© Mirjam van Eijzeren and Marja Bax
CS team:
DLO
The CS in a nutshell:
Traditionally, Pitteperk has always been a farm carrying out only agricultural activities. The response to social demands of vulnerable groups of people was the start of care farm branch in 2003. At the care farm, knowledge and experience in the field of agriculture, livestock farming and care has been combined. The farm is well-organized and offers opportunities for development of the multifunctional farming business. The auxiliary farmers’ (clients’) individual preferences and possibilities for activities are central to this. Clients who want to broaden their horizons are supported in their growth process. Volunteers play an important role and are indispensable. Nowadays, the social innovation initiative has become professional organisation including volunteers and quality assurance system.
More information is available here.
About the area:
The care farm Pitteperk is located in the village of Koudekerke, in the peninsula Walcheren of the province of Zeeland. The village of Koudekerke is close to the beach and the sea and near the larger cities of Vlissingen and Middelburg. The village belongs to the municipality of Veere, inhabited by around 3500 inhabitants. It has relatively many commuters to cities in neighborhood (e.g. Middelburg and Flanders; Belgium) and retired seniors. The care farm is located outside the village near the estate Ter Hooge. It forms part of the landscape park in which the historical hedgerows landscape of Walcheren forms a starting point and in which, in addition to the development of natural values, there is room for ecological agriculture. The area can be considered relatively marginalized in the Dutch context for both its geography and its infrastructural features. In terms of accessibility by local road transport, the care farm is close to major city (Middelburg). Travel time to the rest of the Netherlands is relatively high making the accessibility of those areas low compared to other part of the Netherlands.
Location of the case study in the Netherlands. © Google Earth Pro & mapbox.com
© Mirjam van Eijzeren and Marja Bax
News and events:
February 22nd 2018 – Focus group with local stakeholders