Merwe-Vierhavens (M4H) is an area in transition. How can M4H become an innovative and inclusive living and working environment that also benefits the surrounding districts? Veldacademie is using interviews to map out the current networks of entrepreneurs and, as in BoTu, is organising story walks and story cafes that will contribute directly to networking. This approach creates a rich picture of opportunities and bottlenecks in the area. And with this information, it is easier for entrepreneurs and residents to join a local network and make fruitful connections with others.
Photo: Jan van der Ploeg
Development M4H
Port site M4H is an area as large as the inner city of Rotterdam and together with RDM (Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij), forms the Makers District of Rotterdam. In time, this location will become a mixed area with space for living, working, culture, catering, sports, education and a high-quality business climate for the (innovative) manufacturing industry.
In collaboration with programme bureau M4H, Hogeschool Rotterdam and Stichting Wijkcollectie, Veldacademie is investigating potential opportunities and threats that development in M4H will bring to the surrounding neighbourhoods. We are monitoring whether and how connections in the area are developing, and if so, how they extend outwards.
Opportunities and Threats
- Employment mismatch
One of the goals of the transformation of M4H is to provide employment for the entire population of the Rotterdam region. Currently, there are a number of obstacles that complicate the achievement of this objective. For example, there is a mismatch between employment in the area and the available workforce in surrounding districts. A considerable number of companies in the new manufacturing industry are primarily looking for highly educated personnel with specific qualities, however this group has a relatively limited presence in the surrounding districts. Moreover, almost half of the companies in M4H operate on an international scale. Companies with a local sales market in particular appear to be more inclined to attract staff from the surrounding districts. There are possibilities for connection, but they are not optimally used. For instance, there is a lack of visibility of both suitable candidates in the districts and vacancies of companies in M4H. Also, the local network in the surrounding districts is hardly used in the recruitment procedure. -
Public meeting places as a condition for connection
Companies in M4H are part of various networks and operate on different scales. Most meetings in the area take place indoors, behind closed doors, for example in multi-tenant buildings. This hinders visibility and cross-pollination. Public and qualitative meeting places in the area are a crucial link where various networks from inside and outside the district can cross each other. -
Unknown becomes unloved
Entrepreneurs who know the surrounding districts have a more positive image of them than entrepreneurs who have little or no knowledge of them. Various entrepreneurs indicated that they wanted to do something for the surrounding districts, but did not know how. For these entrepreneurs, it may be helpful if the unused potential in the neighbourhoods becomes more visible, for example by organising events for entrepreneurs in the neighbourhoods. -
Eigenaarschap
Ondernemers zitten vol energie en ideeën over de toekomst van het gebied. Er ligt een kans om huidige bedrijven ruimte te geven om het gebied mede te ontwikkelen. Een grondpositie in het gebied versterkt het gevoel van eigenaarschap onder ondernemers. De verwachting is dat eigenaarschap ook de betrokkenheid van ondernemers vergroot en daarmee ook hun inzet voor de buurt en de directe omgeving. -
Ownership
Entrepreneurs are full of energy and ideas about the future of the area. There is an opportunity to give these companies room to jointly develop the area. A grounded position in the area strengthens the sense of ownership among entrepreneurs. The expectation is that ownership will also increase the involvement of entrepreneurs and thus their commitment to the neighbourhood and the immediate surroundings. -
Accessible knowledge and innovation
Research, such as in living labs, makes knowledge accessible to the surrounding area and stimulates new sub-networks based on cooperation. By involving local primary and secondary schools in the research processes, students from surrounding districts can make contacts and benefit from the knowledge in the area. This is in line with the programme's objectives to create an open innovation environment and to develop the area as a living lab and a showcase for the circular future of the city.
Monitoring through action research
For the research in M4H, we conducted thirty structured interviews. We also used the information we collected at the story cafes and story walks we organised in and for the area together with the neighbourhood collection foundation. This is an innovative form of action research which we have also used in part in our research into community resilience in Bospolder-Tussendijken.
In M4H, we mainly focus on the networks of the companies in the area: we literally map them out, but also stimulate networking by bringing people together in cafés and on walks. During the story walks, all participants come into contact with each other even more than during the story cafes, for example when they walk past a place that is meaningful to them and tell each other about it.
Photo's: Stichting Wijkcollectie
On the one hand, the cafés and walks aim to strengthen the sense of community among entrepreneurs in the area and to stimulate exchange with residents of surrounding neighbourhoods. On the other hand, it offers our researchers the opportunity to gather information about network formation, for example through observation and interviews. The impact of these events will also be measured, which in time will allow us to identify what such interventions contribute to neighbourhood development.
Knowledge remains accessible for everyone
The social networks of initiatives, companies and entrepreneurs are documented and visualised by means of dynamic GIS maps. These maps are available online for everyone via the networks map and the initiatives map.
The stories of entrepreneurs and users of the area are documented in a drawing, 'M4H - Wijk over de Dijk' as a part of the research report. This hand-drawn map shows a number of striking findings from the study in an accessible manner. The drawing was made by studio Nadia Nena.
Research partners and client have the results of a year of monitoring and events at their disposal. These findings have been discussed and translated into a social framework that the Programmabureau M4H (Programme agency M4H) can take along in the process of transformation. The results were also shared with a wider group of stakeholders during a publicly accessible discussion series in October 2021 about the social aspects of the area development, organised by the Keilecollectief in the Keilepand.
More story walks and story cafes in 2022
The research so far has been a first step in mapping the innovation network in M4H and the social network in surrounding districts. This helps fostering innovative and inclusive development in M4H, while strengthening the position of the surrounding neighbourhoods. However, there are still many questions that remain unanswered. That is why a follow-up project was started in April 2022. Through interviews with various entrepreneurs and initiators from M4H and surrounding neighbourhoods that are a part of the existing networks, we will investigate how relationships in the area have come about and are developing.
At the same time, we will again focus on story cafes and walks in cooperation with the Stichting Wijkcollectie (local neighbourhood foundation): to not only investigate the networks but also actively contribute to them. The aim is to organise a combination of four storytelling cafes and three story walks in a year’s time. The walks will be organised in neighbourhood-specific and geographically clustered ways, looking for connecting interests and concerns. The walks will take place in Bospolder-Tussendijken and M4H (19 May 2022), Oud-Mathenesse and M4H (date still unknown) and Coolhaveneiland/Schiemond and M4H (date still unknown).