For many EU citizens, working across the border is the only way to make a living in the EU. The battle for cheap labour has now become a well-oiled machine, in which almost all Western European countries participate. Nevertheless, the employment situation of EU Mobile Citizens, workers of low-skilled and -paid jobs, is often substandard. Challenges are housing, health care and working conditions. In addition, due to the lack of registration in municipalities, it is impossible to have an overview of the numbers and to offer effective help. This is a problem in small to medium-sized cities, where many workers live to work in agriculture, transport, construction, meat industry and logistics. For this study, 32 interviews were conducted in eleven small to medium-sized towns (SMSTs) in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, and Spain. The study uses three different perspectives: EU representatives of participating regions, municipalities, and employers. The outcomes show that most SMSTs deal with a shortage of housing, and a lack of grip on the registration process of EU citizens. Although there are some success stories, most SMSTs are not in touch with each other to share these. The paper concludes with proposals for further action-research and collaborations to impact local policies.
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The SVR-Research Unit presents a comparative study on the staying intentions of international students in five EU countries. An online survey of over 6,200 international students in Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Sweden shows a strong interest among students in staying on temporarily after graduation. The main motivation is to gain international work experience. Barriers, including lack of information about legal regulations, need to be addressed.
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In a study commissioned by the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG), the applied research group European Impact has compiled the results from interviews executed by approximately 240 European Studies students at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. The purpose of this report is to compare and contrast the situation of intra-EU labor migrants (hereafter referred to as EU mobile citizens) in regard to registration, housing, and information flows in 12 different municipalities across the EU. Based on semi-structured interviews with municipal workers and individuals from employment agencies/companies from the selected municipalities, the picture that emerges is one of divergence. There are significant variations regarding the registration procedure and information flows for EU mobile citizens across the selected municipalities. For registration, differences include where the registration takes place, the amount of collaboration between municipalities and employment agencies/companies on registering EU mobile citizens, and the importance of addresses in the registration process. Regarding information flows across the selected municipalities, there are significant variations in the amount and type of information available to EU mobile citizens, the number of languages information is available in,as well as how the information is organized (i.e. in a centralized or decentralized way). Furthermore, while all the member states in which the selected municipalities are located provide information regarding registration on the Single Digital Gateway, not all provide information about renting housing. As for housing, the results revealed that most of the selected municipalities face issues with housing and that EU mobile citizens typically find housing either via their employers or personal network. Based on the results, a list of potential best practices and policy areas that could be improved was compiled. Furthermore, in order to have a stronger overview of policy developments in the field of EU mobile citizens among different municipalities, the VNG could consider hosting a Community of Practice with different municipalities across the EU as well as monitoring Interreg Europe projects focused on improving the situation of EU mobile citizens.
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Gemeenten zoeken naar nieuwe manieren om samen met burgers te komen tot oplossingen voor maatschappelijke vraagstukken. In het Europese project CoSIE experimenteren we met verschillende manieren om deze co-creatie vorm te geven. We kijken bijvoorbeeld naar het verbeteren van de leefbaarheid in een wijk en het vinden van werk voor mensen met een afstand tot de arbeidsmarkt.Doel Het project CoSIE onderzoekt hoe dienstverlening kan verbeteren als gemeenten die samen met burgers en andere betrokkenen ontwerpt. Deze manier van werken heet co-creatie. De verschillende manieren van cocreatie worden onderzocht. We richten ons op burgers die moeilijk te bereiken of kwetsbaar zijn. Bijvoorbeeld mensen met een afstand tot de arbeidsmarkt, en kinderen met overgewicht. Daarnaast onderzoeken we welke meerwaarde digitale hulpmiddelen en open data kunnen hebben in het proces van co-creatie. Ook kijken we hoe het laten vertellen en vastleggen van individuele verhalen hieraan kan bijdragen. Lees meer op de projectwebsite Resultaten Het project zal leiden tot inspirerende voorbeelden van co-creatie voor de aanpak van maatschappelijke vraagstukken. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan overgewicht bij kinderen of centraal wonen door ouderen. Een greep uit de tussenresultaten en publicaties tot nu toe: Whitepaper 'de menselijke maat terug bij de overheid' (Sociaal Bestek, december '20) Pilotposters met een korte beschrijving van de pilots in de 10 landen Co-creation of Public Service Innovation - Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Tech – CoSIE White Paper Rapid Evidence Appraisal of the Current State of Co-creation in Ten European Countries. Relevance, Understanding and Motivation – The Key Catalysts of Co-creation Towards a Roadmap for Co-creation – Practical Ideas and Useful Tools Presentatie 3 oktober 2019 tijdens een KSI-lunchmeeting Looptijd 01 december 2017 - 01 april 2021 Aanpak Het project bestaat uit verschillende pilots in de gemeenten Nieuwegein en Houten. Andere EU-landen zijn al eerder begonnen met hun pilots. Van die ervaringen kunnen wij in ons Nederlandse onderzoek leren. Pilot gemeente Nieuwegein Bewoners denken in de pilot in Nieuwegein mee over hoe hun buurt socialer en veiliger kan. In gesprekken met hen kwam het afvalprobleem vaak naar voren. Daarom bedenken we samen oplossingen waar bewoners zich betrokken bij voelen. Zo organiseren we discussiebijeenkomsten met bewoners en gebruiken we creatieve visuele vormen om hun verhalen te vertellen. In dit interview vertelt Nynke Joustra, projectleider bij de gemeente Nieuwegein, meer over de pilot en de bredere aanpak 'Nypels' waarbinnen deze pilot wordt uitgevoerd: No time to waste: co-creatie tegen afval. Pilot gemeente Houten De gemeente Houten wil de begeleiding van kwetsbare groepen bij het vinden van werk verbeteren. Samen met werkzoekenden, ondernemers, ngo's en andere gemeentelijke diensten werkt Houten in co-creatie aan een betere dienstverlening. In het najaar van 2019 probeert de gemeente verschillende oplossingen uit.
Historical sites, specifically former military fortifications, are often repurposed for tourism and recreation. While some of over 100 Dutch forts are recognized as UNESCO World Heritage sites, a substantial number are currently underdeveloped, putting their heritage value and biodiversity at risk. This demands action, as forts are well-positioned to relieve overtourism in other locations, responding to the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Convention's call to spread visitors to lesser-known areas. Furthermore, developing lesser-known fort sites could provide tourism and recreation opportunities near populated areas, thus contributing to the well-being not only of visitors but also the environment. Development initiatives depend on a transition from isolation to cooperation across sites. However, for cooperation to be effective, enterprises and agencies managing these forts still lack data regarding visitor expectations and experiences. We will employ a multidisciplinary approach to capturing visitor demographics, motivations, and experiences, through conducting quantitative questionnaires, lab-driven physiological experience measurement, and location tracking. This proposal builds on the previous project, “Experiencing Nature”, funded by Centre of Expertise in Leisure, Tourism, and Hospitality, which utilized Breda Experience Lab technologies to explore visitor experiences at Fort de Roovere. In sum, the purpose of the present project is to measure and analyze visitor demographics, motivations, and experiences at less-developed forts, and to develop a toolkit to inspire, support, and monitor development of these forts for heritage preservation, visitor experience, and biodiversity. The project will be conducted in collaboration with Flemish partners, thereby forming the consortium comprised of the Alliantie ZuiderWaterlinie (NL), Regionale Landschappen (VL), and Agentschap Natuur en Bos (VL), with support from municipalities in both countries. The project will promote regional synergies and facilitate long-lasting cross-border collaboration, especially toward coming Interreg EU proposals, whilst informing the design of interregional marketing campaigns and supporting planning for visitor flows and biodiversity conservation efforts. Collaborative partnersNHL Stenden, Alliantie Zuidwaterlinie, RLRL, Agentschap Natuur en Bos.
Client: Blue Plan regional activity centre (UNEP/MAP), subcontracted through TEC Conseille, Marseille As part of a regional workshop organized by the Blue Plan in July 2008, one of the conclusions of the Group "Tourism and Climate Change” was the need for saving energy in tourism transportation and particularly of air transport, as air transport is responsible for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions caused by tourism. In the period 1998-2005, the share of international arrivals by air in the Mediterranean area rose from 23% to 40%, respectively, or in numbers, from 47 to 122 million tourists. Some countries, particularly islands, almost entirely depend on air transport for their international tourism. For example in 2005 air transport is used by 87%, 78%, 73%, 64% and 51% of international tourists arriving in, respectively, Israel, Egypt, Spain, Tunisia and Morocco. According to Plan Bleu forecasts on international arrivals, assuming that the share of air transport remains the same, the number of tourists travelling by plane will reach over 158 million by 2025. Given the role of aviation in the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), such a development is clearly not sustainable in the light of the necessary reduction of emissions to avoid dangerous climate change. The overall aim of the study is to inform policy makers and entrepreneurs in both destination and in origin countries, on possible options to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from air travel, while at the same time not impairing the economic development of tourism. To do this, CSTT has developed a tourism scenario model for all countries with Mediterranean coasts describing inbound and outbound international tourism and domestic tourism by all available transport modes and giving both contributions to GDP and total GHG emissions. This model responses to global mitigation policies (increasing the cost of carbon emissions) as well as national policies (taxes, subsidies and changes in transport quality per transport mode). Using the model both global and national policies can be assessed as well as the risks of global mitigation policies for specific countries.
