Apeldoorn

Apeldoorn in the Province of Gelderland has 155,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the mid-eastern part of the country, surrounded by a pictoresque landscape and cities with historic centres which build up a highly interrelated urban region. The lack of higher education institutions in Apeldoorn resulted in a relatively old working age population and a relatively low-educated working class of both Dutch nationals and immigrants. Since 1996 has enhanced a preventive integrated approach to avoid exclusion and deterioration of social cohesion.

Apeldoorn focuses on integrated approaches to reach people dependant on social welfare and to motivate them to be active in their lives. A main idea is to improve the combination of individual social help and community building activities. Apeldoorn is also looking for ways to to include small scale economic activities (e.g. entrepreneurship) and related questions in the fields of education in the neighbourhood of South.

The district South was chosen as a project area. Constructed in the 1950s and 1960s it is characterized by terraced houses and apartment buildings. This neighbourhood has a relatively large share of socially and economically disadvantaged inhabitants in its population.