Participating in Neighbourhoods

CASE STUDY

Participating in neighbourhoods

Participating in Neighbourhoods aims to empower migrants to fully participate in local society. Volunteers assist them to reach the participation goals they set themselves and to get a better command of the Dutch language.

Our organisation is a local chapter, based in the city of Eindhoven, of the non-profit association Humanitas in the Netherlands. The organisation was founded on 31 May 1945 directly after the Second World War, to provide support to the impoverished population of the Netherlands. It has since grown to an organisation of over 80 local chapters, divided over five regions all over the Netherlands. The National Office is based in Amsterdam.

Humanitas supports more than 57,800 (2014) people who are in need of a helping hand. Humanitas offers a broad spectrum of activities, ranging from buddy projects for immigrants to chat services addressing lone- liness, and from parenting support to support groups for people dealing with grief and loss. The Humanitas services are free of charge and avai- lable to anyone, irrespective of age, ethnicity, lifestyle and sexual orienta- tion. The core of Humanitas’ services are provided by volunteers.

Our local chapter in Eindhoven currently offers 10 different services, provided by approximately 500 volunteers and 10 staff for over 1,000 people in our city and surrounding villages. We have co-operative bonds with other local and regional non-profit organisations and, increasingly, trade and industry companies.

Published in September 2015 © SOLIDAR PARTICIPATING IN NEIGHBOURHOODS

We run the project in co-operation with the local chapter of the Dutch Red Cross and the local OVAA WHAT ARE THE LOCAL SOCIAL REALITIES? Foundation (an organisation promoting cultural The city of Eindhoven counts some 220,000 inhabi- diversity). tants, of whom more than 23,000 have a (very) poor command of the Dutch language. Therefore they WHAT ARE THE KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE are unable to participate in local society in a way PROJECT/SERVICE? they themselves, most of their fellow citizens and the local policy makers would wish. Many of these Target groups/users: 23,000 people have foreign roots. Recent develop- Criteria for participating in the project (cumulative): ments within the EU, around the Mediterranean 1. The potential user lacks the capacity (including and in the Middle East give rise to an ongoing influx financial resources) to eliminate his/her defi- of immigrants with hardly any knowledge of the ciency in Dutch in order to be able to partici- Dutch. pate in society according to his/her own desire. 2. The potential user cannot appeal to or claim In our city there is a great demand from people of other language teaching facilities, provided foreign origin for support for their efforts, outside for or subsidised by the local government for the normal channels, to actively and autonomously persons in his/her position. participate in local society. Since we started the pro- 3. The potential user is registered as a resident in ject some five years ago we have never felt the need Eindhoven. to advertise it. Every year more people apply to take part than we can handle. In 2014 we supported 383 Principles people, this year we will support a maximum of 473 Furthering participation of, reduction in, exclusion participants. of, increasing independence and empowerment of the target group. WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC INNOVATIVE ELEMENTS IN YOUR PROJECT/SERVICE? Support is given only to residents meeting the There is a gap between the regular educational target group criteria and who sign up of their own system offering language teaching and the needs free will. of residents with a foreign background. Many of these people for various reasons cannot or will not Support is given voluntarily by preferably native make use of the existing institutions for language speaking fellow citizens and is free of charge (our education (e.g. legal obstacles, a lack of qualifica- project is fully subsidised by the municipal council). tion for and/or connection to the regular school system, cultural inhibitions, financial problems). The Support is customised in accordance with the parti- innovative element in our project consists of filling cipation goals set by the users themselves. this gap by partnering a single (preferably) native speaking volunteer with a single user or a small Users have three choices of support: individual or group of users. These volunteers support the users group support (duration: half a year each) with a in reaching their participation goals by practising the Dutch language in weekly face to face meetings and teaching them how to find their own way in Dutch society.

2 Case Study PARTICIPATING IN NEIGHBOURHOODS

Yes, provided that: • There is a demand from potential users willing focus on improving practical language skills in order to integrate of their own free will who are able to participate and/or, individual or group support and (legally) allowed to set their own participa- (also for a duration of half a year) with a focus on tion goals. (searching ways of) active participation. • The organisation/project is kept local, low key, easy accessible and works with native speaking Improving a users’ command of the Dutch language fellow citizens volunteering to give the support. is a means to an end: active and autonomous parti- • There are no obstacles preventing potential cipation in Eindhoven society. users entering the project, such as legal restric- tions, requests for payment, peer group pres- Drivers sure to not participate, etc. We have developed this project to fill the gap • Volunteers are trained and guided by professio- between the language teaching provided by the nal staff. The persons or organisations running regular education system and the needs of residents the project must find the means to finance it. with a foreign background. Many of these people for various reasons cannot or will not make use of the existing institutions for language education Contact (e.g. legal obstacles, a lack of qualification for and/ www.meedoenindewijken.nl or connection to the regular school system, cultural Mrs. Sushma van Dalfsen inhibitions, financial problems). Willem van Konijnenburglaan 6 5613 DW Eindhoven Our humanistic values prompt us to foster the ac- The Netherlands tive inclusion of fellow beings in our society. T: (+31) 402 44 33 11 M: (+31) 640 13 62 38 Outcome E: [email protected] A vast majority of users leave the project with an increased sense of independence and reduced exclusion and a more extensive social network.

Almost half of the users end up participating in neighbourhood activities and/or doing volunteer work.

More than ten percent of the users are able to start an educational course, an internship or a job.

Can this project be transferred to a larger context (a bigger region, the whole country, EU-wide)? If so, what is needed to transfer it (special structures, finances, common definition of standards...)? If not, why not?

3 Case Study Rue du Commerce I Handelsstraat 22 1000 Brussels Belgium T +32 2 500 10 20 F +32 2 500 10 30

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SOLIDAR, together with our national members and partners, has developed 17 case studies in 2015, presenting innovative, effective, sustainable and tailor made models to promote social inclusion, the social economy and quality job creation by adapting a social investment approach. In their daily work, SOLIDAR members and partners anticipate new or unmet needs of socio-eco- nomically vulnerable people and empower them to actively participate in society and to access the labour market. These case studies gather strong evidence of the social impact of the activities undertaken by our members and partners to help Member States making progress towards the achievement of the social and employment objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the implementation of the Social Investment Package.

SOLIDAR is a European network of membership based Civil Society Organisations who gather several millions of citizens throughout Europe and worldwide. SOLIDAR voices the values of its member organisations to the EU and international institutions across the three main policy sectors; social affairs, lifelong learning and international cooperation.

This publication has been produced with the financial support of the European Union. The information contained in this publication does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission.