How can social cohesion be promoted at the urban district level in Amsterdam?

The concept of the StadsSpelen involves holding preliminary rounds of five kinds of competitions – dance, cooking, music, knowledge and football – in the various urban districts. These preliminary rounds take place at a single location such as a city square within each urban district on a Saturday or Sunday. The winners of these preliminary rounds will have the honour of defending their urban district during the final competitions to be held in the Olympic Stadium in 2007.

The StadsSpelen were launched in Amsterdam’s urban district of Zeeburg in May 2006. They are scheduled to run for sixteen months and culminate in the final competition in 2007. The preliminary round of games held in Zeeburg was the first event to put theory into practice and serve as an example for sustained input in the City of Amsterdam.

The StadsSpelen are being organised by a city-level group as well as project groups working at the district level. The city-level group consists of around fifteen people in charge of formats, logistics, and marketing and communication for both the preliminary rounds and the final competition. The project groups are made up of people active at the district level who are mostly responsible for attracting participants and spectators to the preliminary rounds.

Each project group originates from the residents’ network established in its particular district. The members of these residents’ groups are recruited during events and gatherings held by many different organisations in the district such as the mosque, the community centre, ethnic self-help organisations and the urban district council. It is important that these residents’ networks as well as the participants in the competitions reflect the diversity of their own urban district. The foundation also deploys its own ambassadors to help each district locate appropriate residents.

Three hundred participants and three thousand spectators showed up for the event in Zeeburg. There was great diversity among the visitors, and the interaction among fellow residents of this urban district was looked upon in positive terms.

Those organising the StadsSpelen have reached several milestones over the last two years. The group’s number of volunteers has grown from 8 to 45. Also joining these volunteers and serving as production manager for the StadsSpelen is the former project manager of Sail Amsterdam. A recommendations committee has also been established with Job Cohen serving as chairperson.

In the absence of a real contest, the afternoon in Zeeburg took on the quality of a showcase event. In some cases, winners had already left before the awards presentation.

The people in the project group organising the event for Zeeburg were often troubled by having so much to learn about so many different aspects and having to deal with so many situations that were entirely new for them. They were faced with uncertainties and a lack of clarity about the available budget, the available manpower, and the distribution of tasks. The budgeting and costing methods were unclear to many people in charge of the various disciplines. Due to a lack of ongoing communication about these matters, mutual expectations about financial options were not coordinated effectively.

The importance of attracting participants had been underestimated; no clearly defined procedures for attracting and selecting participants and volunteers were used.

Working together effectively with other organisations and making good use of their connections will save the people organising the StadsSpelen a great deal of time. For this reason, they are now collaborating with organisations such as Impuls and Wijkalliantie.

The Municipality of Amsterdam, Rabobank, KPN, Heineken, FDO, Oranje Fonds and VSBfonds are providing the StadsSpelen projects with financial support during 2006. The Stichting StadsSpelen is currently meeting with these parties with regard to the StadsSpelen in 2007.

Stichting Stadsspelen
Hannah Wiegerinck (Head of fundraising team)

01/05/2004

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Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration

Integration of social groups, Quality of life