Within the Netherlands, historic estates form an important part of the Dutch landscape with many sites dating back to the seventeenth and eighteenth century. In recent years, there has been increased attention and interest to stimulate the development and revival of historic estate kitchen gardens in …

Dutch citizens collaborate more and more together, and the number of (small) initiatives are increasing. Due to this increasing number of initiatives, the relationship between citizens’ initiatives and the (local) government becomes more necessary and creates new possibilities and opportunities. The …

Emerging during the negotiations for the unratified Constitutional Treaty and officially launched with the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Citizens' Initiative allows citizens to invite the European Commission to propose legislation to the European Parliament and the Council based on an idea which gathers …

Since the 1960s, the structure of the German population has significantly changed as a result of a number of migration waves. This structural change, and the fact that is was rather ignored by German governments, created a democratic deficit. Large parts of the permanent population were structurally …

In 2007, the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations initiated the program 'Veilige Publieke Taak'. It was designed to provide employers with guidelines and solutions for handling aggression and violence towards employees with a public task. One of the most important initiatives of this …

This thesis is about establishing an effective marketing strategy for MasterPeace, which will help generate publicity through the annual event on 5 May. MasterPeace is a non-governmental and non-profit organization with a European office based in Utrecht. It is a peace initiative that seeks to encourage …

Background As the level of government closest to citizens and the real economy, local and regional authorities have an important role in tackling the severe impact of the current economic crisis. The double pressures of decreasing public revenue and increasing demand for services, however, call for more …

Fifty years after its launch, the European Union still has not succeeded in attracting the appropriate level of interest and the full support of EU citizens. Informing citizens about the European Union is a task of the government and the media, so that people gain knowledge and form an opinion about …