Category Archives: Rural Development

WASS-seminar: (Re-)Assembling Rural Places? by Prof dr Michael Woods

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Wageningen School of Social Sciences (WASS) seminar: (Re-)Assembling Rural Places?

A presentation by Prof. dr Michael Woods (Aberystwyth University, UK) and prof. dr Sally Shortall (Queen’s University Belfast) as first discussiant.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013, 15.30-17.00, room C67 Leeuwenborch building of Wageningen University

In recent work Prof. Michael Woods explores the prospective application of Assemblage Theory as a framework for analysing the recomposition of rural places through social and economic change. Assemblage Theory builds on the influences of Gilles Deleuze, Manuel DeLanda and actor-network theory to understand social formations as assemblages of heterogeneous elements that can be human or non-human, natural or technical, material or expressive, but which are held together in temporary entanglements which are constantly changing and which cannot be contained but reach out to intersect with other assemblages. The approach has attracted increasing interest among others human geographers that started thinking about places as assemblages. Assemblage theory presents a way of extending the relational approach to rurality pioneered by Jonathan Murdoch, connecting material relations to performative and discursive aspects of rurality. Assemblage theory supports investigation of the re-making of rural places in globalization, resonating with Woods’s description of the ‘global countryside’ as an emergent and contested space and globalization as proceeding through processes of negotiation, manipulation and adaptation within place. In the seminar Prof. Micheal Woods will present his state of the art in working with these notions supported by illustrative examples.

Migration – sixth post RUW-RSO studytrip to Poland

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RUW Foundation and the Rural Sociology Group organized a studytrip to Poland. In a 10 day intensive program different cities and rural areas in Poland were visited, interesting people and organizations met and farm work is done. The theme of the trip is “Glocalise”. Students are asked to prepare themselves well on different themes in groups before leaving and to write a concluding reflexive paper on their impressions and findings, and to write a blog. This sixth blog is about migration by:

Diand Laarman

wooffing groupIn the morning and afternoon, we were WWOOFing at Ekozagroda farm again. Today, we were divided into 4 groups for 4 tasks including weeding in the field, making spiral garden, repairing the fence and rebuilding the old house at the farm. Everybody had their hands dirty. At 1 pm., it was a lunch time. In Poland, lunch was the most important meal and polish people liked to have a warm meal. We were served with a typical Polish dish including potato dumpling, meat and salad. Then, at 4 pm., it was the time to say good bye to WWOOFing with a cheerful group picture.

The discussion evening started with a presentation of Dr. Malchar-Michalska lecturer at the University of Opole. Dr. Malchar-Michalska explained how the region of Opole suffers from Continue reading →

WWOOFING – fifth post RUW-RSO studytrip to Poland

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RUW Foundation and the Rural Sociology Group organized a studytrip to Poland. In a 10 day intensive program different cities and rural areas in Poland were visited, interesting people and organizations met and farm work is done. The theme of the trip is “Glocalise”. Students are asked to prepare themselves well on different themes in groups before leaving and to write a concluding reflexive paper on their impressions and findings, and to write a blog. This fifth blog is about the logistical side of the trip by:

By Lianne Vreugdenhil

After visiting different stakeholders influencing and regulating Polish agriculture, it was time to do more practical work. Public transport brought us to the small town called so “easily” Szczedrzyk, Opole Voivodeship. This village is the home of Ekozagrada, an organic farm owned by Iwona and Jens Frusek. They offered us a place to do WOOFFing. Continue reading →

The Polish Ministry – fourth post RUW-RSO studytrip to Poland

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RUW Foundation and the Rural Sociology Group organized a studytrip to Poland. In a 10 day intensive program different cities and rural areas in Poland were visited, interesting people and organizations met and farm work is done. The theme of the trip is “Glocalise”. Students are asked to prepare themselves well on different themes in groups before leaving and to write a concluding reflexive paper on their impressions and findings, and to write a blog. This fourth blog is about the logistical side of the trip by:

Louise van der Stok, Rosan de Groot, Hilde-Marije Dorresteijn, Hanbin Qiao, Annika Meuche, Mathilde Sanglier, Malou Heidekamp

Tuesafday July 9th. On the program today were in the morning a visit to the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and in the afternoon we visited the Dutch Embassy. Both with the main focus on the agricultural sector and its development, and especially on policies that (try to) regulate Polish agriculture.

At 9.30am we received a warm welcome at the Ministry with coffee, tea and lots of toast and biscuits, after which we started the session with some facts about Polish agriculture. Some numbers: out of the 38 million Polish inhabitants, 23.3 million people live in urban areas and 14.8 million in rural areas. Furthermore is 93.2% of Polish territory is classified as rural area. Continue reading →

Logistics in Poland – third post RUW-RSO studytrip to Poland

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RUW Foundation and the Rural Sociology Group organized a studytrip to Poland. In a 10 day intensive program different cities and rural areas in Poland were visited, interesting people and organizations met and farm work is done. The theme of the trip is “Glocalise”. Students are asked to prepare themselves well on different themes in groups before leaving and to write a concluding reflexive paper on their impressions and findings, and to write a blog. This third blog is about the logistical side of the trip by:

Darja Tretjakova
train running RUWLast day in Poland – how exciting! Leaving Opole behind and spending a lovely day in Wroclaw, a charming city on the river Odra, and then finally heading home!

It all began with the bus. Remembering the previous encounter with the minibus (and no, 27 people with backpacks do not fit in one), RUW asked the bus company for a bigger, medium-sized, one. Who could have foreseen that you have to specify that the driver should take the key from the trunk with him? So what do you do when the bus is too small bus for 27 people and all their backpacks, your train is leaving in an hour and the next bus far too late for it? Yup. Continue reading →