In opdracht van Economic Board Groningen heeft Marklinq, na 2016 en 2018, een derde Monitor van de Economie van Noord-Groningen opgesteld. Een van de conclusies: de werkgelegenheid is in de periode 2015-2019 licht gestegen in de regio, ondanks aardbevingen en veronderstelde leegloop.
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This paper analyses the initiative AgroAgenda in the northern Netherlands. The AgroAgenda is a platform in which multiple stakeholders together stimulate a circular, and nature-inclusive agro-food system in the Dutch provinces of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe. Stakeholders come from, among others, provincial governments, farmers’ and nature organizations, educational and research institutes and processing companies. They join forces to realize a system change, a transition, in the region, while promoting knowledge circulation, knowledge co-creation and joint learning. The platform, is a front runner of five national, comparable initiatives. The AgroAgenda has the potential to lead to a more nature-inclusive and circular farming. Several of the 40 experiments have already led to good results. However, to bring about a real system change, more attention to innovations in governmental organizations (including law and regulations), policy, the value chains (division of margins, pricing and marketing) and the educational system are needed.
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ABSTRACT: Local homebuyers in the Groningen earthquake regionIr. Hieke T. van der KloetHanze University of Applied Sciences GroningenResearch Centre for Built Environment NoorderRuimteh.t.van.der.kloet@pl.hanze.nl0031-50-595-2015The earthquakes after the natural gas extraction in the Groningen region of the Netherlands have a significant impact on the housing market and sustainability of the communities in this region. Since the strongest earthquake around the community of Huizinge in August 2012, with an magnitude of 3.6 on the Richter scale, it became clear there is a relation between natural gas extraction and earthquakes due to soil subsidence. As a consequence houses in the region get damaged and after research it gets obvious housing prices decline and the region will become unattractive to potential buyers of houses, damaged or not. Therefore the Dutch Petroleum Company (NAM) since April 29th 2014 offers a compensation for the loss of the housing price before and after the earthquake of Huizinge to property owners who want to sell their home. They only get the compensation after a sales deal and only if they agree with the proposed compensation. Since the compensation for the decrease in house prices has been introduced, the number of participants of the regulation is lacking behind the actual sales of houses. Our study aims to contribute to the research on the consequences of earthquakes by natural gas mining on the real estate market in the northern part of the Netherlands, especially the Groningen region. First of all we want to declare why relatively a large part of the property owners (about 60% until 2015) don’t request for the compensation regulation. Our second question concerns the buyers of the (damaged) houses in the earthquake area. Why would they buy a home in a region full of risks? Who are these buyers? We use a mixed-method approach for data collection which leads to an analysis of a unique dataset on notarial deeds of house sales in nine municipalities in the Groningen earthquake region according to The Land Registry of the Netherlands during the period 2013 until the end of 2015 as well as discovering common patterns of interview results with residents and experts. First results show that the majority of the homebuyers originate from the local earthquake area in the Province of Groningen. Reasons why property sellers after the house sale don’t opt for the compensation regulation concerns the complexity of the regulation, the used valuation model and the expected long control time afterwards.From the first results we conclude that the Groningen earthquake region still has its attractiveness for local residents and buyers. Otherwise the regulation for compensation doesn’t reach enough property sellers in the nine municipalities of the Groningen earthquake region. Advise to the Dutch government should be to generously compensate the residents of the Groningen earthquake regions for the loss of value of their dwellings, damaged or not. This will help to improve the regional development and attractiveness of areas that are effected by earthquakes.
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The research paper analyses the ongoing conflict between the residents of the Northern Netherlands and the central government regarding the compensation of damage caused by induced earthquakes and the gas-mining through the theoretical framework explaining relations between the periphery and the centre. The Groningen gas debate is an interesting case, as it shows the potential of change in the established power relationship between the periphery and the centre. the paper analyses the factors that led for this change and explains the change mechanism that is associated with the persuasive power of the local social movement. The paper contributes to the literature on environmental governance, energy transition, communication and political science.
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I was somewhat surprized with the fog in Groningen upon my arrival. This is notthe fog that covers the beautiful landscapes of the northern Netherlands in theevening and in the early morning. No… It is the fog that obscures the real aspectsof the earthquake problem in the region and is crystallised in the phrase “Groningen earthquakes are different”, which I have encountered numerous times whenever I raised a question of the type “But why..?”. A sentence taken out of the quiver as the absolute technical argument which mysteriously overshadows the whole earthquake discussion.Q: Why do we not use Eurocode 8 for seismic design, instead of NPR?A: Because the Groningen earthquakes are different!Q: Why do we not monitor our structures like the rest of the world does?A: Because the Groningen earthquakes are different!Q: Why does NPR, the Dutch seismic guidelines, dictate some unusual rules?A: Because the Groningen earthquakes are different!Q: Why are the hazard levels incredibly high, even higher than most Europeanseismic countries?A: Because the Groningen earthquakes are different!and so it keeps going…This statement is very common, but on the contrary, I have not seen a single piece of research that proves it or even discusses it. In essence, it would be a difficult task to prove that the Groningen earthquakes are different. In any case it barricades a healthy technical discussion because most of the times the arguments converge to one single statement, independent of the content of the discussion. This is the reason why our first research activities were dedicated to study if the Groningen earthquakes are really different. Up until today, we have not found any major differences between the Groningen induced seismicity events and natural seismic events with similar conditions (magnitude, distance, depth, soil etc…) that would affect the structures significantly in a different way.Since my arrival in Groningen, I have been amazed to learn how differently theearthquake issue has been treated in this part of the world. There will always bedifferences among different cultures, that is understandable. I have been exposed to several earthquake engineers from different countries, and I can expect a natural variation in opinions, approaches and definitions. But the feeling in Groningen is different. I soon realized that, due to several factors, a parallel path, which I call “an augmented reality” below, was created. What I mean by an augmented reality is a view of the real-world, whose elements are augmented and modified. In our example, I refer to the engineering concepts used for solving the earthquake problem, but in an augmented and modified way. This augmented reality is covered in the fog I described above. The whole thing is made so complicated that one is often tempted to rewind the tape to the hot August days of 2012, right after the Huizinge Earthquake, and replay it to today but this time by making the correct steps. We would wake up to a different Groningen today. I was instructed to keep the text as well as the inauguration speech as simple aspossible, and preferably, as non-technical as it goes. I thus listed the most common myths and fallacies I have faced since I arrived in Groningen. In this book and in the presentation, I may seem to take a critical view. This is because I try to tell a different part of the story, without repeating things that have already been said several times before. I think this is the very reason why my research group would like to make an effort in helping to solve the problem by providing different views. This book is one of such efforts.The quote given at the beginning of this book reads “How quick are we to learn: that is, to imitate what others have done or thought before. And how slow are we to understand: that is, to see the deeper connections.” is from Frits Zernike, the Nobel winning professor from the University of Groningen, who gave his name to the campus I work at. Applying this quotation to our problem would mean that we should learn from the seismic countries by imitating them, by using the existing state-of-the-art earthquake engineering knowledge, and by forgetting the dogma of “the Groningen earthquakes are different” at least for a while. We should then pass to the next level of looking deeperinto the Groningen earthquake problem for a better understanding, and alsodiscover the potential differences.
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Hoe staan de negen gemeenten in het hart van het aardbevingsgebied in Noord-Groningen er voor? De Economic Board Groningen (EBG) liet economen van Hanzehogeschool Groningen en de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen er onderzoek naar doen.De Economic Board Groningen wil weten welke effecten het programma van EBG heeft op de economie van de negen gemeenten in het aardbevingsgebied. Om dat te kunnen vaststellen is een Monitor ontwikkeld van met name een aantal economische variabelen, zoals de werkgelegenheid. Deze monitor is een vervolg op die uit 2016.
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Given the urgency of global energy transition, small- and medium-sized cities often undergo rapid changes. What is often missing, however, is a better understanding of how residents of those places perceive, and relate to the various aspects of local energy transition process and spatial outcomes. This study focuses on the Hoogkerk district of Groningen in the Northern Netherlands, where we used Q-Methodology to identify shared viewpoints. Our findings reveal three main viewpoints: a) the importance of protecting local spatial and environmental values, b) prioritising energy-saving approaches notably for the vulnerable segments of the society, and finally c) the need for comprehensive district-level planning led by the municipality. These findings underscore the importance of integrated approaches that address both spatial and process aspects of local energy transition. We argue that these insights can support policymakers and the local citizen initiative towards the development of an integrated local energy vision.
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The European Commission has selected the Northern Netherlands to become the leading European hydrogen region and supports establishment of a complete local (green) hydrogen ecosystem covering production, storage, distribution, refueling and final use of hydrogen (Cordis, H2Valley, 2019). In line with the European recognition, the Dutch government has set the goal to establish a hydrogen ecosystem by 2025 that would further expand to Western Europe by 2030. Yet before the European Union nominated the Northern Netherlands as European Hydrogen Valley, the key stakeholders in the Northern Netherlands – industry, SMEs, knowledge institutions and government – committed to the long-term cooperation in development of the green hydrogen market. Subsequently, the three regional governments of the Northern Netherlands, - Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe, - prepared the common Hydrogen Investment Agenda (2019), which was further elaborated in the common Hydrogen Investment Plan (2020). The latter includes investments amounting to over 9 billion euro, which is believed will secure some 66.000 existing jobs and help create between 25 thousands (in 2030) and 41 thousands (in 2050) new jobs.However, implementation of these ambitious plans to establish a hydrogen ecosystem of this scale will require not only investments into development of a new infrastructure or technological adaptation of present energy systems, e.g., pipelines, but also facilitation of economic transformation and securing the social support and acceptance. What are the prospects for the social support for the developing European Hydrogen Valley in the Northern Netherlands and its acceptance by inhabitants? The paper discusses the social support and acceptance aspects for a hydrogen ecosystem in the context of regional experiences of energy transition, including the concerns of energy justice, safety, and public trust that were raised in the recent past.
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This study focuses on top-down and bottom-up processes within the field of energy transition. It aims at gaining insights into the ways that a more balanced approach can be achieved, by taking into consideration the (mutual) interests, barriers and expectations of the municipality and local citizen initiatives. The theoretical framework of the study is the implementation analysis framework, distinguishing top-down and bottom-up approaches. Specifically, this qualitative (thematic analysis) research study investigates the mismatch in expectations between a number of local energy initiatives and the municipality of Groningen regarding their roles within the local energy transition context. To this end, semi-structured interviews have been conducted with members of the municipality of Groningen, Grunneger Power (a local energy intermediary), and four local energy initiatives. Need and expectation gaps have been identified and potential solutions have been explored. The main findings of the study illustrate the need of professional support for citizen initiatives, at both technical and organizational level, especially in the first phases of their development. Additionally, clear mutual communication on short and long-term planning and ambitions of the involved parties is of key importance for the alignment of the interests and the course of actions. Consequently, a clear context is needed, within which an exchange of feedback on the envisioned strategies, and the subsequent energy saving or generation interventions, can take place in an efficient and effective way. Additionally, such a context increases confidence and provides a clear understanding to the citizen initiatives regarding their role and the level and nature of support they can expect in their intended projects and activities. Based on these findings, policy implications have been drawn.
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The Northern Netherlands is like many delta’s prone to a wide range of climate change effects. Given the region its long history with floods and adaptation, there are numerous initiatives to be found that tried to battle these effects. As part of the Climate Adaptation Week Groningen, an inventory was made of these initiatives. The most inspiring ones were coined ‘best practices’, and analysed in order to learn lessons. A distinction was made between 4 regional landscape types. The first consists of the coastline itself, where the effects of the rising sea level begin to show. The second covers the farmlands near the coastlines, where challenges such as salinisation and the loss of biodiversity prevail. A third landscape covers the historically compact cities, which have to deal with rising temperatures and heavy rainfall in increasingly limited spaces. The fourth and final landscape comprises the wetlands surrounding the cities, where the natural capacity to retain and store rainwater is undermined by its agriculture usage. Most of these challenges form a risk for maintaining a liveable region. The best practices that were collected show a diverse set of innovations and experiments, both on small and large scales. Three main characteristics could be distinguished that illustrate trends in climate adaptation practices. First, many best practices were aimed at restoring and embracing the natural capacity of the different landscapes, giving more and more room for the building with nature concept as part of building resilience. Second, climate adaptation is seldomly focussed on as the sole function of a spatial intervention, and is almost always part of integrated plans in which biodiversity, agriculture, recreation or other themes are prolonged with it. A third and last characteristic shows that many projects embed a strong focus on the historical context of places as a source of inspiration and cultural identity. The best practices show how different ways of adapting are emerging and can inspire planners across the world.
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