Chapter of a report that presents a case study of the City of Heerlen, Netherlands, a shrinking city that identifies cultural policy as an important factor in vitalising the city. Heerlen has made significant investments into culture and is experiencing a “cultural spring”. This promotes a positive climate …

Roma are a transnational nomadic population. For centuries, they have traveled around the world due to persecutions or in search of economic prosperity. Roma are a heterogeneous minority. They are not one group. There are many different groups of Roma. Nowadays, an estimated 12 million Roma live in Europe …

This chapter explores the current discussions and policies towards social exclusion and cohesion in Europe. In a first section will briefly be identified how the wording in the social work discourse changed from originally the thinking in terms of poverty to the ideas of social cohesion nowadays. The …

Democratic deficit, mistrust and decreasing interest in European politics has forced European Union institutions to take action to bring Europe back to its citizens. The aim of this paper is to outline the impact of the European Union Youth policies on European integration. This will be accomplished …

Discussing the visibility and cultural factors that inf luence the position of women in the armed forces is the object of the study that is presented here. The Netherlands do not have a martial tradition and are believed to have a feminine ‘soft’ culture , but nevertheless women have always been underrepresented. Nowadays …

In the hard-hit countries by HIV/AIDS, the epidemic has eroded the development gains made in past decades. The spread of HIV is heterogeneous in Sub-Saharan African courtiers, with different peaks which vary geographically and in terms of their distribution among social or economic groups. Thus, there …