A co-creative development tool kit for social cohesion

Abstract

The Dutch government has decentralised many welfare state tasks to municipalities, because social support is best given at a local level, close to the people who need the support (Rijksoverheid, n.d.). However, for Dutch municipalities this means more responsibilities with less resources and consequently a different, more collaborative way of working. Moreover, it creates a participation society where municipalities have to rely more on the self-reliance of their citizens (Gemeente Etten-Leur, 2014). Municipalities are therefore often looking for ways to improve the social cohesion in neighbourhoods (Steenhuis, 2010). This is where Eco-Units wants to make a difference. Eco-Units is a social enterprise that explores the opportunities of reusing shipping containers in the public outdoor space. The concept that is explored in this project is to develop a container (meeting place) that improves the social cohesion in neighbourhoods. Social cohesion is often a romantic view of villages in the past, where everybody knew each other and took care of each other. Therefore, social cohesion is better defined in this thesis. It does not only refer to the horizontal interaction (among groups and individuals in society), but also to the vertical interaction (between government and society). These interactions can be characterized by for example the participation of individuals (J. Chan, To & E. Chan, 2006). From (field) research in the first phase, it was concluded that there is not one prefabricated solution for all cities and neighbourhoods, because improving the social cohesion asks for a different strategy in every neighbourhood. So, the design goal was specified as: designing a development tool kit for Eco-Units to be able to develop a Unit that stimulates social cohesion in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, in co-creation with local stakeholders and citizens. Therefore, a framework was developed that shows the step that are necessary to develop a container that stimulates social cohesion. Different stakeholders are involved from the start and for citizens a feeling of ownership of the Eco-Unit will be created in the process. The framework starts by finding the right stakeholders to collaborate with and creating trust between these stakeholders. The next phase it to create trust between the stakeholders and citizens, by involving the citizens in the design process. First needs of citizens are identified and then the actual Eco-Unit is co-designed. In the last phase citizens will get more responsibilities and therefore trust is created between citizens. The framework visualises the steps that are needed.From the proposed framework, a tool kit was developed. Each step has its own tool or a list of recommendations to carry out the step. The tools were prototyped and the tools for step 2 and step 5 were tested. Moreover, the tools were discussed with Eco-Units. Lastly, suggestions have been made on to better define the corporate identity.