Hof, Jan (2024) The role of local institutions in creating a welcoming place for newcomers. Bachelor thesis.
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Abstract
Creating a welcoming environment for newcomers helps build functioning communities and can make people feel at home. The role of institutions in creating such a space is an important one, as they can often exercise their power to make changes or plans happen. This research paper looks at how local institutions in a medium sized town can prepare for an inflow of newcomers, with an emphasis on asylum seekers, and help build a welcoming community for them. This will be explored through the main research question of: “How can local institutions create an welcoming environment for asylum seekers in a small town in Friesland?” This topic is relevant in a medium sized town in the Friesland province in The Netherlands as there is a proposal to build an regional center in the town. To explore the factors that make up a welcoming and inclusive community and what forms of cooperation are needed to create such a place, five in-depth interviews have been conducted with five different institutions, all located in this medium sized town in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. The results of these interviews showed the importance of citizen participation, in the way of volunteer work, done by inhabitants of the town through different NGO’s. Furthermore, institutional collaboration and area-specific factors such as green space came forward as important variables in creating a welcoming place for asylum seekers. This is backed up by a plethora of existing research. The collected data also shows the importance of social connections and cooperation between institutions in creating a welcoming environment for asylum seekers, and highlights the difficulties institutions face in trying to accomplish this. Recommendations for further research include researching asylum seekers themselves, in order to get a different perspective on the topic, or looking at other variables which help create welcoming spaces.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Degree programme: | Human Geography and Planning |
| Supervisor: | Haartsen, T. and Salemink, K. |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Jul 2024 13:43 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Jul 2024 13:43 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4608 |
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