Category Archives: General

General issues.

Student Exchange with Kyoto University

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The Kyoto University (KU), Japan and Wageningen University (WU) have agreed to a BSc and MSC Student Mobility Agreement. Under the agreement, it is possible for students of both universities to follow courses at the partner university. For students at WU any academic credit earned at the KU will be transferred back to WU, and vice versa. For students in Wageningen, the agreement gives the great opportunity to follow courses in comparative development studies, Asian studies, and transcultural studies in one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Japan. Founded in 1897, Kyoto University belongs to the world’s top universities. Students at Kyoto University have the opportunity to follow courses at Wageningen University, a top university in the life sciences and development studies.

Students who are interested in studying at KU can contact Joost Jongerden for more info (joost.jongerden@wur.nl, Leeuwenborch room 3027).

Interreg project Rural Alliances: final report

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ra_eu_logo_stackedThe Interreg project Rural Alliances brought together 12 partners from North West Europe to tackle the challenges of demographic change in rural areas. These challenges included: young people leaving rural towns and villages; the elderly becoming increasingly isolated & in need of social and medical care; shops, post offices, pubs, public toilets and telephone boxes closing; and increasingly difficult environments for setting up and running sustainable businesses.

The project tackled these challenges by actively bringing rural communities and businesses together, capitalising on their two distinct attributes: rural businesses with their “make it happen” attitudes, with the values of rural communities of loyalty, pride and self-esteem to create over 76 Rural Alliances. Together they have reshaped their areas to make them friendly, buzzing and vibrant, creating a more stable future for all their residents.

Ina Horlings from the Rural Sociology Group was a member of the Policy and Advisory Panel of Rural Alliances. The project developed handbooks on rural governance and financial engineering, inspiring videos, a skils plotting exercise, and various fact sheets and policy papers, all available on the website. For communities who want to know how vibrant their community is, a new tool was developed to measure rural vibrancy.The final report can be downloaded here.

International Masters in Rural Development: Field Visit to Soc Trang Province, Vietnam

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As I explained last week, I am representing the Rural Sociology Group in a case study summer programme organized by Can Tho University’s Mekong Delta Development Research Institute.

Meeting with district representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Meeting with district representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

On Friday, August 7th, the Case Study group visited two areas in the Soc Trang province of Vietnam. The first stop was a visit to a district office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Here, students and staff were able to ask officials questions related to their selected research topics and interests. One policy initiative we learnt about was a plan to increase the number of dairy cows in rural areas as a poverty reduction strategy. This programme stems from the national Agricultural Restructuring Plan where key crops and animals were identified, dairy cows being one of them.

Pigs for bio gas and food Pigs for bio gas and food

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Mekon Delta Case Study: Agricultural transformation in developing countries under contexts of urbanization and climate change

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Welcome to Can Tho University

Welcome to Can Tho University

For the month of August the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute (MDI) is hosting a summer school case study on Agricultural transformation in developing countries under contexts of urbanization and climate change- the case of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, for the International Master of Science in Rural Development (IMRD) programme from Ghent University.  Wageningen’s Rural Sociology Group is involved in the IMRD programme and as a result, I was able to come and participate in a supportive capacity for the first two weeks.

Case Study Participants at Can Tho University

Case Study Participants at Can Tho University

About the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute (MDI)

MDI is an interdisciplinary organization of Can Tho University (Can Tho, Vietnam). It was established in 2005 from the Mekong Delta Farming Systems Research and Development Institute. MDI has the mission to “improve life quality of rural people and ensure socio-economic and environmental sustainability of the Mekong Delta through collaborative education, research and development activities”. It also has four research programmes:

  • Food security
  • Agriculture resources management
  • Rural development
  • Climate change, adaptation and mitigation.
Visiting a collection of farming and aquaculture tools

Visiting a collection of farming and aquaculture tools

Boating on the Mekong River

Boating on the Mekong River

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Learning in Local Collaboration, Groningen – MSc thesis Iris Bekius

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By: Iris Bekius, MSc Leisure, Tourism and Environment.

Below a summary of my MSc thesis: Learning in Local Collaboration; A reflexive case study in Groningen, Northern Netherlands.

At the moment, the Dutch government is in a process of deregulation, commonly referred to as participation society. Throughout the country municipalities translate policies in line with this political goal, among which my hometown Groningen. For the municipality of Groningen deregulation includes calling on citizens to come up with ideas for neighbourhood initiatives, which will then be evaluated by civil servants on their potential to succeed.

One initiative that is supported by the municipality is Pad2Wijken (Path2Neighborhoods), initiated by a committee in the neighbourhood Helpman to secure a green zone: a 10 kilometre long ecological edible green walking path through the neighbourhoods Helpman and De Wijert. Since the opening of the path in May 2014 groups of residents, schools and organisations in the neighbourhoods can adopt green plots along the path. On their plot they can create a flower meadow, orchard, vegetable garden, insect hotel, or anything else green and sustainable. Continue reading →