Interreg

Demographic changes and megatrends put pressure on those responsible for public space. How must public spaces be managed in the future so that people like to stay there and feel safe? How must residential areas be built, furnished and maintained so that people can live there happily and in community longer than ever before? How can citizens take on a self-responsible role and how can their commitment and more self-help be encouraged? In the Netherlands and Germany, these and other issues are of concern to local authorities and housing associations, which are faced with increasing challenges and demands on their services. It is therefore time to exchange experiences across borders and in cooperation and to combine strengths and insights in order to test promising measures in practical field trials, evaluate them together and publish them in an innovative strategy handbook from which other regions will also benefit.
Since the beginning of 2019, a total of 10 field trials, also known as pilot projects, have been running in the cities of Ahlen, Emsdetten, Enschede and Hengelo. Within the framework of these pilot projects, various measures are being implemented to promote the coexistence of residents of different residential areas. These include, for example, the establishment of a tenants’ meeting place with a so-called neighbourhood caretaker or the creation of a “model street” with flowerbeds that are jointly tended by the residents. Another pilot project has as its theme “Staying in the neighbourhood in old age”. In this project a contact point for older citizens was created with the involvement of a mobile care service. In another project, a “Tiny Forest” with an additional vegetable garden is being created, which is also jointly cultivated by the residents of the neighbourhood. Several projects focus on keeping the neighbourhood jointly clean. Regular clean-up operations are carried out here with the participation of the residents.
Although the pilot projects will run for almost 12 months, the feeling of togetherness in the neighbourhood has already been improved. All participants benefit from the sometimes different experiences of the Dutch and German partners.