This document summarizes a meeting of the Refugee Academy that focused on creating inclusive and connective spaces. Speakers discussed concepts like liquid modernity and the need for alternative spaces where different groups can interact. Examples were given of community centers like Meevaart that facilitate ownership and cross-connections between diverse inhabitants. Panelists from initiatives like Pitztop and BOOST discussed challenges in community building, managing diversity, and reflecting on power relations. Attendees emphasized the importance of co-creation, trust, and facilitating meaningful interactions between groups in inclusive spaces.

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Report meeting 6 December 2018
The ‘connective space’ as a joint place: what do we need?
Refugee Academy
On Wednesday 7 November the Refugee Academy meeting focused on the role of social and physical conditions
for creating connective and inclusive spaces.
Program
3:00-3:10pm Opening
3:10-3:50pm Introduction: exchanges between the social sciences and
design about socially and physically inclusive spaces
with Halleh Ghorashi, Philippa Collin and Anicee Bauer
3:50-4:10pm Tour around the meeting space in the SoZa building
4:10-5:00pm Interactive panel discussion, with refugees, community
organisations, and the municipality of The Hague
with Emmylou Aben, Louk Burgers, Farnosh Forozeh,
Saskia Schoolland, Karin Anzivino
Led by Elena Ponzoni
5:00-5:15pm Wrap-up
5:15-6:00pm
Some more information on our guests:
Drinks and opportunity for informal chats
 Emmylou Aben and Louk Burgers are the initiators of Pitztop
 Anicee Bauer is environmental psychologist, working at D/Dock Design Studio
 Philippa Collin holds a teaching position in Intercultural Communication at Hogeschool Inholland
 Farnosh Forozeh is general manager at community centre the Meevaart in Amsterdam East
 Halleh Ghorashi is professor in Diversity and Integration at VU Amsterdam and initiator of the Refugee
Academy
 Elena Ponzoni is post-doc at the VU Amsterdam and coordinator of the Refugee Academy
 Saskia Schoolland is programme manager Integration at the municipality of The Hague and involved in
the housing project at SoZa
 Michiel de Water is student and lives in the SoZa building
 Karin Anzivino is program coordinator at BOOST Amsterdam
Opening
Louk Burgers opens the meeting. He is one of the founders of Pitztop and welcomes all the attendees. Pitztop is
an innovative hospitality community concept that aims to contribute to newcomers’ participation in local
communities. Their goal is to facilitate connective spaces where newcomers and local citizens can meet. Pitztop

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is located in the former SoZa building. This building currently facilitates housing for 90 newcomers and 90
students.
Elena Ponzoni elaborates on the mission of the Refugee Academy and the programme. The Refugee Academy
offers an infrastructure for reflection on the inclusion and integration of newcomers in the Netherlands. Since
its start, the Refugee Academy has already organized more than 12 meetings.
Introduction
Halleh Ghorashi introduces the theme ‘connective space’ by introducing the work of sociologist Zygmunt
Bauman. Bauman makes a difference between a first and second form of modernity. We are currently living in
the second form of modernity. Within this era, power relations are hardly visible in comparison to the first era
of modernity. Within the first modernity, class and family relations were powerful in defining people’s identities,
and the government occupied an explicit central power position within society. In contrast, within the second
modernity, power relations have become more subtle and less visible. Subsequently, Bauman refers to ‘liquid
modernity’ where modern elites exercise power through uncertainty and insecurity. It is characterized by
processes of individualization and alienation in society. Whereas during the first era of modernity people fought
for freedom and less suppression from social categories, in the second modernity people are rather oppressed
by invisible power relations. The process of individualization has affected our collective rationality. We think
that we are free to make choices, but we are not aware that informal power processes influence these choices.
These power relations normalize our behavior. Since these power relations are not visible, it is more difficult to
identify the ‘bad guys’ and know how to fight suppression. Within liquid modernity, people have become
alienated from one another and cannot blame the other for inequality in society. As a result, Bauman refers to
a mixed blessing of freedom. On the one hand, freedom has set people free from old collective categories. On
the other hand, freedom has made people responsible for their own actions.
Liquid modernity has stimulated polarization between different groups in society. People unite themselves
within homogeneous groups that relate to religion, ethnicity and nationality. The establishment of homogenous
zones is a source for conflict in society. People have lost the ability to step out of their comfort zone and interact
with people who do not have the same background, interests or social stratification. Liquid modernity consists
of a paradox: we have fought against old power structures, but we are still uniting ourselves within old
categories.
Halleh emphasizes that people currently need alternative spaces where they can create connections between
different groups in society. A more recent development is that people are looking for belonging to ‘light’
communities. These communities are not related to people’s country of origin or traditions, but rather relate to
cross-cultural/generational/national etc. positions. According to Halleh, we need alternative forms of
connections that are as fluid as the time in which we are living.
The Refugee Academy has conducted research on ‘in-between spaces’ in the Indische buurt in Amsterdam. The
foundation Meevaart has received money to create an alternative space where people from different
communities can interact and meet each other. At the Meevaart, there is room for respectful interactions but
also for tensions and awkwardness. By connecting with people with a different background, you learn to step
aside from your own bias and learn to respect someone else’s experiences and viewpoints. Within this contact,
people need two competences. The first relates to being able to step aside from awkwardness and feeling free
to ask open and maybe weird questions. The second competence encompasses being able to have meaningful
conversations with each other and looking further than our own bias and experiences. Consequently, people
learn to actually listen to one other. This creates some common ground. We cannot control these interactions
and should focus on respect when we approach the other from the position of the other. In this way, we are
able to broaden our per perspective.
Within a connective space, it is important that you have the feeling that you are embedded in an inclusive
environment where you can make mistakes. Many people feel that they are not heard or seen. It is important
for people that they have the feeling that they can contribute, for example by means of volunteer activities.
Volunteers at the Meevaart have the feeling that they obtain a sense of belonging due to their activities at the
community center. The Meevaart community center establishes cross-connections: connections are established
between people from different backgrounds and groups in society. To illustrate, an opera singer got in touch
with several newcomers. He was able to create a play in collaboration with people from the Meevaart

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community. As a result, people that normally would not connect are connecting through connective spaces.
These cross-connections have resulted in mutual respect and have given people a sense of belonging.
Philippa Collin is an urban anthropologist and works as a senior lecturer in intercultural communication at the
Inholland University of Applied Sciences. She is interested in the role of physical space in creating inclusive
community spaces. In 2016, she did research on so-called ‘hybrid spaces’ and the attempts of civic organisations
to create inclusive spaces. Within her research, she used insights from literature on hospitality. Additionally, she
conducted interviews on how people experienced different public or organizational spaces.
Philippa calls for more spaces that give room to where people of different ages, backgrounds and genders can
come together. On the basis of her research, she created a checklist for holistically evaluating a location. She
gives a few examples of spaces that she investigated. The first example is the Public Library in Amsterdam. She
describes this building as big and generous without any security staff. The building is full of nice objects and has
many places where people can both find their own hidden spot and can co-create and meet each other, for
example at long tables offering many people a seat The Blauwe Theehuis in the Vondelpark is the second
example. This café has a low threshold for people to come in and the staff of the café is very generous and cares
about their guests. Her third example is restaurant Blijburg. Blijburg is taken down in the winter and build up in
the spring. The owner of this restaurant stated that she wanted to create a space where people have the feeling
that they can co-create, by helping with finishing building and designing the restaurant. The fourth example is
the Bazar in Amsterdam. This is a restaurant located in a former church and set up by an Iranian man. He made
several cultural and religious references in the restaurant by means of objects and art. Her fifth example is
Sociëteit Sexyland. This is a bar or club which has a different owner every day. Everyone can hire the club. The
only requirement is that it is open for the public. The Wijkergrouw with garden houses is the last example
Philippa gives. There, people from different backgrounds come together to work in their garden, which is the
common interest that brings them together and forms the basis of their conversations (instead of cultural
diversity).
Philippa formulated several elements that people have to take into account when they evaluate public spaces.
It is important to take a holistic approach in this. These are safety (feeling safe and welcome), open atmosphere,
relationship between hosts and guests, inclusive communication, borders of the space, respectful interactions,
innovation (e.g. the opera production at the Meevaart) and dialogue. This last element refers to involving people
in designing spaces and listening to them in this process.
Anicee Bauer is an environmental psychologist and gives a reflection on the words of Philippa and Halleh. She
does research on work environments and is intrigued by societal developments. She talks about the Swedish
concept of love. Some people in Sweden believe that trule love only exists when you are independent of one
another. The downside of this autonomy is that much Swedish people have lost touch with a sense of
community. Anicee emphasizes that people need physical spaces where they can connect and where they have
a feeling of ownership. She refers to Philippa’s example of Blijburg, where where people are supported to co-
create the restaurant. Moreover, Anicee elaborates on her experience with developing connective spaces for
organizations. Companies generally ask for a blue print for designing their building. However, they should take
into account that there is not a manual on how to shape an inclusive space. Important is that managers integrate
the perspective of their clients and employees. Anicee mentions the method of place-making and emphasizes
the need for co-creation:“It is not about me, without me”.
Interactive panel discussion
Michiel de Water is a student and inhabitant of the SoZa building. He lives together with fellow students, starters
and newcomers. He works for a foundation and states that the SoZa already encompasses several connective
spaces. In the last months, the inhabitants of the SoZa building have come together to organize and decorate
their rooms and common spaces.
Saskia Schoolland is programme manager Integration at the municipality of The Hague and is involved in the
housing project at SoZa. Before this project, she was involved in the reception center for newcomers in the
Bijlmer Bajes in Amsterdam. During this project, she was challenged to create free and connective spaces where
newcomers can interact. Saskia emphasizes that human contact leads to collaboration and understanding of
differences and similarities. She is currently responsible for the housing project at SoZa. The municipality wanted

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to create a space similar to the Bijlmer Bajes where different groups of newcomers, students and starts could
live. She points out that the design of a building has a big influence on the openness and flux in a space. She
talks about the challenges at the Bijlmer Bajes in creating common spaces, since the building was designed to
function as a prison. The SoZa building was initially designed as an open space. However, the Ministry chose to
create more separate rooms within the building. Saskia emphasizes that design, colors, art and architecture have
a big influence on the usage of the space. To this, Elena replies that it is interesting to create spaces that are not
yet finished. She points out that both the SoZa building and the Bijlmer Bajes are spaces where people are
challenged to develop a space for the ‘non-normal’ (referring to Halleh Ghorashi’s introduction), in buildings
that where built to symbolize the normalizing power of institutions, as a governmental building and a prison.
Farnosh Forozeh is general manager at community centre De Meevaart in the Indische buurt in Amsterdam. This
centre has been active for seven years and was initiated by neighborhood residents. The centre does not have
a program of activities but rather gives neighbourhood residents ownership to organize and promote their
activities in the community centre. In 2017, more than 204 organizations were using the building. The centre
was open for more than 90 hours a week. Therefore, it was not possible to follow a top-down structure. Instead,
de Meevaart needed to trust the organizations and give ownership to the residents and organizations. Farnosh
states that creating connective spaces is not only about creating physical spaces. Connective spaces are also
about the psychological dimension. She states that at the centre the volunteers and neighbors reflect on the
decision-making process and are open for changes within the centre.
Karin Anzinivo is the programme coordinator of BOOST, a community centre in Amsterdam East that brings
together newcomers and neighbourhood residents. Karin elaborates on the opportunities and challenges that
BOOST faces. She emphasizes that volunteers and participants need to make time to meet one another. BOOST
aims to create a dialogue where people can learn from each other. The centre has the goal to blur the (unequal)
power and normative relations between the host versus the guest, by creating a space where people feel
ownership to actively participate in the social as well as physical space. Karin talks about the different buildings
were BOOST was located. She noticed a big difference between the former elementary school where BOOST
first was located and the community house where BOOST is currently located. The first was extremely closed
from the outside, but spacious and open from the inside, whereas the current building is very transparent. She
is curious how this will influence the community building within BOOST and the other way around.
Emmylou Aben is one of the initiators of Pitztop. Pitztop has been located at the SoZa building for six months
now. The initiative aims to facilitate community building at SoZa and wants to create a synergy between physical
space, the design of the SoZa building and the social space, the communities using the building, and the activities
of Pitztop. Emmylou emphasizes that initiatives should not make a distinction between newcomers and hosts
but should rather address all inhabitants at the SoZa building as end users.
To this, Farnosh replies that it is important for community initiatives that they reflect on their activities and
attempts to facilitate community building among newcomers. As an illustration, she refers to the example of
soccer, which creates a feeling of connectedness and belonging among people.
Halleh elaborates on community building and social spaces and refers to the concept of chain connectors. All
around the globe, people are active in creating communities and social movements. These movements are
created from an imagined feeling of connectedness with others. This feeling of social connections with other
people results in new ways of energy to challenge the status quo.
Nikki Scholten, junior researcher at the Refugee Academy, asks the panel how the initiatives dealt with power
relations within their community organization. She related to a statement that Halleh earlier made that all social
interactions are embedded in power relations and that it is important to reflect on these power relations.
Michiel answers this question and speaks about his experiences with living at the SoZa building. Six months ago,
he moved in together with other students, starters and newcomers. In the beginning, he was also thinking about
his positionality and his relation with newcomers. He approached this issue very practically and said that it is
important to have a common goal when living together. To illustrate, all inhabitants thought it was important
to keep the common spaces clean. Therefore, they came up with the idea to create a schedule to make sure
everyone has an equal contribution in the cleaning. Moreover, every month the inhabitants come together to

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discuss on how much money they will spend on their common spaces. Michiel emphasizes that it is important
to take a step back and reflect on the power relations that we take for granted in social situations.
Younes Younes, junior researcher at Utrecht University, asks the panel how they manage diversity within the
community organizations.
Farnosh answers this question and emphasis that diversity is extremely important for the Meevaart. In the
Meervaart, the core-team is itself very diverse. And this is essential for attracting and interacting with a very
diverse community. Farnosh stresses that it might be easier to interact with people who are similar, but that
being a diverse team is nonetheless the most essential key to being inclusive. Farnosh emphasizes that diversity
is about actually trusting each other, and sharing responsibilities, and not only about saying that you respect
and tolerate each other. The Meevaart aims to create a culture where people trust and respect each other, have
compassion and have room to clash in the form of difficult conversations.
Saskia Schoolland points out that it is more difficult for grassroots organizations to establish diversity. In contrast
to institutions, grassroots organizations rather follow a bottom-up process and therefore are dependent on
input from out the community. Because of this, community organizations cannot enforce diversity.
Louk Burgers, from Pitztop asks the panel how community organizations should deal with undocumented
people. Moreover, he is wondering what to do with the police when they are looking for undocumented
people.Karin from BOOST emphasizes that it is important to build a good relationship with the police. The police
wants to know the people at BOOST since they want to protect them. Building trust is essential. Furthermore,
she clarifies that community organizations should not create separate spaces and communities for
undocumented people.
Sennay Ghebreab, visiting fellow at the Vrije Universiteit, makes a final remark in the panel. He states that we
can all learn from grassroots initiatives. Municipalities should not consider community organizations as an
alternative form of organizations, but should look to these initiatives as partners. Still big steps have to be made,
but municipalities are slowly realizing that they have to collaborate with grassroots or community organizations
in order to reach different communities in society.