How are children involved in the neighbourhood?

Stichting Meander starts with forming a youth team from a neighbourhood or school. The youth subsequently start to think about questions like: “what would you want in your neighbourhood?” and “what do other residents need?”. Then, they start their research. With new media like videos, photos and Internet they draw up plusses and minuses of the neighbourhood. Then, the present this information. The children are stimulated to take matters in their own hands. They have to visit the municipality or the housing cooperation to promote execution of their plans. 

Youth are mobilised in a fun way (by means of new media) for the benefit of the neighbourhood.

Next to more social contacts between the youth, the youth have also learn to know other neighbourhood residents and institutes like the municipality of the housing cooperation.

The pilots in Alphen aan den Rijn, Leiden, Leidschendam/Voorburg, Leiderdorp and Zoetermeer have gone well.

The approach offers many opportunities to use the talents of the youth.

A chain of several short projects seems to reach and bind the youth.
In the project youth can experience positive democratic experiences that can come to use in a later stage of their life.

By letting youth participate in the neighbourhood the influence of the youth is strengthened and their feeling of responsibility is increased.

Youth and residents from the neighbourhood

In Alphen aan den Rijn, Leiden and Leidschendam/Voorburg the provincie of Zuid-Holland financed the project. In Leiderdorp and Zoetermeer the municipality did this.