De mienskip (1)

​As often is the case with things you are used to, maybe even take for granted, it takes an outsider to make you think about it and appreciate it again. It is what happened to me when a delegation of Aalborg Kommune visited de gemeente Leeuwarden and asked us about the Frisian ‘Mienskip’ (sense of community) and our happiness, which is apparently greater than the happiness in other provinces of the Netherlands.

Aalborg

​And yes, Frisians are quite happy, but everything is relative. As I walked away from the meeting with Danish counterparts I remembered the Netherlands Ombudswoman for Children, having talked to Leeuwarder children, concluding that too many of them were really unhappy, since they live in poverty.
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But it is also true that we are happier (wouldn’t the term wellbeing be more appropriate than happy?) than other people in the Netherlands, even though we earn less than the others. Indeed, as we've known since the invention of money, it can’t buy happiness. Yet we are so chuffed about it that we call it the Frisian Paradox. As if outside Friesland, no-one knows...

When I was asked what makes me happy, living in Friesland/Leeuwarden, my answer was that although I’m living in the city, when I get on my bicycle, within ten minutes I am cycling through green meadows and along small rivers. When I get in my car, within half an hour I am at the seaside. It is partly a political view, but also common sense: people who are surrounded by or live in the vicinity of green (trees, fields, water) are more relaxed, easygoing and, well… happy.

Leeuwarden

I’m sorry to say that I have no experience with mienskip itself. It is something that is more associated with the villages than the city, although it is really more of an attitude than a geographical thing. It is certainly about looking after your neighbours, supporting them if you know they need a bit of help. It is also about getting together and organize the ‘dorpsfeest' (village party/feast) or the ‘iepenloftspul’ (open air amateur stage play). We cherish it, although along the Netherlands/German border the same is known as 'naobersschap' (indeed: neighbourship). We really can't claim an exclusive position in keeping an eye out for each other and I wouldn't be surprised if in Danmark too, people in the countryside share a sense of community. 
 
What I explained to the Danish delegation members I talked to, was that ‘mienskip’ can also be found on a different level from neighbours and villages.
I think there is also a sense of mienskip for instance in the Frisian (health)care. It has to do with scale. The province of Friesland houses around 650.000 people, has only four hospitals and a handful of other care institutions per sector (homecare, care for people with disabilities of different kinds, elderly care). So the management, governing bodies of these institutions, as well as the people of the main health care insurance company in Friesland and - as was for years my role - representatives of patients and clients: they all know each other well. You meet each other very often. 

Even after successive right-wing governments in the Netherlands introduced privatisation en pushed for efficiency to the brink of absurdity, they maintained a certain level of trust among each other. Problems like finding a place for a mentally and physically disabled person with behavioral disorders in a decimated caresystem? They would always be solved in cooperation. 

The same goes for the regional and local governments, the province and the municipalities. I experienced that as a civil servant at the Province of Fryslân. Getting in contact with elder(wo)men or mayors was never a problem. Discussing matters was always possible and easy going, among elder(wo)men and mayors there is a strong sense of 'togetherness', if not mienskip.

A last example was presented by Arjen Droog from the Fries Planbureau, when he showed in his presentation the fact that Frisian entrepeneurs highly value societal relevance and sustainability. That's certainly not an absolute 'people before profits', but it in healtcare, in government and in economy in Friesland we know we do what we do because of a strong sense of community.
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This is part 1 in a series of 2, next will be a piece on the threats of mienskip