Knowledge centre for neighbourhoods and citizen engagement
Our experts
Laura Geerts
- Accessible citizen communication
- Communication plan
- Generate public support
Jonas De Meulenaere
- Designing a participation project
- Design, implement and report
- Environmental and impact analysis
Peter De Smedt
- Support Customer Success Team
- Supervising large projects
- Construction knowledge centre
Luc Galoppin
- Community building
- Online and offline public participation
- Stimulate citizen initiatives
Laurent Dewilde
- Community engagement
- Socio-cultural work
- Community projects
Our programmes
Community care
Our view
Hoplr brings people together who have nothing in common but their place of residence. We connect citizens with different backgrounds, mother tongues, opinions, cultures and ages around all kinds of neighbourhood-related themes. Even though these contacts are often short and superficial, they form an important link within the everyday support network. Because of its proximity, the neighbourhood offers an enormous potential of skills, knowledge, time, materials,... In other words, Hoplr makes the neighbourhood's social capital more accessible, which leads to more inclusion and engagement within the local community.
No local community = no inclusion | No engagement = no citizen participation
Our expertise
Our experts have a heart, soul and gift for bringing people together. By connecting stakeholders and (physically) entering into dialogue, they activate the social capital of the neighbourhood. Behind the scenes, they work on the social fabric of the Hoplr neighbourhoods and assist our clients with strategy sessions for online and offline community work.
Call on our experts for your project:
- Developing community-building initiatives
- Matching help requests and offers
- Stakeholder management and community building
- Analysis of the social DNA
- Organisation of neighbourhood activities
- ...
Communication
Our view
Every neighbourhood has a communication infrastructure. It consists of the channels through which residents receive and share news, ideas, opinions, requests for help,... about the neighbourhood. But also the interactions with other stakeholders such as local governments, public organisations and project developers make up an important part of the local communication infrastructure. All of this contributes to the knowledge, engagement and social cohesion within the neighbourhood.
In other words, a well-functioning communication infrastructure is crucial in stimulating neighbour help, public support and citizen participation.
Neighbourhood communication leads to higher engagement. Conversely, a strong community is engaged and mobilised more easily.
Our Expertise
Clear communication is not just an art in itself. It is an important responsibility when it comes to neighbourhood-related matters: public support creation, environmental communication, sensitisation, activation, etc. Based on a communication plan and accessible language, our experts convey your message clearly.
Call on our experts for your project:
- Maximising participation
- Designing a communication campaign
- Public support and expectation management
- Accessible writing (complex or sensitive matters)
- Stimulating and moderating dialogue
- ...
Public participation
Our view
With Hoplr in your city, you stimulate engagement on the level of the neighbourhood. Social cohesion, physical meetings and involvement are the basic requirements to achieve meaningful citizen engagement. It is all about conversation, working together and often getting your hands dirty. Move from communicating to participating. A smart city listens, knows what is going on and works on a more qualitative decision making process, in collaboration with its inhabitants.
Public participation through Hoplr shifts the focus from the individual to the local community. This way, we involve the silent majority.
Our expertise
Citizen participation is an important task that brings along various challenges. Which method is most suitable? How do you safeguard representativeness? How do you translate a policy question into a participation question? What conclusions can you draw from a survey? Our participation experts are academic profiles who get excited by both data analysis and fieldwork.
- Call on our experts for your project:
- Stimulating citizen initiatives
- Plan of action for participation projects
- Moderate offline participation moments
- Designing and conducting citizen surveys
- Processing, analysis and reporting
- ...
Neighbourhood scan
Hoplr firmly believes in the power of the collective. The social capital of a neighbourhood provides residents with everything they need to face local challenges. By mapping diverse stakeholders and their potential, residents and local organisations become aware of the immense value of neighbourhood relations. This enables them to take action more independently, which positively impacts public support and increases the chances of success.
"A neighbourhood scan is an analysis of the neighbourhood, for the neighbourhood, by the neighbourhood. Only in a collaborative manner can we make community members aware, engage and mobilise them."
Our knowledge centre is the team par excellence to carry out an impactful neighbourhood analysis. Community management, data analysis and neighbourhood work: three elements that are indispensable in order to work together towards warm and sustainable neighbourhoods. And, coincidentally, all three themes about which our team has plenty of knowledge, experience and enthusiasm.
- Project design
- Representative sample
- In-depth interviews
- Moderation workshops
- Extensive reporting
- ...
Neighbourhood Concierge
Our view
Every local government faces the challenge of increasing pressure on elderly care. And not all people who need help, find their way to the right offer. In this respect, the neighbourhood holds immense potential for vulnerable and less mobile groups – elderly in particular.
For those who cannot rely on friends or family, the neighbourhood may offer an important network of social relations and support. And for those who are not mobile, the proximity of the neighbourhood undoubtedly provides a critical link in the care network.
“The more numerous the threads within a social network, the smaller the mesh of the social safety net.”
Our expertise
We understand the potential of a close-knit neighbourhood network, perhaps better than most. Thanks to our years of experience with Hoplr and community care, however, we've seen that questioning and role ambiguity prevent vulnerable people from fully utilising the neighbourhood network. That is why our knowledge centre developed the Neighbourhood Concierge.
Call in our experts for your community work:
- Announcing the offer
- Introduction and regular check-ins with members
- Capturing requests for help
- Developing a network of volunteers and care providers
- Monitoring of members and carers
- ...
Case studies
Documentation
Citizen participation:
Positivity in neighbourhoods:
Practical Examples:
Community care:
