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Navigators Academie
Start date: Sep 1, 2015, End date: Sep 30, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Dutch and Amsterdam society is currently confronted with serious tensions between various ethnic groups and classes. Fear and xenophobia are prevalent and different groups only seem to drift further apart because of the lack of dialogue. IDEA NL wants to change this by giving youth the means to become advocates of connection and social cohesion. Navigator zoekt Dialoog (Navigator looking for dialogue) is a project which gives seven talented youngsters (hereafter referred to as: the seven navigators) the opportunity to realise connection and social cohesion between people from different backgrounds through three dialogue days and to start the dialogue with policymakers. Various people will participate: Firstly the seven navigators themselves, all youth who differ in cultural background, religious belief, (work)experience, talents and gender. Then fifty youngsters will participate in every dialogue day, also from diverse backgrounds. Twenty of these will come back every time. Five policy makers and a few professionals will participate in every day. These days will entail a dialogue between youth and policy makers through, amongst others, content-focused workshops, lectures, debates and world cafés. This interaction between youth and policy makers is focused around the increasing tensions and segregation between different groups in the Netherlands, discrimination, radicalisation and the position of minorities in the Dutch society. The emphasis is on the ideas, experiences and interests of the youth. Thus the youth will be able to exchange insights and perspectives with each other and the participating professionals, policy makers and NGO’s and to influence policy making. Throughout the project, there will be at least four individual meetings between the policy makers and the navigators. In these meetings they reflect on and prepare the dialogue days and once again discuss the relevant topics and issues. The outcome of these meetings and the previous dialogue day form the basis for the next day. The navigators will continuously write blogs and opinion pieces in order to create more awareness around the issues of the multicultural society. Based on the conclusions of the dialogue days (especially the ideas and experiences of the young participants), literature research, conversations and meetings the navigators will write a report which answers the research questions they formulated. This report also entails concrete recommendations to both policy makers and NGO’s on how to deal with increasing tensions between different groups. The report will be presented to participants and policy makers at an end event, as a result of the dialogue and an inspiration for change. In this project, lasting dialogue between youth and policy makers is created through both the events and the report. The interests and ideas of youth will have a permanent influence on policy making with regards to the multicultural society. The seven navigators will gain competences and insights in order to function as ambassadors of change after the project. Their attitude towards others is more open, and they are able to understand different perspectives in public opinion. This will enable them to bridge differences, contribute significantly to the necessary social innovation, create awareness and permanently influence public policy. IDEA will spread the results of the project among members of government and will lobby with the seven navigators to have the topics which concern youth in the multicultural society put on the political agenda. IDEA will use its elaborate network on national and European political scale to disseminate the results of the project and findings of the report as broadly as possible. The navigators will all become part of IDEA’s network, and use it to keep contributing to the dialogue around discrimination, social inclusion and integration and to influence the policies. After the project ends the navigators will themselves look for a new generation of navigators and emanate the project to new cities. Thus the continuity of the project is guaranteed and the impact on policy-making will be broad and permanent.

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