Normal people are defined as the average Texelaars. They are an active part of the community of the island and have mostly, already defined their values, behaviors, perspectives of future possibilities for Texel and its relation with sustainability. The values that we define for them are based on how the Texelaar currently values each category.
Current Values:
Family
Family is very important to the average inhabitant of Texel. Except for large amounts of tourists, Texelaars are pretty much isolated from other people and therefore do not have a lot of contact with people from different communities. This makes family one of the most important values for the Texelaar.
Financial Resources
Financial Resources are not very important to the Texelaar. Career-wise, moving to the mainland would probably be much wiser. The inhabitants of Texel care about their island and their community more than they value financial resources.
Friends
In some sence, friends are not necessarily of much value to the Texelaar. Due to what islanders call: "island feeling", Texelaars are exposed to a form of isolation, where they cannot rely on others, but are dependent on their own capabilities. However, due to the fact that the inhabitants of Texel live in small towns and communities scattered over the island, they do have a strong sense of being connected to other islanders.
Health and Fitness
Health and fitness is a very personal value, which can vary a lot from one person to another. From 1997 to 2007, there has been a large increase in 60-80 year old inhabitants of Texel. On average, the normal inhabitant of Texel is of higher age than an average inhabitant in a city on the mainland. Therefore health might be of greater importance to the average Texelaar than to a mainlander.
Home and Place
Home and Place are very important to the regular Texelaar. Due to small communities scattered over Texel, and the isolation of the island, things such as identity and culture are of utmost importance to the Texelaar. Whilst young people tend to leave the island to experience life on the mainland, older people have often already experienced it, or have another reason to consciously chose to live on Texel.
Leadership
Leadership can be linked to the strong cultural identity of the Texelaar. Since their cultural identity is very strong within their small community, the average Texelaar puts in effort to maintain this identity. This is done by contributing to their community by E.G. becoming involved in matters such as politics, where they have the possibility to make the municipality reflect the needs of the Texelaar.
Leisure pursuits
The island has a lot to offer this group of Texelaars when we look at leisure activities. Even though many attractions and activities are focused more on tourists than on the inhabitants themselves, Texel is an island where one could spend hours hiking, cycling or enjoying a lot of different activities.
Personal Growth
Due to the relatively small amount of youngsters, and the higher average age of the inhabitant of Texel, on average, most of the Texelaars have already developed themselves. Therefore, personal growth is not of much value for this group of inhabitants.
Public Service
Due to the small communities on Texel, people are quite involved with their community. This means that the inhabitants, generally speaking, want to contribute to their valued communities. They do this by getting involved with politics or other initiatives that benefit their communities.
Spirituality
Texelaars are very liberal on average. Even a village such as Oosterend, where there are five churches and religion used to have a strong influence, is now very liberal. (TexelNU, 2013)
Work Satisfaction
Most of the Texelaars are financially dependent on tourism. Many get their satisfaction from working for tourists, but since tourism also has a negative side for Texel (E.G. littering, nuisance), this is far from optimal.
TexelNU. (2013). Texelaars lijken verdacht veel op Nederlanders Retrieved 6-12, 2014, from https://www.texelnu.nl/ontdek-texelnu/eilanders/andere-eilanders/342-texelaars-lijken-verdacht-veel-op-nederlanders
Future Values:
Family
Family is still very important to the average inhabitant of Texel. Except for large amounts of tourists, Texelaars are pretty much isolated from other people and therefore do not have a lot of contact with people from different communities. This makes family one of the most important values for the Texelaar.
Financial Resources
Financial Resources are not, and should not, be very important to the Texelaar. "Studies have shown that once basic needs are met, a substantial increase in financial resources do not translate into substantial increases in happiness". (O'Brien, 2008) The inhabitants of Texel care about their island and their community more than they value financial resources.
Friends
Due to the fact that the inhabitants of Texel live in small towns and communities scattered over the island, they do have a strong sense of being connected to other Texelaars. This community bond between the Texelaars would become even stronger after finding themselves with a collective attitude towards sustainability.
Health and Fitness
Health and fitness is a very personal value, but on average the inhabitants of Texel should be aware about their health and their fitness. The island offers plenty of healthy activities and foods, which contributes to the Texelaars overall health and fitness.
Home and Place
With a common positive attitude towards sustainability, the community bond has grown even better. This does not only have effects on values for Friends, but also for their value of Home and Place.
Leadership
Leadership is not only found in the groups of Young or Entrepreneurial Texelaars, but it is also found within the group of "normal" Texelaars. Due to a platform which empowers all Texelaars, they can all step up to contribute to a better, healthier and more sustainable Texel.
Leisure pursuits
The island has a lot to offer this group of Texelaars when we look at leisure activities and attractions. These activities and attractions are often related to health, fitness and sustainability, and they are focused on tourists as well as inhabitants of Texel. Sustainability related attractions should be something that the community is extra proud of, and inspires the inhabitants, as well as tourists.
Personal Growth
Although most of the Texelaars have already developed themselves, there is still enough room for personal growth. Sustainability-wise, there is more than enough still to learn and to explore related to Texel and themselves.
Public Service
Due to the small communities on Texel, people are very involved with their community. This means that the inhabitants want to contribute to their valued communities. A more sustainable Texel would not only contribute to Texel, but to the entire world in many different ways.
Spirituality
Texelaars are very liberal on average. Even a village such as Oosterend, where there are five churches and religion used to have a strong influence, is now very liberal. (TexelNU, 2013)
Work Satisfaction
Many Texelaars are still financially dependent on tourism. Tourism causes some nuissance, but tourism is generally seen as something very positive of Texel. Texelaars get their satisfaction from working for tourists or working for sustainability related programs in which they can contribute to Texel.
O'Brien, C. (2008). Sustainable Happiness: How Happiness Studies Can Contribute to a More Sustainable Future.
TexelNU. (2013). Texelaars lijken verdacht veel op Nederlanders Retrieved 6-12, 2014, from https://www.texelnu.nl/ontdek-texelnu/eilanders/andere-eilanders/342-texelaars-lijken-verdacht-veel-op-nederlanders
Comparison:
When we compare current and future values, we can see a shift in certain values whilst other important values stay intact. Materialistic values such as financial resources will become less important, whilst the overall feeling of this strong community is amplified by rising values in Home and Place, Leadership and Public Service. Due to sustainable initiatives and also more education concerning sustainability, the people will strive for a more sustainable Texel, eventually resulting in happier inhabitants in general.
Conclusion:
There is a difficulty in working with these values in a current and future system. Without directly communicating these values with the inhabitants of Texel, it is hard to foresee how they feel towards them. Although, for example, this currently valued community feeling stays intact, it is hard to foresee how the Texelaars will react to an evolution of this community feeling. Due to this reason, some assumptions were made when looking at future values and how the Texelaar would/could react to them.
Also, since the system is not entirely defined yet, some values might still be subject to slight changes. These changes might also affect the way that the inhabitants perceive the change in values.
