“When we talk about quality of life in the countryside, on the one hand you see that people like to live there and find it beautiful, but on the other hand they are very concerned about facilities that are disappearing,” says Bettina Bock in the TV program De Staat van Drenthe. Bock is professor by special appointment of population decline and quality of life for the Northern Netherlands. “People are most concerned about the disappearance of education and healthcare.”
In her research into quality of life in rural areas, ‘pride’ appears to be an important motivation for maintaining facilities. “Pride and love for your village appears to be an important driving force behind your efforts, together with others. For example, if a shop is in danger of disappearing, pride for your village ensures that you work together to ensure that the shop remains standing. If If there is no love and pride, why would you still commit to the community?” says Bock.
“It also has to do with the fact that we have to move from individual responsibility to collective responsibility,” says Theo Andreae of the BOKD. The BOKD is committed to: a vital and liveable countryside in Drenthe. The core of the association is a network of 245 villages and village halls. “That pride goes hand in hand with ownership. If residents feel responsible and can take control, then something will start to move. That collective responsibility must become increasingly important when we look at issues such as healthcare, transport and education,” says Andreae.
Because every resident and every village is different and ownership is not shared by everyone, Professor Bock advocates a basic level of facilities that is guaranteed by the authorities, so that the countryside remains liveable. “Now the government mainly says that they think it’s great that residents are setting everything in motion themselves. But you don’t get it for free and for nothing. It has to be easier to access subsidies. Because what you see now is that you have to make a project plan every year, every year and every village for itself. In one village someone may be able to do that very well, but another village does not have such a person who knows his way around it. And so you become competitors of each other, while that should not be the case. I think that is a government responsibility.”
It also requires a different way of looking at existing structures, says Andreae of the BOKD: “Maybe we should stop clinging to everything that has always been there and how we have always done it. Look at sports clubs. Everyone has difficulty finding a treasurer. Why not work together and share a treasurer? This way you keep a good sports offer in the village and you approach it smarter.”
Andreae therefore makes an appeal: “Take down the fences and look at your neighbors to see how you could work together better. Every association faces the same issue.”