Dirty streets were the number one annoyance in the Amsterdam district of Bos en Lommer. The district council decided to adopt a new approach after determining that providing information by means of a local newspaper, website or letter was insufficient, partly because many local residents do not speak Dutch. But informing them was crucial, because the success of the project depended on bringing about a behavioural change among local residents.

Bos en Lommer had to be made cleaner. This necessitated bringing about a change in behaviour among the local population. District information officers explained the waste disposal rules to local residents by means of informal and individual house visits and street interviews. The interviews enabled the information officers to identify the main problems and pass them on to the district council. The individualised approach is reflected by the circumstance that the information officers come from the target groups. The information officers are jobseekers in Bos en Lommer who have received special training. There are also voluntary district teams that brainstorm on how to keep the district clean and take photos to gauge the degree of cleanness.

Ten jobless local residents received communication training before going out into the district in pairs to visit houses to explain the new approach to street waste. After installation of underground waste containers, the visits were repeated. All problems identified through these conversations were fed back by the information officers to the district council. Wherever possible they were factored into the approach to street waste.

A total of 4000 information-providing conversations were held and 1000 street interviews. Children at seven primary schools received lessons in street garbage. The local council laid down in its 2007 spring policy memorandum that local information officers would be made part of the new district-dedicated approach. The vast majority of local residents are familiar with the new approach to tackling street waste in the district. The amount of waste on the streets has been reduced considerably. Annual cleaning costs have decreased by €200,000.

Residents of Bos en Lommer

The following actions have been taken:

The deployment of local information officers was crucial - they spoke the language of the local residents and in many cases knew them personally. This benefited the effectiveness and interactivity of the information-providing conversations.

City of Amsterdam - Deelgemeente Bos en Lommer
H. Visser, tel. +31 20 4499029

01/05/2005

case

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Community development

Citizens' participation