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Report on windmills suggests innovation for national icon


Tags: Excerpts from the Windmill

BREDA – A study by eight students of the Breda-based international college NHTV conclude that owners of windmills ought to take better advantage of the nostalgic aspects of their characteristic buildings. This approach could help owners of windmills financial survive in the future. The students focused their study on 59 windmill found in the northeastern region of Brabant. The simplicity and the authenticity of windmills are their strongest appeal, the report notes, suggesting that millers show their craft and possibly offer interested people an opportunity to work alongside them for a fee. Such programs could enhance the appeal of the windmills. The story of this icon of the Netherlands needs to be better told in schools as well and more events organized in and around the windmills. The society De Hollandse Molen calls the study refreshing and worth considering. While it agrees that the suggestions would generate more funds for the windmill-owners, it wants to study the issue of financial independence in more detail.