Do you want to live next to a bulb field or not? It doesn’t matter to Westervelders when it comes to the quality of life they experience and their health. Eighty percent and higher give quality of life a 7 or more and that is comparable to the rest of Drenthe. This is evident from a study that Sustainable Bulb Cultivation carried out in the municipality of Westerveld at the end of last year.
In October, 3,500 households in Westerveld, or half of them, received a letter inviting them to participate in a survey about the reach of communication in relation to perceived quality of life and health. The question was also asked what people think of bulb cultivation in Drenthe. Nearly 1,100 residents completed the questionnaire, a response rate of 31 percent, which, according to the researchers, can be estimated as high for such a study.
Bulb cultivation appears to be a topic of discussion for 7 in 10 residents within family, friends and at work. Most of them also participate in the discussions themselves, and this especially applies to people who live directly on or near a bulb field. Seventy percent also notice that there is a conflict between people with different views on bulb cultivation and a large majority are concerned about how local residents and lily growers interact with each other.
The score for perceived quality of life does not differ from that in the rest of Drenthe. Almost everyone indicated that they were satisfied with the quality of life in the municipality, village or neighborhood. It doesn’t matter much whether there is a bulb field near home. Eighty percent of participants who live directly next to a bulb field give a score of 7 or higher for quality of life. For people who live near lily cultivation, this is 91 percent and of the participants who do not live near a bulb field, 95 percent gave a 7 or higher.
The research also shows that three-quarters of respondents experience (very) good health. When asked whether the quality of life has deteriorated recently, there were varying answers. There are differences here, because residents who live directly next to a bulb field more often say that the quality of life has decreased. Half of the participants are concerned about the impact of cultivation on the environment or people’s health and these concerns also exist among people who live further away from a bulb field.
Who participated?
3500 households were invited and 1087 completed questionnaires were returned. Slightly more men than women participated and the elderly group was overrepresented. Ten percent of the participants live directly next to a bulb field and 57 percent near a bulb field. The survey also asked how residents obtain information about the Sustainable Bulb Cultivation program. 63 percent of the participants know the program and 69 percent of them read about it in the door-to-door newspaper the Westervelder. A third of the participants appear to be familiar with the open Field Days that are regularly held in Westerveld, the information meetings and the website.
What does the Sustainable Bulb Cultivation Drenthe program do?
In the Sustainable Bulb Cultivation Drenthe Program, governments, growers and the sector, cultivation advisors and researchers work intensively together to make bulb cultivation structurally more sustainable with a low impact on the environment. Through experiments on a practical scale and multi-year tests, new methods and systems are tested, which contribute significantly to reducing the environmental impact. Local residents, interested parties and residents’ groups are closely involved in the results and regularly informed of progress.