Advice

A stakeholder game can contribute to the creation of mutual understanding between two or more parties. Therefore, it is recommended to use the format of the stakeholder game we played during the first session when residents feel misunderstood or express frustration towards the municipality. The format of the stakeholder game can be found here (in Dutch).

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The residents we spoke to expressed that they like to be informed about the whole quay wall renovation process. They like to hear about the successes, but also about the setbacks and the "devilish dilemmas" that civil servants from the municipality face during a quay wall renovation. When residents are better informed about what happens during the renovation, they can better understand when something is delayed, decisions are made differently or when things 'go wrong' during the renovation.

Most of the residents that participated in our sessions were not aware of the urgency and complexity of quay wall renewal. Making them understand this urgency and complexity is therefore perhaps one of the most important tasks for the Program of Bridges and Quay Walls. This can be achieved with an Amsterdam-wide communication strategy with info about quay wall renovations for all Amsterdam residents.

On the website of the municipality (www.amsterdam.nl) there is only little space for information due to the strict guidelines. Furthermore, the municipality makes use of the BouwApp, but this app also has its limitations. Therefore we advise the Program of Bridges and Quay Walls to create its own, new, online ‘sharing place’. The municipality can refer to this shared place in letters to quay wall residents,  so residents can follow updates for their quay wall on there. In this way, all information about quay walls, bridges, renovations and safety measures can be found on this one sharing place.

Some of the quay wall residents we interviewed during our research expressed that they would like to get more information back after they take part in a poll or other means of participation. This could be information about how many people voted and which option had the most votes or a description can be given of what was done with the votes. Were the votes taken into account when making the final decision? And were there other factors that played a role in this decision? This also ties in with the advice to better involve Amsterdammers in the whole process of a quay wall renovation.