Van onderop organiseren: Interorganisationele samenwerking in een krachtwijk

Abstract

Most children grow up in an environment surrounded by different institutions, such as family, school, friends and community organizations, which are more or less connected. The local neighbourhood football club (VV Hoograven) in this research initiated a partnership with other local community organizations (elementary schools, social work, youth work, mosque, etc.). Together the volunteers and professionals (football coaches, youth- and community workers) of these organizations strongly believe in the added value of collaborating across institutional and organizational boundaries and aim to connect the different worlds in which children grow up. ‘If we don’t keep an eye on the youth, they will slip away from us’, is an often used statement by the participants in Hoograven. This reflects their idea for a more integrated approach towards youth development. The participants believe that enhancing partnership between local community organizations working with vulnerable youth will stimulate their development with possible spill-over effects on the whole community. The partnership in this research takes place in a krachtwijk, which according to central and local government reports show that social and economical problems (poverty, unemployment, antisocial behaviour of youth, crime etc.) of the inhabitants are relatively higher compared to inhabitants in other areas of the city (VROM, 2007; Gemeente Utrecht 2008; Nicis, 2008). This research aims to provide insights into the characteristics of interorganizational collaboration between professionals and volunteers of a neighborhood football club, elementary schools, youth- and community work and a local mosque. From a scientific point of view this research adds to our understanding on the processes and contents of bottom-up organizing and interorganizational collaboration. From a policy and practical point of view the findings of this research could be used for more successful community (sport-based) social policy interventions by (local) governments. A single case study research design is used to get an in-depth understanding on the processes and contents of interorganizational collaboration. An insider’s perspective is taken to describe the beliefs, perceptions and attitudes of practitioners on partnership working. A remarkable characteristic of interorganizational collaboration is the role of certain key figures (in Dutch: trekkers) and their personal view and commitment to partnership working for youth development. The partnership also featured an open attitude towards newcomers with new ideas on problem definitions and solutions. The partnership working in this case study lead to breaking institutional and organizational barriers. Their believe in the added value of partnership working for the children created a strong bond between the participants. However, the research also shows that working across organizational boundaries can lead to a mixture of organizational difficulties such as unifying a strong diversity of stakeholders and the constant call for visionary leadership. Boundaries arose such as missing links, meaning groups like parents or organizations such as schools and the mosque not participating fully and therefore being missed as an important partner in the network model. Finally, even though the partnership started in a bottom-up matter, it showed that support of managers, directors, and local government (top-down) is an important condition for a sustainable project.