Veldacademie focuses on the question of how resilience works in practice within different Rotterdam neighbourhoods and districts in an adult-oriented multidisciplinary research programme. We zoom in on different urban communities. How do they deal with societal changes? How and why do they take action? Three sociology students did their graduation research on playground associations in Rotterdam.
Traditionally, the playground is not only meant to play, but also a place where local residents work together and can promote community life. ‘The playground is a miniature society', is the conclusion of the three sociology students who conducted research in three Rotterdam playgrounds.
Rotterdam has 57 playground associations. These were originally set up to offer workers' children a safe place to play outside. But now the associations are under pressure. They are struggling to recruit volunteers and to meet higher demands with depleting resources. At the same time, the demographic of the neighbourhoods has changed. Migrants have come to live in the old working-class neighbourhoods and in recent years an increasing number of highly-educated high-earners are moving in. Therefore, the associations have had to adapt to this new reality. However, not all associations are able to do this equally well.
Research into three types of playground
The students therefore researched three 'types' of playground. A playground in Crooswijk, a playground in West and one in Weena in the centre of Rotterdam. How do the playground associations view their public function? How do they deal with changes? To what extent are the playgrounds resilient? To answer these questions, the students carried out extensive fieldwork through participatory research. As volunteers, these students spent several weeks in the three playgrounds in order to interview different users. These interviews were supplemented with observations.
Results
The results were incorporated by sociologist Melissa van Amerongen in an article on Vers Beton. In the article, the students talk about their findings in an interview and go into the specific circumstances at the various playgrounds. The article clearly shows how different the playgrounds deal with changes and how social resilience works in practice. Also read Speeltuinonderzoek Pietje Bell & Taka-Tukaland. (Both articles only in Dutch.)
Project