Scientific research into the mienskip method

Does the ‘mienskip method’ from LF2018 and Arcadia – really just Fryslân’s age-old way of doing things – actually work? A PhD candidate is going to find out

Leeuwarder Courant 21 September by: Jacob Haagsma

Scientific research is coming into the mienskip method (community method), as it was developed during Leeuwarden-Fryslân 2018 – though it has actually existed in Fryslân for much longer than that.

The Faculty of Spatial Sciences at the University of Groningen is looking for a PhD candidate to carry out this research. The position will be based in the Social Geography department.

For this PhD research, the University of Groningen is working together with the LF2028 foundation, the successor to LF2018. This year, LF2028 organised the hundred-day culture programme Arcadia, in which the mienskip method was also used. This happened mainly within the IIS programme line, which is, by the way, still ongoing.

Net fan ús allinnich (Not ours alone)

The province is involved too, and talks are underway with more partners. As Immie Jonkman, managing director of LF2028/Arcadia, puts it: “Dit is net fan ús allinnich, wy ha dit ek net útfûn. Dit giet hiel Fryslân oan, it is fan ús allegearre. Hoe mear partners hoe better.” (“This isn’t just ours, we didn’t invent it either. It concerns the whole of Fryslân, it belongs to all of us. The more partners, the better.”)

According to the vacancy text, the mienskip method ‘works from a democratic starting point towards a strong, sustainable and appealing society, where people thrive in broad-based wellbeing and everyone feels seen and involved’.

Art and culture play a deliberate role in this. ‘The mentality of ‘doing it together’ forms the basis of the term mienskip, based on the idea that people only recognise the importance of something once they feel it, after which ‘thinking’ and ‘acting’ follow.’

The PhD research already has a title: Resilient communities: kunst, cultuur en de mienskipsmethode (Resilient communities: art, culture and the mienskip method) . The idea is that the PhD candidate will analyse to what extent this method contributes to residents’ involvement in various issues in their surroundings, and whether that also leads to changes in behaviour.

To what extent do art and culture contribute to this? What works and what doesn’t? And how inclusive is this method – does everyone get the chance to take part? The research will also look at whether this mienskip method, which emerged in a region with a strong identity, can be applied elsewhere too.

It works – and here’s why

The supervisor is prof. dr. Tialda Haartsen (rural geography), and the co-supervisor is dr. Gwenda van der Vaart (art, culture and community development/engagement ).

“Wy binne yn petear rekke mei Tialda en de RUG omdat wy hjir beide in mienskiplike ynteresse yn ha”, says Jonkman about how the research came about. “Wy woene dit graach ûndersykje. En wy hâlde de resultaten ek net geheim, wy wolle it mei eltsenien diele.” (“We got talking with Tialda and the university because we both share an interest in this. We really wanted to look into it. And we’re not keeping the results secret either – we want to share them with everyone.”) An annual progress report is planned.

That it works is clear enough. But why? “Kollega’s yn oare kulturele haadsteden in wording ha wol it gefoel dat dit wat docht, dêr fertelle wy ek faak oer. Mar dat is allegearre sûnder wittenskûplike ûnderbouwing. It is leuker en better as wy aanst sizze kinne: sjoch mar, it is ûndersocht.” (“Colleagues in other capitals of culture in the making also feel that this achieves something, and we talk about it often too. But all of that is without any scientific evidence behind it. It’s nicer and better if we can soon say: look, it’s actually been researched.”)

And who knows, the research might even produce tips, tricks and recommendations to do things even better – although Jonkman isn’t expecting any miracles from it.

“Je witte hoe’t wy it dogge yn Fryslân. Dat is net sa maklik te feroarjen, dat sit yn ús DNA. Mar it is wol goed om te ûndersykjen: wêrom wurket dit, of wêrom wurkje beskate dingen net? En hoe effektyf is it, is it wol sa effektyf as wy tinke? En hoe is dit breder te dielen, yn oare regio’s?” (“You know how we do things in Fryslân. That’s not so easy to change – it’s in our DNA. But it is good to look into: why does this work, or why don’t certain things work? And how effective is it – is it really as effective as we think? And how can this be shared more widely, in other regions?”)