With Arcadia, we turn Fryslân into one big stage for one hundred days. Art, music, theatre and storytelling invite you to take part, to discover, and to create. But Arcadia is not about making pretty things. We bring people together.
Art and culture are our ways of connecting, of strengthening the mienskip. In 2018 and 2022, we saw how powerful this sense of community truly is. Grandfathers, neighbours, children — everyone brought in their own ideas, and together they formed our open programme. A programme where everyone is welcome to join in and contribute. A programme in which we explore, together, how to build an engaged and caring society. The work we do, we don’t do lightly. We want to understand, to learn, to grow. Because what is mienskip, exactly? How and why does it inspire people to act?
To answer these questions, Arcadia is working with the University of Groningen. On behalf of the university, Carmen van Bruggen is conducting in-depth research into the mienskip. Her research, in the Department of Cultural Geography, is divided into four sub-projects. Together, they offer a broad and detailed look at how mienskip projects function, what they mean to local communities, and how they contribute to social change.
350 Mienskips projects
The first sub-project maps out more than 350 cultural mienskip projects across Fryslân. It explores not only where they happen, but also which themes and activities occur again and again. This creates a broad overview of just how diverse these projects are — from cultural walking tours to local festivals.
Looking back
The second sub-project looks at the long-term impact. Through walking interviews, researchers explore how people reflect on their involvement in mienskip projects years later. Walking through the village often brings memories to the surface. These conversations offer insights into how projects might have shaped people’s view of their environment — and their place within it. They show how these memories and experiences may continue to shape daily life.
Before, during, after
The third sub-project follows one of the Bloeiweken from Fryslân Bloeit. This research is unique because it tracks changes at three key moments: before, during, and after the Bloeiweek. This provides rare insight into how cultural participation brings people together, how connections grow, and which changes last beyond the project itself.
across borders
The fourth sub-project crosses borders — to the Basque Country in northern Spain. This region also has its own language and culture, and is home to many grassroots community projects. They don’t call it mienskip, but use the Basque word auzolan, which shares a similar spirit. The research compares Frisian and Basque communities to explore how shared traditions and local action foster connection — and what we can learn from each other.
Through this research, we hope to better understand how mienskip projects work — how a small idea can grow into big change, how a single encounter can shift how we see ourselves and each other. How culture can spark transformation within a community.
With these insights, we aim to build an even stronger and more inclusive programme. A programme that invites more people to join in, to share stories, and to help shape a more beautiful world — together.