Rural regional learning in Alytus County, Lithuania

Last week (October 21-22, 2010), I was given the opportunity to visit our DERREG project partner Emilija Kairyte (Institute NeVork) in her case study area of Alytus County in the South of Lithuania. In this blog, Emilija and I would like to share our experiences. Like the Dutch DERREG case study region Westerkwartier in the [...]

PhD position: Knowledge brokerage to promote sustainable food consumption and production

In January 2011 the project ‘FOODLINKS’ (Knowledge brokerage to promote sustainable food consumption and production: linking scientists, policymakers and civil society organizations) will start. This project is funded by the European Commission and will be carried out by a consortium of 14 partners (universities, regional and local governments and civil society organizations) from 9 European [...]

Rural regional learning in the Westerkwartier (NL)

The Westerkwartier is a predominantly rural area in the province of Groningen (NL), situated between the cities of Leeuwarden and Groningen. The Westerkwartier is one of the case-study areas in the research project DERREG funded by the European Commission (see www.DERREG.eu for more info). Capacity building and governance of regional learning and innovation is one the four research task (see also previous posts on DERREG). [...]

Een toekomstbestendig platteland – samenwerkingsverband van 10 plattelandsgemeenten die kampen met krimp en vergrijzing

P-10 is een nieuw samenwerkingsverband van de 10 grootste plattelandsgemeenten die te kampen hebben met vergrijzing en krimp. Ze willen zoveel mogelijk kansen creëren en benutten voor de mensen die nu en in de toekomst wonen in plattelandsgemeenten. De P10-gemeenten beslaan met hun gezamenlijke oppervlakte van 280.000 ha (evenveel als de provincie Zuid-Holland) het grootste aantal vierkante kilometers aan oppervlakte van [...]

Boerenwijsheid en waarden van het land

Op vrijdag 15 oktober werd in Berg en Dal het prachtige boek Boerenwijsheid; inspiratiebron voor een duurzame samenleving, gepresenteerd van Anselm Grün, Ton Duffhues en Hein Pieper. Anselm Grün is een Duitse Benedictijer pater, bekend schrijver van spirituele boeken, referent in spirituele thema’s, geestelijk verzorger en cursusleider voor meditatie en contemplatieve trainingen. Hij is tevens [...]

The role of social capital, leadership and policy arrangements in rural regional development

Social capital and the role of leadership therein can play an important role in rural regional development and can be stimulated by specific policy arrangements. This conclusion was drawn from an analysis of in-depth case studies of 12 European regions. The empirical material was gathered in the context of a large European research project on [...]

Authority and efficiency – Jan Schakel in Rennes – Part 6

Last weeks, I have seen some wonderful examples of higher education. Like during the ‘Stage du terrain’ in Plouha, where there was a good balance between theory and practice, and between the classroom and the field. The students were very pleased with the high number of professors: 40 students, with over 12 staff members! Also [...]

Fez Noz and Black Cross… – Jan Schakel in Rennes – Part 5

Last week, I was asked to take part of a jury to assess  a thesis (‘memoire’), and it was a great experience. The classroom was filled up with many students (rather unusual), but that was due to the topic:  the performing arts in rural Brittany). The title of Alice Varagnat’s (the student) thesis was: “Le [...]

Inclusion and exclusion of the rural… – Jan Schakel in Rennes – Part 4

As I wrote before, there are many relations between the urban and the rural. I just mentioned some of them: the markets, the food,  the regional identity, the life histories of families and …. biking trails… Although many people (in Rennes) don’t recognize this aspect, they do agree when I explain it to them. Maybe [...]

“I bike, so I am” (or was it…”I am, so I bike”?) – Jan Schakel in Rennes – Part 3

Tomorrow I will leave Rennes and go the  countryside (to Villarceaux) to assist a field practical on sustainable indicators in the rural area. But I already miss the city. As I wrote before, Rennes is an special city: it has character, class and culture. And after three weeks you’re getting to feel at home: I [...]