Redouane Amine Youth Community Leader East Amsterdam

1

Redouane Amine from the Youth Platform East Amsterdam A quick portrait by Mellouki Cadat

The youth from East Amsterdam organizes itself through a Platform. Redouane (27) defines himself as ‘a member’ of it. This Youth Platform consists of a core of 15 local residents in the range of age 20-­‐27. The group strives toward diversity in the representation of gender and ethnic background. Older people too support actively the Youth Platform. The focus is on social issues.

Redouane made name in the neighbourhood as a ’youth community leader’. Redouane: ‘It’s a big honour for me to be known like this. I am a kind of an observer within Mellouki: What is the most important issue facing the Youth the youth group. Nudging Platform today, and why? it in useful directions for Redouane: Joblessness among youth is the biggest issue at this time in East Amsterdam. It has also to d o with a lot of all its members’. As a issues around the issue of unemployment itself. W hat if group's member that everybody got a job? Then nobody w ould do things no-­‐one ’wishes the best for the want like criminal activities. others’, Redouane's Furthermore, unemployment has to be analysed in relationship to racism and discrimination. Fighting against endeavour is geared to exclusion and for positive action towards social inclusion support as efficiently as has a huge role to play in tackling the plight of youth in the he can talent's neighbourhood. This has everything to do with setting the deployment. The most agenda to address systematic social, cultural and economic inequalities. important thing in

Redouane's eyes is the dynamic among youth in the neighbourhood: giving advice and pushing further. Redouane: ‘If everything goes well within the group, then youth can do great things’.

The Youth Platform has presented itself in public last year during a socalled ‘Open House Day’ at the East Amsterdam Borough. Young residents organized the presentation with the support of Rob van Veelen, a quite known local participation broker. Rob is a grass-roots civil servant, deepening in his own way the local democracy. The presentation of the Youth Platform was

2 successful. It created among active local actors from citizen to politicians via social professionals good will towards the youth initiative.

Redouane: ‘The East Amsterdam borough together with local housing corporations like Ymere have been great partners for the Youth Platform.

They actively supported talent Mellouki: What do you think is the single development. Some projects have been most important question that the Youth successful. Some have not. Anyway, the Platform needs to ask itself? cooperation between youth and local Redouane: The 'Why?' is our central question. When we address sincerely institutions has been a kind of positive this question, it shows clearly our drive trigger. A way to discover the world of toward the change we want. It makes the other: world of the system, world of explicit what we are going to change in the youth. A moment of self-reflection this world and how w e are going to do it.

and own choice.’ The Youth Platform found useful the project-based approach of borough and housing corporations but decided eventually to put the emphasis on her own approach: process based. An approach resting both on individual achievement and on building up the sense of belonging to an age group.

Redouane: ‘This process grass-rooted approach gives us today the tempo, the time and the ability to fluently adapt to our needs and our demands as youth, to go along with all of us, all the way. It opens opportunities for learning by doing together, for, by and of the youth’.