Master Theses

In 2023-2024, four master students, Sanne Klarenbeek, Amanda Doornik, Hector van Steenbergen and Bregje Sterk, contributed to the Wellbeing Dashboard by writing their thesis research within the project. The four studies took place in Amsterdam and within the framework of wellbeing, the students investigated various phenomena through different theoretical lenses. For example, Bregje focused on studying the values from which wellbeing organizations operate, how these values translate into concrete actions and to what extent this has a positive effect on solidarity and wellbeing. Sanne’s research focused on young people in Zuidoost, in order to establish a better understanding of young people’s perception of their neighborhood, wellbeing and social cohesion. Amanda investigated the role of local government structures in promoting social inclusion of underrepresented and marginalized ethnic minorities. Hector used both qualitative and quantitative research methods to investigate the relationship between facilities and the influence of community organizations.

Thesis Bregje Sterk

Bregje investigated the role of wellbeing organizations in strengthening solidarity and wellbeing. The importance of this research has to do with the consequences of a shift in responsibilities for the provision of welfare services. This shift is characterized by a decentralizing movement, which means that local actors increasingly bear more responsibility where national governments used to bear that responsibility. Behind this movement lie both ideological and economic motives, such as budget cuts. Various governments, including the Dutch government, increasingly encourage citizens and local citizen initiatives to play a more active role in society. Solidarity is expected to step in where the government withdraws. To prevent people who are dependent on welfare services from ending up in increasingly vulnerable situations, it is important to investigate how citizen initiatives can play a role in strengthening solidarity.

The thesis addressed the following question: How do value-driven citizen-based initiatives approach wellbeing using a philosophies of solidarity lens and what does this imply for collective wellbeing initiatives in the policy context of welfare decentralization? Four different philosophies served as a lens to create a basic understanding of the meaning of solidarity. Ten different organizations were studied by means of interviews, attending meetings and studying documents.

The most important finding concerns a distinction that can be made in the approach of welfare organizations. By focusing on the different values that are important for an organization (see Fig. 1), it became clear that some organizations try to promote wellbeing and solidarity by focusing on self-reliance and personal responsibility. The other part of the organizations starts from other values, with the emphasis on collective responsibility and solidarity. By analyzing these differences in values using the philosophies, as well as theories on wellbeing economics and active citizenship, it was argued in the thesis that the approach of collective responsibility contributes to solidarity and wellbeing, while the approach of self-reliance does not promote this. This was partly explained by the economic motive that lies behind the self-reliance strategy. The recommendation that follows from this research is that there should be a more critical approach to what constitutes a ‘wellbeing organization’.  In practical terms, the advice would be to invest in organizations that build on collective responsibility and solidarity, as strengthening informal networks will play an increasingly important role in promoting well-being and solidarity.

Figure 1. Diagram values organisations (Source: Bregje Sterk)

 

The thesis contains many visual components, including this diagram. This diagram is based on the values that the ten organizations indicated they considered important. The darker the color of the bubble, the more often the value was mentioned by different organizations. The size of the bubble is an indication of how important the value is for the organization(s). From this diagram it can be deduced that among the ten organizations studied, the values trust, connectedness, awareness, participation and equality are considered the most important.

Thesis Sanne Klarenbeek

In line with the findings of the Wellbeing Dashboard project, Sanne’s thesis started from the idea that the experienced reality of people in Amsterdam Zuidoost does not always correspond with the factors that are often used for wellbeing measurements. Especially among young people, attention for neighborhood facilities and wellbeing stood out. International research into wellbeing often does not sufficiently involve young people, which motivated Sanne to focus on this group in her research into wellbeing, the neighborhood and social cohesion.

To gain a more nuanced understanding of young people’s perceptions, the photovoice method was used. Five young people were asked to each take ten photos of their neighbourhood, which served as a starting point to discuss the points of interest (see Fig. 2). By applying this method, it was possible to start from the experiences of the young people themselves instead of sticking to purely statistical indicators.

One of the challenges was obtaining a diverse sample. Despite this challenge, it was possible to exploratively show that social dynamics are reflected at the neighbourhood level rather than just at the individual level. An interesting finding was that playgrounds reflect the gathering and composition of young people, as well as the underlying choices and relationships that shape these.

Although more research is needed to determine whether these findings are widely shared among young people, this exploratory research shows that playgrounds may be indicative of policies that aim to promote inclusion. This research contributes to a better understanding of how young people experience their neighbourhood and wellbeing, and can help policymakers to develop more inclusive policies that better reflect the lived reality of young people in Amsterdam Zuidoost.

Figure 2 shows a compilation of photos taken by some (young) residents of Zuidoost. The idea behind this assignment is that through the photos, one gets a glimpse into young people’s perspective on theirneighbourhood.

Thesis Amanda Doornik

Amanda investigated the topic of local governance efforts aimed at promoting social inclusion of ethnic minorities, who are still underrepresented and marginalised in decision-making processes. Although neighbourhood-level initiatives and certain municipal policies support inclusion, other municipal policies can hinder this. Residents face significant barriers to participating in local governance, such as lengthy processes, complex layers of bureaucracy and cultural differences. These obstacles cause frustration and disconnection, leading to low participation in opportunities offered by the municipality. This creates a cycle of exclusion, where despite efforts to involve all residents, few actually participate in the decision-making process. To study this phenomenon, the following research question was addressed: How do participatory decision-making practices at the local municipal level contribute to the social inclusion or exclusion of people with a non-European migration background in Amsterdam Zuidoost and how can this be promoted or improved? The research involved both people from the municipality and residents of Amsterdam Zuidoost.

This study recommends that the municipality of Amsterdam should bridge the gap with better communication through personalized and direct involvement, better co-creation and communication with neighborhood platforms and diversifying its communication modes such as posters and pamphlets.

Table 1. indicates which barriers are experienced by residents of Amsterdam Zuidoost in communication with the municipality regarding local decision-making. The most common barrier is the long duration of policy processes and the processing of the problems and wishes of residents in the neighbourhood. People become discouraged and exhausted after having put in all the effort, time and energy but not seeing any tangible results after a long time.

Table 2. shows the barriers experienced by the municipality. The most common barrier is ‘not being able to reach everyone’. The municipality does its best to inform everyone about municipal decisions and to involve everyone, but unfortunately this does not reach everyone in the relevant neighbourhood/district, which means that the policy is sometimes unfortunately not accurate in terms of resident representation and their input.

Thesis Hector van Steenbergen

In recent decades, many developments have taken place in Amsterdam with regard to the housing market. On the one hand, many investments have taken place in the form of new construction projects and renovations, on the other hand, neighbourhoods with many social housing units have lagged behind in terms of development. The large difference in development within the city has consequences for the measures of social cohesion, involvement, trust in the municipality and satisfaction with the neighbourhood. Where neighbourhoods with a relatively low social economic status and many social housing units, such as in Zuidoost, score low on these indicators. In this context, Hector started researching the role of community organisations in strengthening social cohesion and to what extent access to local facilities plays a role in this. The research question addressed in the thesis is as follows: Does the greater presence of amenities in a neighborhood lead to a greater size and influence of the network of neighborhood organizations and the associated community organizations?

Hector used both qualitative and quantitative research methods and this research showed that there is a negative correlation between a greater distance to amenities and the influence of organizations within the local organizational networks. This negative correlation is indicated in Figure 3. It is important to emphasize that this research indicates this relationship, but that more research is needed to validate these insights. More extensive research into this phenomenon is important for urban planning and community development.