EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - The Neighbourhood Action Service (NAS)

The Neighbourhood Action Service (NAS) - Antwerp, Belgium

Introduction

The NAS pursues a policy oriented to social cohesion. It has worked on a social cohesion policy plan. The strategic goal is: “In Antwerp residents, organisations and government have skills and tools to develop and maintain social cohesion in an urban environment” with three operational goals. Residents, organisations and government have skills and tools firstly, to organise meetings stimulating social cohesion; secondly, to networks stimulating social cohesion; and thirdly, to assume and make possible active citizenship. Other measure: City Neighbourhood Dialogue.

Description

The NAS works throughout the city, but special attention is reserved for neighbourhoods where there are coexistence issues, sometimes due to large infrastructure works. These are typically neighbourhoods characterised by great ethno-cultural diversity and large number of people in poverty. The projects, city square development, neighbourhood supervision, the meeting centres and the canvassing programmes are concentrated in Antwerp North, the area around the main railway station, schipperskwartier and the parts of the city built in 1800s (Zuid, Kiel, Oud-Berchem, Deurne West, Oud-Borgerhout).

Approach

The NAS performs a series of activities:

Support for volunteers who take care of the cleanliness of the neighbourhoods, organize street parties, and stimulate clubs and associations.
Fifty neighbourhood supervisors with daily presence on the streets and a willingness to listen to residents.
Three meeting centres provide low-threshold meeting opportunities for residents.
The City square development department offers children and young adults opportunities to take part in sports and games at various squares.
Four canvassing programmes to accompany large infrastructure works in the city.
Seven projects to improve community relations.
Coordinating external partners.

Results

Among others, the 50 supervisors help create a situation in which residents feel responsible for where they live.

The current social cohesion policy is not yet sufficiently focused on the interplay with and between the many actors involved in coexistence issues. In the future the service will intensify its coordination of the City’s social cohesion policy and its steering of external partners that work to fulfil this policy.

Learning experiences

The social cohesion policy is evaluated by the City on the basis of the evolution of the indicators for measuring deprivation and privilege in the neighbourhoods:

percentage of risk groups in the population (young people, pensioners, ethnic minorities, natives; single-parent families with one child and with two children);
job market data;
housing data;
education data;
income poverty
illegal tipping data.

The fight against deprivation is approached in an integrated manner, with strengthening of the neighbourhood (social cohesion), more neighbourhood watch activities, more housing inspections, more job market guidance, renovation contracts etc.

Financing

The NAS is funded by the city. The social cohesion policy is mostly funded by the Flemish and federal governments.

Contact info

Integration Department of the city Antwerp (Atlas)
Dirk Willems (Head Division of Diversity and Equal Opportunities), tel. + 32 3 22 77 011

Project start date

Links

Visit the Atlas website

Download the CLIP study on Antwerp Housing (PDF, Eng, 400 KB)

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy

Keywords

Social inclusion & integration