Entrepreneurial participation from the neighbourhood is the final report of a two-year action research that investigated how cooperating formal and informal parties can support small-scale entrepreneurship in the Amsterdam neighbourhoods and stimulate participation by people who have unemployment benefits.
The study mapped learning conditions for participants and described different types of participants, such as starting with the person instead of the entrepreneurial idea; different creative learning forms; the role of certificates and clear expectations.
Three findings from our research turned out to be crucial for the cooperation between parties in this complex setting, looking at the principle of "collaborative governance": making clear agreements; have sufficient resources; and carefully consider which parties are participating. In addition, it appeared important that there is sufficiently clearly shared motivation about which goals the various parties involved want to achieve together; and that there is clarity on how they intend to achieve these goals. It is most natural to follow the dynamics of the neighborhood and invest in it. This could include joint mapping of neighborhood networks by participation professionals to focus more on their development, but also work on innovative financing structures and use people who can be 'boundary spanners' in the neigbourhood networks.