As part of the German-Dutch higher education project ‘KRAKE/Strong Villages’, 20 committed local residents from rural areas came together to discuss communication strategies.
Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences and Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen (HAN) are collaborating with participating villages on an Interreg project. “The aim of the project is to explore a village’s DNA, or, to put it more simply, its identity. This is a key factor in successfully shaping structural development,” explains Prof. Dr Klaus Hegemann, Professor of General Business Administration at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences and Head of the ‘DNA Community’ within the KRAKE project.
In a workshop led by Birgit Mosler, project coordinator at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences, residents from three villages in Germany and the neighbouring Netherlands discussed how communication within their own villages, as well as between the villages, could be strengthened. A ‘best practice’ example of such structural development is the village of Grieth on the Lower Rhine. With a population of just 800, the village suffered for several years as local amenities began to disappear. Gradually, following the closure of the bakery and the bank, the last local pub also ceased trading. As a result, two years ago, a group of enterprising local residents joined forces to set up a village shop called the ‘Griether Hanselädchen’.
‘Griether Hanselädchen’ opened in the summer of 2016 and has enjoyed great popularity ever since. As well as providing basic foodstuffs, the village shop also serves as a social meeting place and fosters communication amongst the residents of Grieth. “We are incredibly proud of what we, as residents, have achieved together,” says Birgit Mosler, who is both a network coordinator for the KRAKE project at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and a resident of Grieth.
“Communication is everything,” says board member Christian Reintjes, who answered questions from the guests. “We held residents’ meetings and information sessions, raised awareness through leaflets, posters and Facebook, and even went door-to-door to drum up support.”
In small pairs, the participants discussed communication within their own villages and between the Dutch and German villages. This was subsequently identified in the evaluation as the greatest benefit of the meeting. “On both the German and Dutch sides, there are so many interesting approaches to successful communication. Today we’ve learnt from and with one another, and we’re looking forward to taking new ideas home with us,” said participant Ute Kaiser from Wemb on the Lower Rhine.
The participants are keen to set a process in motion in their own villages and are eager to hear the feedback from their neighbouring villages.
