Population decline, welfare state reforms and austerity measures pressurise the liveability of rural areas in the Netherlands and call upon local governments and communities to adapt and renew their mode of governance. This paper reports on three Dutch experimental governance arrangements which are analysed …

In recent years, it has become a commonplace to argue that cities should be the focus point of sustainable development. Various authors have presented a variety of arguments why cities should be the preferred target to foster sustainable development-focused innovation; - The average consumption of …

Rural areas in the northern parts of the Netherlands have lots of potentials to provide a healthy environment for their residents. However, population changes (ageing, outmigration) have a negative impact on the quality of life of residents. The GO!-Method that has been developed by the National Institute …

Abandoned villages and ruins are the consequence of depopulation. The region of A Ribeira Sacra (Galicia, Spain) is an example, where since 1981 the region has lost 40% of the population. A sustainable masterplan based on a strategy will bring a future to those areas by using the ruins and reactivate …

The Northern region of the Netherlands has beautiful landscapes, a nice diversity of green and blue areas, and dispersed settlements. However, some recent population changes can become threats to health and wellbeing in these areas. The rural areas in the three northern provinces - Groningen, Friesland …

Urban ageing is an emerging domain that deals with the population of older people living in cities. The ageing of society is a positive yet challenging phenomenon, as population ageing and urbanisation are the culmination of successful human development. One could argue whether the city environment …

Bad Nieuweschans is one of the ageing villages in Oldambt, about a quarter or the population is older than 65. In communities such as Bad Nieuweschans there exists a risk of isolation and exclusion of the elderly. These risks could be kept to a minimum by focusing on active ageing however this concept …

Rural children are a largely understudied population in language and literacy research, despite the fact that these children often enter school with delays in their language development. Since most rural areas suffered from so-called selective rural outmigration, many parents in rural areas are lower …

Access to micro-credit has often been argued to be one of the effective ways of contributing to food and nutrition security. CARE International since 1994 introduced the Village Savings and Loans Associ-ation (VSLA) in Ghana. The VSLA since then, has been contributing to making some amount of micro-credit …

Exponential population growth has forced many rural inhabitants in the developing countries to move to the cities. According to UN Habitat, in most cases the search for better opportunities is the main motivation to urbanize (2012, p.35). Thousands of new “informal” houses are built every day around …