The case in summary: Ølve kindergarten was about to be closed down a few years ago, with only three children. Young adults who had moved from Ølve returned to the village, and after the New Year the nursery school is completely filled with 17 children. A few years ago, the local council in Ølve and Hatlestrand sent letters to around 200 evicted young adults to lure them home. Several measures, such as all-day school, active village groups, access to workplaces, and the fact that the kindergarten was not closed, may have contributed to the growth. The district center points to work, housing, social meeting points and municipal services as factors in getting more people to stay in the villages. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – We are best friends! shout Brage (4) and Trym (5) hand in hand from the train. They are immigrants to the tiny village of Ølve with around 350 inhabitants in Kvinnherad municipality in Sunnhordland. Around three years ago, Ølve kindergarten was about to be closed down. Only three children and five filled places in the kindergarten were not enough to maintain the offer. But then something happened. Young adults who had moved from Ølve returned to the village. Among the Gaute Revne, who brought their partner and two children from Os in Bjørnafjorden. The 29-year-old himself grew up in Ølve. – I know it’s a nice place to grow up. For many, it is also easier to move home when others do it, and you know that the children have others to be with. Gaute Revne meets his son Brage. The 29-year-old has found a job in his home village of Ølve, and has also taken over as manager of the village team. – The most important task is to create buzz. Photo: Eli Bjelland / news After the New Year, 17 children fill all 26 places in the kindergarten. The kindergarten in the neighboring village of Hatlestrand is also full. Kvinnheringen has previously written about the move. Sending letters to lure more people home A few years ago, the district council in Ølve and Hatlestrand sent letters to around 200 emigrants, young adults aged 23 to 35. They wanted to lure them home. And wondered what was going to happen. Since then, 12-13 of them have moved home to Ølve with their families, according to the former leader of the rural association in Ølve, Lilli Britt Urheim, who is also unit manager for the kindergartens and Hatlestrand school. When Lilli Britt Urheim was leader of the village team in Ølve, she helped send letters to young people who had moved out of the village. She wanted them back home, and many have come. Photo: Eli Bjelland / news The entire letter from the district council to young people who had moved: Dear evicted co-resident Is it possible to lure you back home to Ølve, Hatlestrand or Varaldsøy? Our villages need you! Like large parts of rural Norway, our villages are also characterized by too little influx of new people who wish to settle here and live the good everyday life in the village. But instead of sitting quietly in the boat and letting development take its course, the district council in Hatlestrand, Varaldsøy and Ølve wants to do something about it, and this is where you come in. We who live here are happy and the vast majority of us do not wish to live elsewhere, but we do not know what it will take for you and others with you to consider moving home. But first a little update on your home village: The possibilities for an active outdoor life are almost endless. The fjord and fjero invite you to both fishing, swimming and boat trips. Knutafjero on Hatlestrand can offer pure southern atmosphere! At Hatlestrand there is also a great multi-purpose hall, swimming pool, sand volleyball courts both outside and inside, an 18-hole disc golf course and a recently expanded and refurbished strength room (or gym as they say in the town). In Ølve there is an artificial grass field, an indoor shooting range, an outdoor shooting range and a sand volleyball court. The villages have both a public school and a private Montessori school. The public school at Hatlestrand will be a full-day school from autumn 22. That is that the pupils in 1.-7. class receives a free school offer that lasts from 8:00-15:45 with a hot meal, homework help and various activities such as culture school and sports throughout the week. Pupils who are entitled to transport will receive this to and from the all-day school. The nurseries have very satisfied parents and score very high in the UDIR user survey. When the corona is not ravaging the country, there are events in the youth centers such as Latterkveld (Stand-Up), pub evenings, courses, quizzes, concerts and lectures by well-known and more unknown people. At Øyro in Nerhus, a boat building day is organized annually. In the old bank on Dalsjøen, there is an art exhibition in the spring and summer. The mines in Ølve have become part of Geopark Sunnhordland and three of them are now approved to enter. See this website: https://www.geoparksunnhordland.no/ We have nice building sites with good plots. A large labor market region within a reasonable distance. And not least: We drive to the city free of charge! But even if we have all this, it is not enough to achieve growth in the villages. Bygdalaga in Ølve, Hatlestrand and Varaldsøy has become involved in the county council’s LivOGLyst project and has now been approved as an actor in 2022. During the spring, a LivOGLyst people’s meeting will be called, and if you are at home then, feel free to participate. Here you can read more about LivOGLyst: https://www.vestlandfylke.no/narings–og-samfunnsutvikling/distriktsutvikling/livoglyst-for-lokalsamfunnsutvikling/ We would very much like input on what it takes to get you and others on your age to consider moving back. Is it about a workplace, that others in your age group are moving home, living space/plots, a desire for a small farm, other leisure activities than what I have, a selection of cafés or is it something else entirely? Several other factors may also have had an effect: Pilot project with all-day school in Hatlestrand Active village associations, which are behind several campaigns and fairs to get young people to move back Access to jobs both in the industry in Ølve, the surrounding municipalities and home office solutions The work with a construction site in Ølve That the kindergarten was not closed – I think it is the sum of all this that makes so many people come. And the main reason is probably the “snowball effect”. The more people who move home, the more attractive it becomes for others, says Urheim. – The big challenge now is that there are no rental housing. People who come need transitional housing until they have decided to stay. Crisis announced for the districts Selection, reports and projections predict a future where the districts will be depleted of people and are in danger of ending up as “old homes”. In Kvinnherad, it is expected that the population will decrease by more than 9 per cent until 2050, according to projections from Statistics Norway. The government wants more people to live in the districts, and has launched several measures and targets to reverse the exodus. Recently they came up with a new carrot: Those who live outside the centre, can have NOK 25,000 annually written off from their student loan. The district center has asked people what it takes to move to their home village. Four factors stand out: Work Housing Social meeting places The quality of municipal services – It is important not to get hung up on numbers that show a decline. Everything can be affected. Many villages work well with this, and it is important to remember that you can create good communities even with fewer people, says director Marit Mellingen of the District Centre. She praises the initiative in Ølve. – The fact that they ask the emigrants what it will take to get them to move home can help map out what steps need to be taken. Around 350 people live in the village of Ølve. Several houses have been built in recent years. Up on the right, the new house for Gaute Revne and his family will soon be in place. Photo: Eli Bjelland / news – Thriving better than expected in Ølve Helena Helvik (26) is among those who have moved home to Ølve, and now lives here with her husband and two daughters aged three and four. – There was a vacant house on the farm. I was pregnant with my eldest, so it was very good timing. We didn’t know how long we were going to stay, but we felt better than we had imagined. When the eldest girl Thale Emilie started kindergarten here, there were only three other children. Now they are soon 17. Helena Helvik (26) together with her daughters Thea Sofie (3) and Thale Emilie (4). Photo: Eli Bjelland / news – It’s absolutely fantastic. It’s almost a little surreal that it could turn around and become so positive. It’s full of life, and I think the whole village knows that, says Irene Håvik, who has worked at Ølve kindergarten for over 30 years. – What do you think would have happened if the kindergarten had been closed down? – Then I don’t think so many would have come. I think the kindergarten is an important factor in the village for more people to move here. Irene Håvik has a long tenure as an employee at Ølve kindergarten. She was worried about closure as the nursery at one point barely had any children left. Photo: Eli Bjelland / news Hello! Do you have experience with the choice between city and village? Or other hints and tips? Please send me an e-mail. Published 24.09.2024, at 10.02
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The kindergarten went from almost empty to packed in a few years – news Vestland
