Master Thesis – Sina Alea Kugis The Sense of Place in St. Annaparochie How do people give meaning to place and how do social interactions play a role in this? Sina Alea Kugis Master Thesis – Sina Alea Kugis The Sense of Place in St. Annaparochie How do people give meaning to place and how do social interactions play a role in this? Master Thesis by: Sina Alea Kugis 900713485100 Course: SDC 80436 Wageningen University and Research Centre – Department of Social Sciences Supervised by Dr. Ir. Monique Nuijten Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Sciences, International Development Studies at the Chair Group Sociology of Development and Change, Wageningen University and Research Centre in September 2016. Leeuwarden, September 2016 i Master Thesis – Sina Alea Kugis Abstract This thesis is an analysis of the sense of place of the inhabitants of the Friesian village St. Annaparochie. It is aimed to give insights in how people give meaning to place, especially in the presence of a refugee centre. Furthermore, this thesis aimed to illustrate the role of social interactions in the process of giving meaning to place. Particular attention is given to the project “Door de Kloof”, which was a theatrical walk aimed to bring refugees and Dutch inhabitants of St. Annaparochie together. To analyse the case, an ethnographic approach has been used. The results are based on the answers of open-ended, semi-structures interviews, participant observations, mindscapes and a literature study. The expectation was that environmental features will have a strong position when it comes to the attachment towards the village. However, the research revealed that social interactions play a more important part in the giving of meaning to the village St. Annaparochie than the environmental features of the village. The project “Door de Kloof” confirmed that the presence of the refugee centre does not influence the perception of the inhabitants on the village negatively. Also, the contact between the refugees and the Dutch inhabitants has been good throughout the project. However, this does not give insights in the long term impact of the project. Keywords: Sense of Place, social interaction, refugees, place attachment, place identity, place dependency ii Master Thesis – Sina Alea Kugis ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS After an intensive period of seven months, today is the day that I am writing these words of thanks. It has been an intense and stressful period of learning for me, not only in the scientific field, but also on a personal level. Writing this thesis has had a big impact on me, especially on my temper. I would like to reflect on the people who have supported and helped me so much during the last eight months. First, I would like to thank my thesis advisor Dr. Ir. Monique Nuijten of the Sociology of Development and Change Department at Wageningen University. The door to Monique’s office (or better the button to a Skype call) was always open whenever I had difficulties or a question about my research or writing. She consistently allowed this paper to be my own work, but steered me in the right direction whenever it was needed. I would also like to thank the people from St. Annaparochie, especially all participants and the organizers of the project “Door de Kloof”, Janneke de Haan and Geertje Postma, who kindly offered me to participate in the project and allowed me to conduct my research among them. You made this research possible. Thijmen and Mirza, thank you for allowing me to work at Lots. The quiet environment on many Sunday afternoons allowed me to make a lot of progress. You helped me a lot. Anna, you deserve special thanks. During my research, you have supported me and motivated me in times when I needed it. You have shown me that I can do this, when I was doubting it. Finally, I would like to express my very profound gratitude to my family and to my partner Dimitri for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout the process of researching and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. Thank you. Thank you all! Sina iii Master Thesis – Sina Alea Kugis List of Definitions Haring & Hummus: Association with the aim to bring refugees and their Dutch neighbours together Door de Kloof: Community art project aimed to bring refugees and Dutch inhabitants of St. Annaparochie together Ons huis: Community Centre in St. Annaparochie Kruidvat: Drugstore chain of stores in the Netherlands, France and Belgium. Expert: Chain of stores in the Netherlands, selling electronical devices Hema: Dutch warehouse chain with stores mostly in the Netherlands, but also in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain Refugee centre: The refugee centre in St. Annaparochie, where people have been placed who already have received their permission and are waiting to move within the Netherlands, or who’s procedure takes longer Refugees: People who have fled from there county and have arrived in the Netherlands (St. Annaparochie) for shelter and a safe environment COL: Place where refugees have to come after the arrival in the Netherlands to register in the country POL: Place where refugees star their juridical procedure Emergency shelter: Place where refugees are placed in the case that there are too many refugees arriving in the Netherlands but the refugee centres are full Bildtkerts: People who are living in the municipality het Bildt Het Bildt: Municipality in the North of Friesland, the Netherlands Xenos: Chain of stores who sell diverse goods Action: Chain of stores who sell diverse goods Scapino: Chain of shoe stores Van Haren: Chain of shoe stores Lidl: Supermarket chain iv Master Thesis – Sina Alea Kugis Inhabitants of St. Annaparochie: People who are Dutch speaking and are living in the village St. Annaparochie De Struverij: Restaurant in an old church in St. Annaparochie and place of the performance of the Project “Door de Kloof” Albert Heijn: Supermarket chain in the Netherlands. List of Tables Table 1: Results of the Elections of the 2. Chamber in het Bildt 2012 Table 2: Results of the Elections of the 2. Chamber in het Bildt 2012 List of Figures Figure 1: Development of Inhabitants in Period 2009-2013 in % Figure 2: A three-fold architecture of sense of place, based on Halfacree (1996) Figure 3: Conceptualizing Rurality, based on Horlings (2013) Figure 4: Dimensions of sense of place, based on Convey et al. (2012) Figure 5: Social activities Figure 6: Special in St. Annaparochie Figure 7: Reasons to live in St. Annaparochie v Master Thesis – Sina Alea Kugis Table of Contents Prologue .............................................................................................................................................2 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................3 Setting the Scene .............................................................................................................................4 Background ....................................................................................................................................6 Refugees Crisis ...........................................................................................................................6 Shrinkage ....................................................................................................................................8 Merge of municipalities ............................................................................................................. 10 Project “Door de Kloof” ............................................................................................................ 11 Research Questions and Conceptual Framework ............................................................................... 12 Research Question ........................................................................................................................ 12 Place ............................................................................................................................................. 13 Sense of Place ............................................................................................................................... 15 Relevance and Objective ............................................................................................................... 19 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 19 Method and Methodology ................................................................................................................. 20 Ethnographic approach .................................................................................................................. 20 Selection of Respondents and Time Planning ................................................................................ 20 Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 21 Literature Research ................................................................................................................... 21 Interviews ................................................................................................................................. 21 Participant Observation ............................................................................................................