Van den Berg, Prof. Caspar

Caspar van den Berg is Professor of Global and Local Governance at the UG’s Campus Fryslân. He studied Social Sciences at Utrecht University and obtained his PhD in Public Administration at Leiden University in 2008.

In his research, Van den Berg focuses on politics, governance and identity at the international, national and regional levels. He has appeared in the news often as of late, due to his research into the differences between Dutch shrinkage regions and urban areas. He sees the farmer protests of the last few months, for instance, as partly being the result of a clash between the city and countryside, with the latter fighting for the emancipation of rural culture. In his opinion, similar tensions can also be seen in the annually recurring discussions surrounding “Black Pete” (Zwarte Piet). He perceives these tensions as ‘the retaliation of forgotten regions’; as an attempt to be heard and taken seriously. In this vein, he is also investigating the voting behaviour of residents of these regions.

In February 2023, Prof. Van den Berg was appointed as temporary Dean of the University of Groningen/Campus Fryslân. In February 2024, he was appointed president of Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), which unites the 14 universities in the Netherlands. Van den Berg will remain on the faculty in Leeuwarden as an honorary professor.

Previously in the news

• Caspar van den Berg new president of the Universities of the Netherlands (UNL)
• Kieskompas: Groningen is miniversie van Nederland, behalve als het over windmolens gaat (Groningen is a miniature version of the Netherlands, except for when it comes to windmills)
• Caspar van den Berg new Dean of the UG/Campus Fryslân

• UG/Campus Fryslân acquires € 400,000 for research into successful regional governance
• Het Nederlandse ‘wij’ zit in dorpen en regio’s (‘The Dutch “we” resides in villages and rural regions’)
• De boerderij versus de stad: ‘Er is een enorm wantrouwen’ (‘The farmers versus the city: “There is mass distrust”’)
• Podcast ‘In de Wetenschap’ with Caspar van den Berg
• ‘Sense of loss drives voting behaviour’
• De kloof tussen bruisgebieden en krimpregio’s blijft groeien (‘The rift between regions of growth and shrinkage continues to expand’)
• Groeiende kloof tussen bruis- en krimpregio’s bedreigt stabiliteit (‘Expanding rift between regions of growth and shrinkage threatens stability’)

Contact and more information

• See profile page

Publications