participated as a guest lecturer in the 8th semester course of Janne Liburd on “innovations in festivals and events” for Tourism & Business students. It is actually a ‘ capita selecta’  course and in today’s lecture we touched upon the relationship between rural development, European rural policy, asset based development and tourism. During this [...]

Intensive Course Programme – agriculture, territorial identity and competitiveness in rural Poland

Since 2002, Rural Sociology Group is partner in a European Intensive Course Programme. MSc-students from universities across Europe can attend an intensive course programme of two weeks to study in depth rural issues in one of the particiapating countries. Earlier IP’s were organized in Ghent, Pisa, Cordoba, Faro, Malibor and, last year, in Kaunas, Lithuania. [...]

Smagen af Fyn (the taste of Funen)

This weekend I stayed in Middelfart on the island Funen between Jutland and Zealand (on which Copenhagen is located). For many Danes, Funen represents the island you simply have to cross by highway to arrive in Copenhagen. However, it has a really beautiful small scale landscape full of hills! The island is fairly round in [...]

Effect of mainstreaming LEADER in Denmark

At the IFUL institute there is a lot of research and development experience with the European LEADER approach for rural development. During the previous LEADER+ programme from 2000 to 2006, Annette Aagaard Thuesen worked in the Danish National Network Unit for LEADER+ which was hosted by the institute. She is currently finishing a report for [...]

Visiting IFUL in Esbjerg, Denmark

From 16 to 27 of Februari I am staying at the The Danish Institute of Rural Research and Development (IFUL) as a visiting researcher. IFUL is located in Esbjerg, at the western coast of Jutland. IFUL is an institute within the social sciences of the Southern Denmark University aimed at the development of sustainable rural areas specially [...]

Vrienden van het Platteland – stage

Door Simone Plantinga – MSc-student  Van mei tot september 2008 heb ik stage gelopen bij Stichting Vrienden van het Platteland (VvhP) in Wageningen. VvhP is een organisatie die probeert de kloof stad – platteland te dichten door middel van verschillende activiteiten. Onder de noemer ‘Ontdek je band met het Platteland worden er het hele jaar [...]

Excursions give real-world examples

By Zachary Daly – exchange student at Wageningen University from Guelp University, Canada. It’s always nice to be able to actually go out and see real-world examples of what you are studying and reading about in class. During the course Globalisation and Sustainability of Food Production and Consumption we had the opportunity to visit some [...]

Rural Development in Brazil: interfaces between public policy and social actors

From the 10th till the 28th of February Prof. Sergio Schneider of the Federal University of Rio Grande de Sul (UFRGS) in Brazil is visiting Wageningen under the agreement CAPES-Wageningen University. Sergio is Professor of Rural Sociology and Coordinator of the Post-Graduate Programme in Rural Development (PGDR). In his contribution to the Rural Sociology Weblog he [...]

A Future for Food

Gradually more countries are developing a more holistic policy approach to food. Today I came across a report entitled A Future for Food: Adressing public health, sustainability and equity from paddock to plate, written by Australia’s Public Health Association (PHAA). In this report the PHAA states that Australia is in urgent need of an integrated [...]

Landschapskwaliteit en verbrede landbouw

Schaalvergroting van agrarische bedrijven zal veel kernkwaliteiten van Nationale Landschappen verder onder druk zetten, zo luid de conclusie van het in 2008 gepubliceerde WOT-rapport Helpt boeren de Nationale Landschappen. De negatieve effecten van schaalvergroting kunnen deels opgevangen worden door meer verbredingsactiviteiten in te passen als aanvulling op het inkomen. Bij hervormingen in het Gemeenschappelijk Landbouwbeleid van [...]