COMMEET
The story of Maastricht, the Netherlands: resilient urban districts
Who is we, the research group?
We are five interdisciplinary students who participated in Maastricht University’s PREMIUM Excellence Programme for Master students. Between February and May 2026 we collaborated with the municipality of Maastricht and COMMEET towards a shared goal: to better understand what it takes to build resilient, inclusive communities, focusing on the neighbourhoods of Nazareth and Pottenberg in Maastricht.
Why does this project matter?
We are living through a period of significant social change. Across the Netherlands and beyond, communities are becoming more diverse, more mobile, and more fragmented. People move more frequently, social networks are increasingly digital, and the informal bonds that once held neighbourhoods together, such as knowing your neighbours, sharing public space, feeling part of something local, are weakening.
What did we do?
Our task was to work on community building and resilience in two neighbourhoods of Maastricht: Nazareth and Pottenberg. Both neighbourhoods score below the Dutch national average on the socioeconomic status score (SES-WOA) , meaning that residents here face a broader set of daily challenges than in many other parts of the city. These daily challenges include financial stress, limited access to employment and education, higher rates of physical and mental health problems, and greater difficulty navigating institutions and digital services. Key in our work was to talk to ordinary residents, community representatives, social workers and local stakeholders. This helped us to learn about existing initiatives, understand how they perceive community life in their neighbourhoods and identify barriers and opportunities they observe in their daily lives.
Which insights did we gain and which recommendations did we make?
- Translate and restructure neighbourhood newsletters into at least English and distribute them directly to resident mailboxes, ensuring that they include upcoming events, planned neighbourhood changes and relevant municipal updates.
- Install a public noticeboard outside each neighbourhood centre and community space, updated weekly with activities, their target audience and how to join.
- Create a digital communication channel (WhatsApp group, an app or Facebook group) managed by a local social worker or neighbourhood host to reach younger residents. An idea for an app could look similar to the Maastricht Milieu App used for waste collection. In a similar manner residents may download this app and can find local and neighbourhood- specific news and updates easily on their phones. This is something that could be implemented at a city-level rather than only in the two target neighbourhoods.
- Channel all municipal communication and initiatives through local social workers, who serve as trusted intermediaries between residents and institutions Introduce a simple resident feedback mechanism like a suggestion box, idea board or brief post-event survey with visible and timely follow-up to demonstrate that input is acted upon.
- Prioritise recurring, low-threshold activities over one-off events, embedding them in existing spaces and building gradually on what already works.
- Organise at least one annual neighbourhood event (festival, market or communal activity) as a temporary third place that creates shared experience across resident groups.
- Ensure all activities explicitly state their target audience in all communication, to counter assumptions (such as the Community centre being only for the elderly) and signal that different groups are actively welcome.
- Identify at least one existing space in each neighbourhood (e.g. an underused room, courtyard or storefront) that could be designated as a free third place, where residents can meet and socialise without any cost or obligation to participate in organised activities.
- Diversify and reposition the Community centre offer. The Community centre is currently perceived as a space for elderly residents, and this perception effectively excludes the 20-45 age group as well as families with children.
- Build on existing organic moments of connection. The spontaneously organised iftar evening during Ramadan, with more than 60 people attending, is a powerful example of what residents are capable of when the conditions are right.
- Address childcare as a participation barrier. Mothers in particular expressed a strong desire for more activities, for themselves as well as for their children. Social workers can address this by designing parallel programming, for example, a crafts activity for children running alongside a cooking exchange for parents, or by explicitly framing certain events as family- friendly.
- Involve residents in planned changes before they happen. Residents in Nazareth expressed clearly that they feel unheard, and our findings revealed a striking example of this: a green space update is being planned for the neighbourhood, but residents are entirely unaware of it, despite the fact that more green space is something they have explicitly asked for.
- Support resident-led initiatives financially and logistically. Several residents expressed a strong desire to organise activities but cited the cost of renting the Community centre as a prohibitive barrier. The municipality could establish a small community fund such as a modest annual budget through which residents or resident groups can apply for financial support to organise neighbourhood activities.
- Use activity-centred formats to bridge divides. In a neighbourhood characterised by limited cross-group connection, events with an emphasis on socialising carry a high barrier to entry for those who are not already part of an established group.
- Invest in a genuine, inclusive community hub. Both residents and social workers pointed to the absence of a true central gathering space in Pottenberg, a place that is welcoming, inclusive, and relevant to a broad range of residents, not only those who already feel at home in existing spaces.
COMMEET
What is happening now?
Most of our recommendations have been embraced by the municipality, social workers and other local stakeholders. Work is now ongoing on freeing up the yet unseen resilience, removing barriers and implementing improvements. When you read the above, you know exactly what and how.
Clara Mohr, Lena Dahlems, Christi Miltiadous, Clara Rugerio, Anna Lafuente Garcia (PREMIUM Excellence Programme, Maastricht University).
If you are interested in this specific Commeet project, or in the work that we are generally doing in our home country the Netherlands, please get into a conversation with me:
Peter Frambach, COMMEET Fellow
Peter Frambach | LinkedIn
fr59@hetnet.nl
I really look forward to talking to you. And if you like what you hear, please feel free to make a donation here already towards our valuable work in Commeet’s home country.
