Fish 'n chips

Dutch version of this posting

Recipe

Heat vegetable fat to 150 degrees Celsius. Mix with very thick french fries (chips) and cook for five minutes. Take them out of the fat. Put them on a plastic plate. Cover the chips with (very good) fish fillet, precooked in the same fat.
Eat with your fingers.

The British love it, sometimes continental Europeans like it too, after a period of adaptation.

Fish 'n chips in Cromer

Pictures of the forum

I've put the pictures I've taken at the International Policy Forum in a Picasa album, click here.
I was not able to take my SLR camera on the airplane, so I especially apologise for the bad quality of the indoor pictures.

Van International Policy Forum

Last plenary of the day

At the end of the day, some reports and evaluations were exchanged in a plenary session. And a lot of people were called to appear before the audience.

Reports on the parallel workshops.



Eise van der Sluis, Vince Muspratt



The opinion of young people.



Hard labourers behind the scenes.



The winner of the lottery.



Last words.

Broadband workshopping

In the afternoon, the conference moved to several parallell workshops. Of course, I chose the one about regional development and broadband. Flemming Just explained the advantages of broadband in peripheral communities. He is from the Esbjerg University of Southern Denmark and a member of the Vital Rural Area project's scientific group.

Mr Just directed the delegates to the website www.connectedcommunities.co.uk.
I was pleased to see, that the Scottish guys of that project had assessed the possibilities of broadband so well. Flemming Just said: "If all these amenities are to be used properly, IT skills are very important."
He produced a table of broadbandishness:


In the end, the acceptance and uptake of broadband depend on demand aggregation, political leadership, education and training, content production and development.

Someone in the public complained about the lack of quality internet access: "When the trees drop their leaves we have access, when they don't, we don't!"

Marga Waanders, mayor of the Dutch municipality of Dongeradeel, mentioned the Stedenlink lobby group, which acts on a European level. That is a typical urban lobby. She recommended a rural alternative for such a lobby. "We need this too!" she said.

Vince Muspratt complained about the slowness of his home internet connection. "I feel like I'm turning a wheel very slowly, while my computer cries please stop this maltreatment! I think that the cost of a normal glass fibre to the home connection, about € 1000, must not be the problem. This can be written off in 20 years, so that must be possible!"

The Danish section added: "Of course there is a very important role for politicians, that is very necessary. But they won't give support out of themselves. They will have to be pushed, informed, educated. The question is not which technology or at what cost, but about what kind of world we want to live in."

Give examples, start test projects, that is much more effective than just preaching all the good properties of broadband. Oh yes, and aggregating demand and more support from politicians.



Afterwards, Ms Waanders and Mr Just continued to discuss broadband issues.

Neo endogenous facilitators

Some remarks made by Neil Ward of the University of East Anglia.

He saw resilience and at the same time vulnerability as strong rural properties. No problem therefore, to implement some 'system shocks', which should act as stimulators for rural change.
Depending exclusively on endogenous facilitators was not sufficient: Ward was convinced that the regions in need should admit 'neo-endogenous' ones. Universities were examples of those. In any case: out of the box thinking, out of the box technology and out of the box partnerships.

All true, I think, and while listening my English has been extended with some completely new terminology.

Local facilitators

Let's not forget the people behind the scenes who help in times of need. Thanks Pat!

Bloggers

Today I am not the only one who tries to report on the conference. Oeds Holthuis from the municipality of Achtkarspelen takes over from time to time. Read his blog here.

Broadband infrastructure acts as innovation engine

Thorben Rune missed his plane. He was one of the keynote speakers of the Policy Forum. Helped by a Skype connection he showed his face to the delegates.
He missed the plane deliberately, stated Marcel Bullinga, day chairman, to show what was possible with broadband. Although the internet connection of the hotel was atrocious, it worked quite well this time. It was remarkable that a posh place like this hotel could not provide better internet connections! Some rural backwardness, I guess. Some others, who were critical of several other characteristics of the hotel, said: "Slow tourism, slow service, slow internet!"

Rune on Skype

After polite preliminaries the connection was reduced to just a voice transfer, so mr Rune could add comments to the presentation slides which were displayed before the audience. He showed some broadband based innovations, which were enabled by the regional glass fibre networks in Denmark, such as data multi screen medical exchanges and translation services.

The 'Filly Salmons five step guide to long distance learning' interested me. Also, the questions he asked of the government in Denmark:
"Why do governments hesitate to invest in digital infrastructure? Is it too complicated, too technical? Is it the EU, which demands a free market? Is it too much like a traditional TV-network? Is a digital infrastructure not really essential?"

Of course he had arguments to waylay these statements. I'll not go into that now, but I do mention his concluding argument, that netwerk neutrality was important! I could agree on that.

"One more minute left!" Bullinga warned halfway the presentation. A pity he was such as strict chairman. For me as representative of a digital infrastructure operator this discussion was very interesting!


Bullinga interviewing Marga Waanders

In a discussion afterwards, Marga Waanders, the mayor of Dongeradeel showed to be proud of the local municipality owned broadband network Kabel Noord. But, the regional networks have not yet reached the real possible bandwidth that is necessary.
"The need for co-investments from local and regional governments is obvious and will become more so in the near future!" she concluded.

My table companion from the province of Friesland was nodding, he too had noticed that even on a national level the Ministry of Economic Affairs had started to encourage active involvement of local government in broadband development.

Coffee break

Rural Identity

Last speaker before the coffee break Jostein Soland discussed 'Rural Identity'. He is from the Chambre of Commerce in Norwegian Stavanger. He was pleading for smarter cities. Okay, but cities are not the communities one expects to find in a rural area, are they?
We should see that differently, Soland said. There is a new urban highway developing, between Stavanger, Bergen and Haugesund. Not urban as in an agglomeration of buildings, but as a structure.
My table companion and I had a feeling that Norway is investing heavily in traditional infrastructures: highways, tunnels, bridges, railways. That is fine, if one has the money, but why not invest in digital highways for virtual traffic? Why not put a glass fibre cable through the tunnels?

Prehistoric passion from a local politician

Dutch version of this story


Alderman Sjon Stellinga described the history of the municipality of Achtkarspelen from the prehistoric day till now. Some 10,000 years ago, there were 30 people in the area, 5000 years ago this number had risen to 3000 already and nowadays about 30.000 live in this Northeast Frisian region.

After telling this, Stellinga became really passionate. He spoke like a church leader, like a modern version of socialist leaders from the thirties, like Domela Nieuwenhuis of Troelstra, and he described the small world of Achtkarspelen, where small people lived small lives in small houses, built of peat and reeds, even until times after the Second World War. Descendants of those several dozens of stone-age settlers, with even their names sounding the same as they did a thousand years ago. And this had always been the right thing to do.

Only now, after ten thousand years, young people dared to leave this cozy, protected region, as if Frodo was finally leaving his trusted and beloved hobbit Shire. Only now the world had really changed for those rural emigrees. City boys and girls would they become, who felt proud in the modern cities of the country centre; they were trusting on their heritage!

After his speech, challenged from the public, Stellinga added: "Give some space to those people who are doing something different! That is an obligation of us to them!"
And of course: "The people in Achtkarspelen tend to work harder, work better, in times of crisis. That's how they'd reacted to crises for centuries. That was a reaction that worked, too. But nowadays perhaps they would better buy a suit, a car and a briefcase and try to find some customers!"

Political welcome words

Derrick Murphy, deputy leader Norfolk County Council, was the next speaker. Change in rural areas is inevitable, he said. He spoke his hopes for a fruitful conference, as would be expected from a politician.

He was followed by Arie Aalberts, mayor of the municipality of Dantumadeel.

Of course, Aalberts too wished everybody a good conference.
After his speech, interviewed by day chairman Marcel Bullinga, he added that the biggest rural problem must be that of housing prices having gone up way too much. On the other hand, as Derrick Murphy added, prices are much lower than in urban areas, so perhaps there will start a population move into rural areas.

A new Vital Rural Area

Futuristic opening

Marcel Bullinga was opening the day. He calls himself a futurist. For what that is worth, in any case he succeeded in making the delegates laugh. So maybe he is an entertainer even more than a futurist.


"Who among you is Dutch?" Marcel asked the public. A great many, that's clear, perhaps because the Netherlands are lead partner of Vital Rural Area.


The rural areas are large, the population is shrinking. But the level of 'happiness' is high.

Worried crew in Norwich

After a good night's sleep (for most of the attendants), it was time now to assemble in the congress room. The sound and video crew looked worried.

Supper and bar time

Finally, it was dinner time. The Dutch time zone is an hour earlier, so in the end we got really, really hungry. Time for the typical English kitchen. Nice buffet, but more salt was needed.

Last stage of the day, a beer at the bar. Bed time for Sigrid, Roeland and Andree too.

Just before dinner

Later in the evening, it was time for some informal talk. Here the Frisian and Flemish delegates discussed the quaalities of holiday park enterprise Landal.The Danish section was taking it easy, except Simon, who is always arguing passionately.

Discussion on rural services

After the conference with the scientific group, the delegates of Work package 3 (Rural services and facilities) discussed their plans for the next three months. Emma Finn was temporarily at the wrong work package meeting, but she was made very welcome.

Reidulf Vignes explained with a map how isolated some Norwegian islands are situated.

Meetjesland maidens

In the picture above, Belgian delegate Peter Haenebalcke is trying to explain the name of 'Meetjesland', before the meeting can proceed. It has something to do with the emperor Charles the fifth being a fan of young maidens. The Meetjesland had to put their 'meetjes' in hiding, to keep Charles from mischief.

Or was it Charles the great, Charlemagne? I'll have to check.

Meeting with the scientific panel

Today (Wednesday) a number of delegates has arrived at Dunston Hall, Norwich. Meeting with them, preliminary to the International Policy Forum tomorrow, the two scientists present, Mr Dirk Strijker and Mr Willem Foorthuis discuss changes in the rural world.

They interrogate representatives from several rural areas around the Northsea. As is to be expected, views on the ways to tackle those changes do not differ very much.
Some soundbytes.

"Regional branding is very important," one of the Meetjesland delegates declares. "Also, the percentage of elderly people is rising."
Vince Muspratt, Norfolk delegate, indicates there is more to this than just the seniority problem. "There are two separated economies developing," he states, "Young people are not able any more to build themselves an existence: e.g. housing is way overpriced. At the same time, they are the ones who are expected to take care of the elderly."

Some people argue, that future urban and rural development should be more in balance, more mutual. "This will not happen," Willem Foorthuis states. "Rural stands for slower, less."

So, there is no such thing as 'rurban'.

Vince Nuspratt again: "Apart from being 'slower' maybe, village people are scared of the urban life. They have not enough confidence and feeling of self-esteem; they don't feel able to cope with the big city life."

"The rural world is gone! We must look for a new vitality", Mr Foorthuis concludes.

Dunston Hall confusion

Dunston Hall Hotel. Confusion about credit card deposits and rooms not ready. Neither were the Dutch people fully prepared for the way the reception girls handled the English language, I'm afraid.


The girls did their best and there was nothing that could not be put right after some deliberations, I guess.

Frisian Delegation arrived

Dunston Hall. Wednesday morning, 10:30 am. The Frisians have arrived! With the Vital flag high, they take possession of British territory.

Groningen to Norwich

Eelde. Groningen Airport, and of course, half the passengers were not present, when our mini plane was preparing for take-off. The crew already started to look worried. In the end, it became clear that some ten girls and boys people had been taking it easy in the wrong passenger terminal.


After a quick walk and passport check all could board our plane and Groningen was left behind. Destination Norwich! The little aircraft did not inspire much confidence initially, especially on the runway, when it was wallowing in all directions. That is supposed have been normal, I guess, because the two pilots were behaving very relaxed.

The 18 person passenger group held tight to their chairs, tried to look brave and concentrated themselves on coffee and sandwiches. An hour afterwards, with a wallowy and bumpy landing behind us, we were taken by bus to Dunston Hall Hotel, where a lot of confusion arose about credit card deposits and rooms not ready. Mine was okay, luckily, so I'm able to finish this posting now on the hotel ethernet.


Like herring in a fish tin


I was the heaviest passenger, so I had to sit up front. That must be the reason for the bumpy landing, I'm sure. A direct view on the crew inspired some confidence. Also, Wim and I can tell you that we have flown at 16.000 feet, and proceeded at about 180 knots.

The day before...

Tomorrow will be the day: the first one of our attendance at the Vital Rural Area Policy Forum. It should have been a good English language exercise for me, having written this handful of postings beforehand. Now over to the real thing.

What am I looking forward to?
A meeting in a good atmosphere, I guess. This is certainly not the first conference in Vital that I've visited. A lot of attendees are known to me. That helps.
Not always in the preliminary stages has there been peace and understanding. Some fireworks, when budget discussions came to their decisive stage!
Well, never were these so bad that hard feelings could not be repaired afterwards at the hotel bar...

What more to expect?
For me personally, a few days of blogging. At least, that's what the programme management team expects me to. So, if time permits, I'll be writing from hour to hour, describing what's happening and adding my private thoughts to the discussions.

Looking forward too I am to the short flight with the small chartered NOFA-plane from Groningen Airport to Norfolk. Some people aboard I know very well, and there will be some new faces.

High speeds and taking some meteorological risks - okay, I was used to both, but nevertheless not so happily I'm awaiting the fact that not I will have the rudder in hand of the dangerously small plane we'll be passengering in.

Maybe that's just the little voice of the small heart inside of me...

Forum webcast

The NOFA Project management of Vital Rural Area announces:

The webcasting site of the International Policy Forum on Regional Development in the framework of the transnational and European project Vital Rural Area is now 'on air', although still under construction.

During the Policy Forum on September 17th and 18th, 2009, Gallomanor Communications from Bradford upon Avon (Wiltshire, UK) will publish here footage, photos and interviews with and impressions of participants, keynote speakers and workshop facilitators. Visitors will be able to make comments and put questions to the chair and speakers. In this way, the Policy Forum will be webcasted almost in real time.

Access to this webcasting site is made possible via a special button on the website Vital Rural Area. Please inform your colleagues of this opportunity to witness the forum whilst not being present at Norwich. You find the button to access the webcasting site in the right hand navigation bar of: www.vitalruralarea.eu .

In the same navigation bar you'll also find buttons to access:

a) and join a groups discussion on rural and regional development on LinkedIn;

b) a blogside where Andree Hofer, Oeds Holthuis and Gijs van Hesteren will publish their personal and official impressions of the Policy Forum.

Wireless island discussion

Today, I have paid a visit to the Dutch Wadden island of Ameland. There, I attended a pleasant meeting about the plan we are developing: 'Wireless Ameland'.
I have discussed the idea with people from the municipality, the Tourist Board and several representatives of local enterprises.
The evening was a success, I think: a project team was formed and instated. In a few weeks we will reconvene, to discuss the homework we will have done by that time.
This night, I'm stuck at the island. The last ferry to the mainland has left hours ago.


Afterwards I sleep at Hotel Nobel. Good food, rich room.


Schiermonnikoog

I've been busy on the coastal islands recently: on Thursday I went over to the island of Schiermonnikoog to discuss innovation with the island town council. That was also quite a good afternoon. For them I made up this picture:

Work Package 3 Ambitions

Dutch version

‘SMART NETWORK SOCIETY’

In Vital Rural Area, Northeast Fryslân region

Sent to the project partners in Work package 3 of Vital Rural Area, but here in this blog for the world:

The Province of Fryslân, the Internet Academy and Kabel Noord present their proposals for Work Package 3 of Vital Rural Area. This is a common initiative of these three organisations – from here on indicated as ‘the writers’. The goal of this proposal is to interact and add value to the WP3 proposal of the NOFA-municipalities.

Summary

The writers propose a cluster of interrelated projects. These are all part of an interactive platform which connects users, civilians, suppliers of services. These project interconnect with innovative technologies, as described in the next few paragraphs. Most of these are based on Web 2.0 and IP-technology. The real challenge lies in the participation of citizens, in the change of work processes and in the way of thinking of service suppliers.

Ambitions and innovative aspects

All work package partners have executed a desk research and a field research. The final report of this research has recently been distributed among the WP3 partners by the NOFA programme management. The results and analysis for the NOFA-region indicate that there is a problem concerning the availability and quality of commercial and non-commercial services in this rural region. Every imaginable solution will have to be founded on the aforementioned research analysis.

The writers are certain that improvements are possible. To make this happen, the use of ICT, broadband internet and Web 2.0 applications will have to be considered (see paragraph on technologies). Potentially, these are crucial tools to improve wellbeing and the quality of life, as long as these implementations and developments are socially, not technologically oriented.

Therefore, we think that the real innovative aspect of the proposed projects lies in the combination, integration and interaction of these technologies and in embedding them successfully into all layers of society.

Exemplary for these innovative aspects might be the formation and further development of virtual communities, as well as the search for local support. This support should be found with the potential customers for the services, but should also come from the suppliers and providers of housing, care, health, governmental, and welfare services themselves.

Partners

The main project partner will be the province of Fryslân. The provincial consortium will be completed by sub-partners from the region, e.g. the NOFA-co-operative, local municipalities, local housing corporations, home care institutions, hospitals, health professionals, technology specialists, citizen groups, village boards, et cetera.

Technologies

A number of technologies are already proven. These are presently freely available:
• Protocols - IP, HTTP, SIP, H323, SMS, PtP;
• Development models - Open Source and internet driven applications;
• Virtual developments - Web 2.0, Social Media and websites, Gaming, Virtual Communities;
• Hardware platforms – Broadcast television, PC’s, netbooks, IPTV-set top boxes, embedded PC-devices, touch screen devices, videophones, virtual service desks;
• Hardware platforms – glass fibre, cable & ADSL, satellite, wireless and cellular mobile internet access.

Projects

The writers propose a choice or mix out of some of the projects mentioned hereafter. Maintaining mobility, continuation of primary service supply and community co-operation, these are the buzz words.
The writers see the welfare, care and health sectors as primary co-operation partners.

Self help

The local rural communities must be enabled to help themselves:
Interactive neighbourly help, like the trading of favours and little jobs (transportation, shopping, gardening, cleaning, computer assistance).
Web 2.0 websites, dedicated to the village, will be the carriers of the virtual market places.
A web- and GPS-based public transport following system, coupled to tuk-tuk projects, used, driven and exploited by villagers.

Serious versus entertaining

Interaction and bundling of ‘fun’ services and ‘serious’ services promise to be corner stones of a healthy exploitation and implementation. The fun parts may well be able to provide the necessary funding for the less ‘funny’ departments of the virtual portals.
So a virtual service desk may be accompanied – or even enhanced - by a digital cinema for the younger village population.

Supplier bundling

To be developed and implemented: co-operative portals for the supply of and access to home care services, health services, housing services, municipal services, commercial services (banks, post office, library, shopping list, virtual working place). These portals should be partly physical (‘Kulturhuse’, Village Centres ‘2.0’, multi-functional centres), partly virtual.

Training and instruction

Not one of the above mentioned projects will be able to fly independently without proper training and instruction of certain professional and population groups.
The self help aspect is crucial, so village volunteers will have to come forward.
Also, on the professional side, the suppliers/providers of virtual services will have to alter their back office processes, sometimes even their way of thinking.
Training programmes will have to be developed and provided.

Actual projects

The writers are planning to conceive a master project called ‘Smart Network Society’. They’ll propose series of sub-projects, all related to the main plan.
The Smart Network Society will be the pilot for further implementation and upgrading. Content, pilot groups and geographical scope will have to be well defined. Once up and running, this definition of scope will have to be continuated and refined. Regular periodic field consultation is important, to make sure the projects are still being supported by the region.

International co-operation

This work package is part of an European funded project. International co-operation and knowledge exchange are very important. The writers invite the other three WP3 partner regions to join in the mutual effort to enable services like those mentioned above. Their minds are open to proposals from Denmark, Norway and Belgium.

Financing

Support will be very necessary for the financing of the proposed projects. Of course Vital Rural Area should play its role as instigator and conductor. The regional service providers will be expected to lend financial support too, although this might be more difficult for non-commercial suppliers than for others, like banking institutions or SME’s. Of course it
might be possible to find extra subsidies.

E.g. from:

• Vital Rural Area;
• SenterNovem, health & Care funding by the national Dutch government;
• The Wadden fund, a compensationary fund, dedicated to environment, sustainability and economy;
• The OP Noord, ‘operational programme Noord’, dedicated to innovation and society;
• SIA RAAK, a fund to connect higher education to knowledge demands from the market;
• Additional funding as advised, proposed and supported by the Frisian provincial ICT-Alliance;
• Private funding, e.g. from contractors, sub-contractors, commercial service suppliers.


Gijs van Hesteren, Martijn Ledegang, Max Vijftigschild
Dokkum - Leeuwarden, September 14th, 2009


Also read: A day of rural imagination

A day of rural imagination

Yesterday, I spoke with two stakeholders (one from the province of Friesland, one from the local academy for higher education) about the prospects for virtual services and eHealth related pilot projects within the 'Vital Rural Area' concept. Perhaps also out of the Vital project...

Often it's not easy to think clearly, when one has to start from nothing. But the results of the session did not come out of the total blue either. In the preliminary stage of Vital, there has been an intensive desk research phase and all three conversation participants had years of experience with ICT related projects behind them.

In the end, we came to an agreement and the next day I wrote in concept an overview of our conclusions. The draft will be assessed by my two partners and if agreed upon, I will publish it in this weblog.

By the way, it was perhaps not a coincidence, that I spent the next morning at a meeting of stakeholders from the north eastern region of Friesland. There were parties present like the housing corporation, employees of individual municipalities, the local municipal Vital Rural Area representative, and members of the management of the town hospital of Dokkum.

At this gathering, the people present expressed a lot of aspirations in the services, care, health and wellbeing area, the portent of which was augmented by the means of the stakeholders to support their plans effectively. Perhaps it will be possible to connect all initiatives in such a way, that the sum will add to more than the individual parts.

Later on in the day, I discussed all this with a financing and subsidy specialist: it might even be possible to enlarge the projects by adding subsidy to subsidy, funding to funding. We spoke about the Vital budgets, but only as a start. To the total funding might be added the RAAK educational fund, the ZIPC (for care related innovations), the OP Noord economic program and cofinancing by ten to thirty local and regional SME and non-SME participants. Total project funding might raise up to several millions for the next four years.

Of course, a lot of work will have to be done to make all this possible, but even this preliminary work might be subsidized in part.