Category Archives: Education

Altijd al eens willen modderworstelen, of toch liever een boeren barbecue?

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De Taskforce Multifunctionele Landbouw heeft een studieprijs uitgeschreven voor leerlingen en studenten van het MBO, HBO en Universiteit:

Gaat jouw studieonderwerp over Multifunctionele landbouw? Doe mee met de Studieprijs Multifunctionele Landbouw en win, met vrienden en vriendinnen, een geheel verzorgde VIP-dag bij De Boerinn. Je mag zelf een dag samenstellen, met bijvoorbeeld polderchallenge, klompengolf of kaasmaken en barbecue.

Je moet het studieproject hebben afgerond tussen 1 januari 2010 en 15 april 2011, of ervoor kiezen volgend jaar mee te doen. Kies dan een opdracht-, project-, stage- of scriptie-onderwerp uit de multifunctionele landbouw. Wil je meer weten over de spelregels of je aanmelden? Kijk op http://www.multifunctionelelandbouw.nl/studieprijs

Wat is multifunctionele landbouw? Dit omvat agarische bedrijven die naast hun veehouderij-, akkerbouw- of tuinbouwbedrijf andere activiteiten uitoefenen, gekoppeld aan het primaire landbouwbedrijf. Deze activiteiten zijn zorglandbouw, recreatie, agrarische kinderopvang, boerderijeducatie, agrarisch natuur- en landschapsbeheer en/of de productie en verkoop van streekproducten. Een onderwerp zou dus kunnen zijn: het maken van een ontwerp voor een minicamping of de gevolgen van de bezuinigingen in het zorgstelsel voor zorgboerderijen. Maar (juist) ook andere ideeën zijn welkom!

Wanted: Students for an international experience!

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Every year, the Rural Sociology Group participates in a two week intensive programme on rural development in the EU. A diverse group of students from various European countries (a.o. Portugal, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Lithuania, Slovenia) work together on a case study. Through lectures and field trips scientific and practical knowledge will be aquired and then implemented in the case study analysis. See past experiences of Marlies, Petra and Wiebke. 
 
This year the IP is organised by the university of Padova and takes place in San Vito Di Cadore in the Italian Dolomites. The general topic is: “the role of agriculture in territorial identity and competitiveness of rural areas”. More specificly, the general question is related to how these (territorial identity and competitiveness) contribute to rural development in the Dolomites (Alps region). For more information on the content see below. 
 
Are you a student of Wageningen University and looking for an international learning experience? Then sign up for two intensive weeks from 3 to 16 April 2011! For subsciption or more information contact Els Hegger (els.hegger@wur.nl). 
 

Rural regional learning in ‘Upper Lusatia’ (Oberlausitz), Germany

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Following my visit to Alytus County, Lithuania in October, I travelled to Leipzig, Germany to visit our DERREG project partners Michael Kriszan, Robert Nadler and Joachim Burdack (Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography) in their case study area ’Upper Lusatia’. In this blog, Michael, Robert, Joachim and I would like to share some of our experiences.

We first discovered that the case study regions Westerkwartier and Upper Lusatia are very different in their geographical and demographical characteristics. The LEADER region Westerkwartier in Groningen province comprises four municipalities on an area of 374km² and has a population density of 173.4 inhabitants/km² (as of 2007). In 2006, its GDP per capita was estimated at 55,400 Euro and the area has recently witnessed a population increase due to its popularity amongst young families who work in the city of Groningen and value the countryside as their residential area. The Southern part of the Westerkwartier is thus characterized by a high population density and a number of conflicting interests regarding the use of the countryside while the North of the Westerkwartier is primarily used for agriculture.

Upper Lusatia consists of the two Saxon districts Landkreis Görlitz and Landkreis Bautzen that have only been established in 2008 in the process of a reform of the administration units in Saxony. The case study region has an area of about 4,500 km² and has a population density of 135 inhabitants/km². It comprises 122 municipalities- of which 30 are urban centers- and had a GDP per capita of 18,329 Euro (district Görlitz) respectively 19,396 (district Bautzen) in the year 2007 . The region is divided into ten rural development areas, six ILE regions and four LEADER regions. In contrast to the Westerkwartier, the population of Upper Lusatia is shrinking rapidly. Young inhabitants are leaving the area due to a lack of employment opportunities, leaving the elder people behind. Rural development in this region is therefore not only affected by an aging population but also by a shrinking human capital available for development purposes. Through the reform of administrative units altogether four previously distinct districts (Landkreise) and two cities (kreisfreie Städte) have been incorporated into the two “new” districts of Görlitz and Bautzen. The previous Landkreise, however, are very distinct in their physical appearance. The former district Niederschlesien-Oberlausitz for example is characterized by a low population density and shaped through past and present coal mining activities while the hilly district Löbau-Zittau is recognized as a touristic area and winter sport resort. Due to the lack of a common history and the physical distinctiveness, there is no regional identity of the population within both districts.

To evaluate the support and facilitation available for learning and innovation within local grassroots development initiatives in Upper Lusatia, Robert, Michael and Joachim organized a workshop for regional stakeholders.

Workshop in Upper Lusatia, Germany

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Students, Broilers and Sustainability

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Last week about 60 Msc students followed a week on socio-cultural sustainability of organic production chains, as part of the course ‘Analysis and Management of Sustainable Organic Production Chains’. Each week of the course focused on a specific component of sustainability (consumer, socio-cultural, environmental, economic), given by a different chair group. Last  week was under supervision and teaching of our Rural Sociology group.The lectures and assignments focused on socio-cultural sustainability and discussed chain perception from a societal point of view and the context dependency of indicators for socio-cultural sustainability.

During the course, the students worked in multidisciplinary and multicultural groups of 6 students. Each group represented a stakeholder in the broiler production chain (e.g. fodder company, farmers, retailers, animal welfare organization, slaughterhouse). Of the 60 students, only 1 student had a background in sociology. Others were involved in economics, agronomy or other natural-science based disciplines. Consequently, it was challenging for many of the students to change their way of thinking and reasoning to a more sociological mindset.  Moreover, one week is extremely short to do this. This resulted in hard working students and heated debates among group members.

By the end of the week, the students were requested to  – on the basis of earlier assignments that week – come up with actions that would make the broiler production chain more socio-cultural sustainable  from their stakeholder perspective. Several groups raised suggestions  like shorter production chains, more regional production and stronger embeddedness in the region. Although these themes were not explicitly tackled during this week, I was happy to hear these suggestions, because our Rural Sociology group is engaged in such themes.  

Overall, it was a week of hard working – for the students as well as the teacher 😉 – but when I look back, it makes me happy that the students themselves came up with interesting and creative ideas in just one week!

FAQs for PUREFOOD vacancies

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We have received a high number of inquiries with regard to our 12 PUREFOOD vacancies. It is good to see there is so much interest in these topics!
Most reactions were inquiries about similar issues. Therefore, we have prepared a list of FAQs for the PUREFOOD vacancies. Please have a look at this list of FAQs before sending us an e-mail!