Barbara Abspoel 3380149 Magnus Vøllo 3916987 Joost Weeda 4027418.

Barbara Abspoel 3380149Magnus Vøllo 3916987Joost Weeda 4027418

Content1. Defining the actor: Jeugdraad Feijenoord Slide nr. 3 – 5

2. The area: Deelgemeente Feijenoord Slide nr. 6 – 10 • Socio-economic status• Ethnical diversity• Social index• Safety index

3. Mapping trends Slide nr. 11 – 16 • On mapping and choosing trends• Segregation or Integration• Understanding Segregation• Economic Development• Understanding Economic Development•

4. Creating scenario’s Slide nr. 17 – 25• Scenario 1 – Hand in Hand Kameraden• Scenario 2 – A New Feijenoord• Scenario 3 – Survival of the Fittest• Scenario 4 – Increasing Inequality

5. Deriving Strategic Implications Slide nr. 26 – 34• How to represent?• What Issues?• Remaining legitimate, how?• Hand in Hand Kameraden• A New Feijenoord• Survival of the Fittest• Increasing Inequality

6. Robust Strategies Slide nr. 35

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1. Defining the actor:THE YOUTH COUNCIL FEIJENOORD

Goal• Representing the 10.000 young people living in the Deelgemeente

Feijenoord

Tasks• Giving advice to the local politicians• This can be asked advice on a topic presented by politicians• This can also be unasked advice, in which the youth council comes up

with relevant topics that concerns the youth in the area• Organizing activities for (and by) young people in the area• Recruit new members for the youth council• Be present at meetings that relate to the topics of advice, organized

by other organizations in the deelgemeente Feijenoord

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Meet The Youth Council

• The Council currently exists of 10 members and is in a continuous process of recruiting new members• New members and more members means higher legitimacy and higher

representation• New members are selected by the project manager, trainees and current

members• Members are aged 14 to 25 years and live in the area (Deelgemeente

Feijenoord)• Within the council there is a high variety of educational level, age and

cultural background• The Council meets every one or two weeks to discuss the currently dealt

topics and related advice• The members have had a five-day training in Brussels, The Hague and

Rotterdam• The Council is funded by the deelgemeente/semi-municipality

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Strategic Questions

The Youth Council of Feijenoord struggles daily with finding an answer to the following strategic questions:

• How should the Council represent the 10.000 young people in the area of Feijenoord?

• What topics are most relevant at the moment? What should the Council focus on? And how?

• How does the Council remain legitimate in the eyes of those they represent, as well as in the eyes of politicians?

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2. The Area: FEIJENOORD• The Deelgemeente Feijenoord is a historical working class harbor area • The area has 70.000 inhabitants and exists of 8 districts• Low socio-economic status• 1 out of 3 persons receives welfare benefits (29%)• Almost half of the people is younger than 35 years• 56% non-Western immigrants• Relatively low educated• Low social index• Low safety index

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Low socio-economic status

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High ethnical diversity

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Safety Index: “Attention!”

See footnote ¹

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Social Index

Feijenoord: 4,9

Rotterdam: 5,5

See footnote ²

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3. Mapping Trends

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On Mapping and Choosing the trends• The four trends were chosen because they were thought to be the four trends with the

most impact on the area of Feijenoord, with the underlying assumption that especially major changes in the area of Feijenoord will impact on the Youth Council, since that is the area which youth they need to represent.

• Population aging was deemed to be of high impact, since it has consequences for the group the youth council represents and their relative size compared to other age groups. However, it was not chosen as a key uncertainty because population aging can be predicted through studying current demographics

• Social welfare cutbacks (their occurences – or not – and size) are uncertain and of relatively large impact on the youth council, since they might affect the youth in Feijenoord and thus change the needs of those they represent. However, it was not chosen as a key uncertainty because we felt it is largely captured in one of the other trends, economic development.

• Both Economic Growth as well as Segregation or Integration are considered to be very uncertain and have a large possible impact on the people living in Feijenoord, including its youth, and thus on the Youth Council. How exactly, will be made apparant through the scenarios later in this presentation.

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Segregation or integration

• Will ethnic and social-economic groups in Feijenoord become either more segregated or more integrated, in the next 5 years? Will there be more conflict or cohesion, as a result?

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Understanding segregation

Whether Feijenoord develops into a more segregated or integrated area will have consequences for the area. We argue that…

• Trust in neighbors • Social capital and state of civil society • Equality and level of discrimination

…will have an important impact on key factors in society such as crime, sense of belonging, safety, participation. Hence, the development of segregation is important to map as we believe that it is linked to some of the core determinants of the everyday life.

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Economic development

• Will there be economic growth or economic decline in Feijenoord, in the next 5 years?

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Understanding economic developmentThe state of the economy affects several important factors in the everyday life in Feijenoord: • How many can afford education?• Number of new businesses being started• Unemployment-rates• Income • Urban developmentDepending on the development of these measures we argue that other key factors such as crime, health, and safety either increase or decrease. This illustrates the importance of the trend, as Feijenoord will look very different in many aspects, depending on the development of these factors. 16

4. Creating scenarios

“Hand in Hand Kameraden” “A New Feijenoord”

“Survival of the Fittest” “Increasing Inequality”

Based on our understanding of how the trends impact the life within the area of Feijenoord, we created the following four scenarios

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“Hand in Hand Kameraden”

This is a scenario in which low segregation and

economic decline occurs. This gives a society in

which people help each other out when they need

something. There is some sense of belonging to a

group. People may trade furniture, cook together,

and solve problems together. Due to the economic

decline little jobs are available, there is high

unemployment, but also a high level of social- and

voluntary work. A booming civil society is the

result of strong social ties and relative poverty.

People take care of each other and streets are

safe.

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“A New Feijenoord”

Urban renewal draws more business and

money to the area, increasing its diversity. More

local jobs result in lower unemployment. Both

the physical environment as well as the average

income rises. With renewed vigor, the

inhabitants of Feijenoord engage in an active

civil society. Problems such as crime and

unsafety do not disappear entirely, but do

diminish strongly and are tackled in unison by

the various groups in society. 20

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“Survival of the Fittest”

Economic decline lowers the amount of jobs

available in the area. Unemployment rises,

especially under young people. For lack of

things to do, more young people hang around

in the streets, which creates nuisance and

feelings of unsafety in the neighborhood.

Crime levels rise. In these uncertain times,

people are drawn to what they know and

become suspicious of those they identify as

different. Segregation between higher and

lower income groups and between groups of

different ethnic background increases.

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“Increasing inequality”

Feijenoord is developing into an important

economical center of the city, new businesses

with skyscraper offices and trendy stores

attract wealthy citizens’ to come and live in

gentrified enclaves of the town. Those not

affected by these positive changes however,

remain segmented in challenging social

situations. They feel left behind, lose

confidence in political institutions, crime rates

are rising.24

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5. Strategic implications- Per strategic question

In each of these 4 scenarios, the Youth Council of Feijenoord should have their strategic questions in mind:

• If this scenario would come to be, how to represent the youth of Feijenoord?

• If this scenario would come to be, what topics should we focus on? And how?

• If this scenario would come to be, how do we remain legitimate in the eyes of those we represent as well as in the eyes of politicians? 26

How to represent?

Hand-in-Hand-Kameraden• Mobilize young people to do

volunteer work and become active for the youth council

A New Feijenoord• Mobilize young people to

do volunteer work and become active for the youth council

Survival of the Fittest• Equal representation of groups• Bring together different groups

of young people in a positive way

Increasing Inequality• Represent all youth, but

with a focus on the underpriviliged

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What issues?

Hand-in-Hand-Kameraden• Focus on basic needs in the

community • Explore possibilities that

stimulate economic growth

A New Feijenoord• Focus on ‘lighter’ topics

such as culture, education, environment, sports.

Survival of the Fittest• Focus on basic needs in the

community and aim for consensus on these topics.

• Be aware of how sensitive topics can make or break you.

Increasing Inequality• Focus on topics that

empower underprivileged youth

• Make sure these are represented in the youth council.

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Remaining legitimate, how?

Hand-in-Hand-Kameraden• Create strong networks

with community and politics

• Emphasize the shared area identity

Survival of the Fittest• Focus on original

initiatives (advice and activities)

• Be an independent actor facilitating interaction between groups

Increasing Inequality• Connect privileged and

underprivileged • Advocate that economic

growth should also benefit the underprivileged.

A New Feijenoord• Prove that the council is

still needed by being professional, active and visible

• Focus on own initiatives (advice and activities)

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Strategic implications- Per scenario

Although the council should keep all strategic questions in mind when analyzing their future strategic choices, some questions will be more relevant then others depending on what the scenarios looks like.

In the following slides we have therefore tried to highlight the main challenges and possibilities for the youth council within each scenario.

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Hand in Hand Kameraden- The Youth Council as a FacilitatorIn this scenario the high level of integration is a possibility that can be taken advantage of. Being a youth council in this world entails that representation can be achieved by facilitating young people to do volunteer work and become active for the youth council. Further, they should create strong networks with community and politics by emphasizing the shared area identity.

The economic decline is a problem, and hence the council should focus on basic needs in the community and explore possibilities that stimulate economic growth. This is important in order to stay relevant and legitimate among the young people.

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A New Feijenoord- The Youth Council as a Mobilizer and Initiater

This scenario includes the possibilities stemming from a strong civil society. This means that the youth council should mobilize young people to do volunteer work and become active for the youth council.

A potential challenge may be that politicians and youth don’t see the need for a council in this new and better world. In order to remain legitimate and avoid being seen as obsolete the council should focus on own initiatives (advice and activities). These initiatives can be related to ‘lighter’ topics such as culture, education, environment, sports. They must prove that the council is still needed by being professional, active and visible. 32

Survival of the Fittest- The Youth Council as InnovatorEven though both trends are taking the negative direction in this scenario, we see a possibility for the council in that they can take the role as a bridge between different groups. When traditional policies are perceived as failing, a window opens up for innovative initiatives (advice and activities) from the council.

In order to bring together different groups of young people in a positive way, they should be an independent actor facilitating interaction between groups.

The segregation is a challenge that forces the council to consider equal representation of different groups. They should also be aware of how sensitive topics can make or break you. The focus should be on basic needs in the community, and the council should aim for consensus on these topics.

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Increasing Inequality- The Youth Council as a Bridge

The challenge for the youth council in this scenario is that although the economy are booming, certain groups are left behind. Therefore it is important to represent all youth, but with a focus on the underprivileged. This can be achieved by focusing on topics that empower underprivileged youth, making sure these are represented in the youth council and by connect privileged and underprivileged.

The council should try to take advantage of the economic growth by advocating that this should also benefit the underprivileged.

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1. Mobilize young people to do volunteer work and become active for the youth council while still paying attention to equal representation of group.

2. Focus on basic needs3. Focus on own initiatives (advice and activities)

6. Robust strategies

1,2

1,2,3 1,2

1,3

Hand in Hand Kameraden A New Feijenoord

Survival of the Fittest Increasing Inequality

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