BRAIN DRAIN

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Brain-Drain and Brain Gain (Human Capital in European peripheral regions) is a 5- partner project led by a Dutch university which addresses the phenomena of Brain-drain (exodus of high qualified employees in peripheral areas or loss of highly skilled young professionals to other regions) and brain gain (inward migration of high qualified employees or the return of older, experienced, highly educated people back to their “home” region) in three areas in NWE (Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland). Objectives are to promote a sustainable balance between the two, so that economic development may thrive also in peripheral regions; and ensure development, implementation and evaluation of innovative instruments to reduce the brain-drain and to foster the brain-gain in peripheral regions. The project will investigate how to achieve the more balanced growth and spatial development of medium and small towns, and how to acquire better knowledge of brain-gain effects and their importance for economic and social development. A key focus of the project will be investigating ways to create a ‘healthier’ environment and higher quality of life in the region in order to ‘retain’ and sustain local populations. New instruments shall be developed to measure progress and the solutions achieved. Transnational collaboration should provide the basis for an innovative approach to tackling professional mobility issues and their relation to regional economic development and spatial planning.

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