Amidst evolving landscapes and contemporary pressures affecting both the arts and rural living, policymakers and artists alike are directing more attention to rural and non-urban cultural practices. Participatory art forms, such as music, offer a unique potential to (re)connect people with each other and their surroundings by fostering reflection and reshaping societal perspectives. However, developing or attempting to integrate existing and new practices into rural communities can pose challenges for artists, especially when coming from outside these locales. Moreover, there is a notable absence of clear and sustainable pathways for artists to engage in participatory practices within rural settings, and research on this subject is limited.This report discusses the results of a case study which took place as part of the broader Sound Soils research project – a practice-oriented initiative aimed at exploring opportunities, roles and approaches for professional musicians to contribute to rural life in the northern Netherlands. In this case study, we aimed to understand the unique qualities and cultural lives of villages in the North-Netherlands region. To do so, we conducted immersive visits to three villages and spoke to locals about the existing cultural fabric of their village, as well as the current concerns and wishes of their inhabitants, both in general and in relation to music activities.Alongside providing other valuable insights into village life in our region more generally, our findings help identify potential ways for musicians to develop (new) collaborative music practices in rural communities, with a focus on forms that are in dialogue with existing local interests and community life. In this way, we seek approaches that have a higher potential for sustainability by being embedded into existing community structures and cultural practices. In this report, we explain the purpose, methodologies, and main findings of the three villages case study and discuss how these results may lead to follow-up research-in-practice projects in the villages studied and others like them.
Neighbourhood interventions are important for creating supportive structures for parents and children and for other community members. Little is known, however, about what works for whom in what situation. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of what works for whom in community interventions in the neighbourhood. Realist synthesis was used as a review methodology to examine community interventions. Six databases were searched for studies published between January 1st, 2000 and May 8th, 2020 and 28 community programs reported in 34 publications were included. Multiple rounds of coding and several discussions with experts and the project team were conducted to analyze these studies and programs, and to understand underlying assumptions of neighbourhood interventions. This resulted in the definition of ten important mechanisms of change in specific contexts. These were found on two levels: on an interpersonal level (e.g. social support) and on a community level (e.g. social norms). Positive mechanisms of change varied from supportive professionals to participants in the intervention, to co-production in developing the intervention. Negative mechanisms were only found on the community level and were related to professionals’ and community members’ skills. Mechanisms of change were found to be related to specific contexts, such as implementation strategies and the type of intervention. Professionals and municipalities can use these mechanisms of change to improve their interventions and neighbourhood practices.
In this paper, we apply a civic perspective and social innovation theory to examine how residents of a Dutch village experiencing rural depopulation and austerity reforms evaluate a civic initiative aimed at improving liveability, and what explains their evaluation. Using multivariate statistical analysis, we found that most residents were positive about the initiative and its contribution to local liveability. We also discovered that a substantial group knew very little about the initiative and that low-income groups, in particular, lacked the interest to identify and become engaged with it. Voluntary engagement, however, did not necessarily result in a positive evaluation. Above all, tangible outputs explained citizens’ appreciation. A perceived increase in collaboration within the village and novel forms of collaboration with the local government also proved important, but only when they were accompanied by realised tangible outputs.
In De Haagse Hogeschool werken de lectoraten vanuit faculteiten, dicht bij het onderwijs, nauw samen in zeven kenniscentra. Deze kenniscentra zijn de verbinding tussen de regio, met zijn actuele thema’s (vaak gelinkt aan het missiegedreven innovatiebeleid van de overheid) en het onderwijs en onderzoek van de Haagse Hogeschool. De zeven kenniscentra van De Haagse Hogeschool zijn: Cybersecurity, Digital Operations & Finance, Global & Inclusive Learning, Global Governance, Health Innovation, Governance of Urban Transitions & Mission Zero. Deze kenniscentra zijn in opstartende fase en worden ondersteund door centrale diensten. De Haagse Hogeschool kiest voor versterking van de onderzoeksinfrastructuur die centraal staat in de kenniscentra: ‘de Haagse Labs’. Praktijkgericht onderzoek vindt in deze omgevingen plaats als een vervlechting van onderwijs (studenten en docenten), onderzoek, het werkveld en maatschappelijke partners. Sommige labs hebben een tijdelijk karakter, andere, zoals de hogeschool zelf, zijn continu een omgeving waarbinnen onderzoek gedaan wordt. De Haagse Labs zijn bij uitstek de plek waarin nauw samengewerkt wordt met andere hogescholen of kennisinstellingen (veelal zijn ze ontstaan uit een samenwerking zoals The Green Village, of het Basalt SmartLab). De keuze voor de Haagse Labs geeft verdieping aan regionale samenwerkingen en bijbehorende speerpunten. De huidige, meer informele inrichting, kan met behulp van Impuls 2020, verder structuur krijgen, leiden tot een betere kennisdeling tussen de kenniscentra heen en de regionale netwerkvorming versterken. Naast het formaliseren van ‘de Haagse Labs’ zetten we in op zichtbaarheid van de Hogeschool in de regio door te investeren in communicatie (denk bijvoorbeeld aan het opzetten van podcasts, en digitale middelen in Corona-tijd). Die profilering van ons onderzoek wordt verder ondersteunt door een traject rond visievorming en strategische positionering. De kenniscentra zullen begeleid worden om einde 2021 een visie te ontwikkelen met bijbehorende acties om de rol van de hogeschool in de regio te versterken.
In 2012 researchers from the professorship 'Krimp en Leefomgeving', together with the inhabitants of the village, created a longterm on how the village of Westerbroek would set its priorities concerning livability (facilities, health, environment, etc). This vision will be evaluated and used to work on a new longterm plan for the village together with all stakeholder inside and outside Westebroek.What is realized and what is not realized? Is this still important for the inhabitants or do they focus on new longterm targets?In 2012 researchers from the professorship 'Krimp en Leefomgeving', together with the inhabitants of the village, created a longterm on how the village of Westerbroek would set its priorities concerning livability (facilities, health, environment, etc). This vision will be evaluated and used to work on a new longterm plan for the village together with all stakeholder inside and outside Westebroek.
Supermarkets are essential urban household amenities, providing daily products, and for their social role in communities. Contrary to many other countries, including nearby ones, the Netherlands have a balanced distribution of supermarkets across villages and urban neighbourhoods. However, spatial supermarket patterns, are subject to influential developments. First, due to economies of scale, there is a tendency for supermarkets to increase their catchment areas and to disappear from peripheral villages. Second, supermarkets are now mainly located in residential areas, although the urban periphery appears to be attractive for the retail sector, perhaps including the rise of hypermarkets. Third, today, online grocery shopping is still lagging far behind on other online shopping products, but a breaks through will dilute population support for in-store supermarkets and can lead to dramatic ‘game changer’ shifts with major spatial and social effects. These three important trends will reinforce each other. Consequences are of natural community meeting places at the expense of social cohesion; reduced accessibility for daily products, leading to more travel, often by car; increasing delivery flows; real estate vacancies, and increasing suburban demand increase for retail and logistics. Expected changes in supermarket patterns require understanding, but academic literature on OGS is still scarce, and does hardly address household behaviour in changing spatial constellations. We develop likely spatial supermarket patterns, and model the consequences for travel demand, social cohesion and real estate demand, as well as the distribution between online and in-store grocery shopping, by developing a stated preference experiment, among Dutch households.
