Milja Vriesema is a PHD student at the University of Amsterdam. She has finished her Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning in June 2019. For her master thesis, she focused on the collaborative planning strategy. Over the last thirty years, this planning strategy has quickly gained popularity and this has changed the executive roles of government and citizen. Milja’s thesis zoomed in on this organizational shift and provided insight on how collaborative planning influences the provision of urban collective goods. Milja conducted a comparative case study on two recently transformed collective goods on IJburg, a residential area in Amsterdam. A central theme in this thesis was the debate about consensus versus compromise in collaborative planning strategies.

Before the Urban and Regional Planning master, Milja completed the bachelor Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. This program teaches students to research social issues in a broader interdisciplinary manner. Milja’s bachelor thesis zoomed in on a project of mixed cohabitation of students and status holders in Amsterdam. While writing these theses, Milja realised she is interested in conducting interdisciplinary research. Therefore, she is excited to work as a PHD student at the CICERONE research project.

The CICERONE research project aims to provide an innovative way of understanding how cultural and creative industries (CCIs) function, and thereby provide a new foundation for effective policies at EU, national and local levels targeted at these economic activities.