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Succesful PhD defence Posthumus alumna Ophelia Ongena
On 16 February 2024 Posthumus alumna Ophelia Ongena succesfully defended her PhD thesis ”Werk in eigen streek!’ Ontstaan en evolutie van een economisch beleid op maat van streken en regio’s (België, tweede helft van de 20ste eeuw)’ at Ghent University. Promotors were Professor Eric Vanhaute (Ghent University) and Dirk Luyten (CegeSoma).
In her research, Ophelia looked how the regional economic policy strategies were interpreted by policy makers, from local/sub-regional governments to the European policy level that became increasingly important in defining regional policy lines. She also studied which political strategies have tightened or weakened those policy, to what results they led to and which actors (with or without a political mandate) played an important role in it. By reconstructing the different policy strategies and visions, each with its own long-term emphasis and underlying ideas, certain fault lines and/or continuities became visible, which gave us a nuanced picture of the most important shifts and policy mechanisms.
We congratulate Ophelia with this achievement.
