Navigating networks – to make a difference: the support base composition of local change agents in Amsterdam, Birmingham, Glasgow and Copenhagen

Figures & data

Table 1. Operationalization.

Support base composition
Heterogeneity/Homogeneity	Sectorial affinity	Public
		Private
		NGO
		Other
	Scale proximity	Local
		Urban
		National
		International
		Other

Table 2. Sectorial allocation of support base per site.

	Private	Public	NGO	Other
Amsterdam	7%	33%	42%	18%
Copenhagen	10%	41%	21%	28%
Glasgow	4%	30%	42%	24%
Birmingham	1%	22%	49%	18%

Table 3. Scale allocation of support base per site.

	Local	Urban	National	International	Other
Amsterdam	54%	29%	11%	1%	5%
Copenhagen	59%	25%	16%	X	x
Glasgow	39%	15%	43%	3%	x
Birmingham	58%	19%	22%	1%	x

Table A1. City and neighbourhood profiles.

City	Amsterdam	Birmingham	Copenhagen	Glasgow
	Around 850,000 inhabitants and a ‘super-diverse’ population; Spatial segregation is structured around socio-economic status, nationality and ethnicity	Britain’s second city with around one million inhabitants. ‘Super-diverse’ population with a growing proportion of young people. Pockets of deprivation and areas loosely segregated by ethnicity	Around 600,000 inhabitants, 25% of the inhabitants of Copenhagen has a non-Danish ethnic background. Share of poor people in Copenhagen increased, with 20% of less affluent Danish citizens living in Copenhagen	Around 500,000 inhabitants. Glasgow residents have a lower life expectancy and poorer health than people from similarly deprived parts of other UK cities, known as ‘Glasgow effect’
Neighbourhood	Osdorp and Slotermeer-Slotervaart	Sparkbrook/Balsall Heath	North-west	Govan
Inhabitants	Approximately 15,000	Approximately 25,000	Approximately 15,000	Approximately 6000
Urban position	Located outside the city ring, part of the Western Garden City structure	Located as two adjacent neighbourhoods on edge of city centre	Located north-west from the city centre	Located on the south bank of the River Clyde
Social mix	Almost 62% of the inhabitants has an ethnic minority background. Mix of old working class and newcomers ‘The Western Garden Cities are mostly negative in the news […] In a social perspective, the Garden Cities often branded as ghetto. But its variety is very large’ (Nio, Reijndorp, and Veldhuis 2008).	Diverse ethnicities, place of incoming migration and settlement, almost 67% has an Asian background	Almost 35% of the inhabitants has an ethnic minority background. Mix of old working class and industrial area, attractive to young students, artistic and creative citizens due to relatively low housing costs	Almost 16% of the inhabitants has an ethnic minority background. Site of former shipbuilding industry, although most of it has been shut down. Almost 9% of social enterprises located in Govan
Socio-economic indicators	It contains ‘above-average amount of inhabitants in a vulnerable socio-economic situation. […] Tensions between groups are therefore sometimes higher than in other parts of Amsterdam (Municipality Amsterdam 2017, 3).	Most deprived area of Birmingham, with high rates of unemployment, low educational attainment and skills, poor health, characterized for high crime levels	Area in Copenhagen with the lowest mean income	Govan is one of the ‘5% most deprived areas in Scotland’ (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004)

Table A2. Cohort overview.

Full cohort
Role
Entrepreneur	19%	(8)
Volunteer	10%	(4)
Professional	44%	(18)
Combination of roles	27%	(11)
Gender
Female	46%	(19)
Male	54%	(22)
Age band
21–30	5%	(2)
31–40	25%	(10)
41–50	41%	(17)
51–60	19%	(8)
61–70	10%	(4)
Organization
Public sector^3	17%	(7)
Private sector^4	1%	(1)
NGO – Community sector^5	59%	(24)
NGO – Third sector^6	23%	(9)
Ethnicity^7
Dutch	15%	(6)
Danish	19%	(8)
White British	27%	(11)
Moroccan-Dutch	10%	(4)
Pakistani	10%	(4)
Other	19%	(8)
Active engagement in neighbourhood
0–5 years	19%	(8)
5–10 years	31%	(12)
10–15 years	23%	(9)
15–20 years	10%	(4)
20–25 years	15%	(6)
25–30 years	1%	(1)
>30 years	1%	(1)

Table A3. Full cohort of local change agents.

	Role	Gender	Age band	Position	Organization	Ethnicity	Active engagement
	Amsterdam, Nieuw-West
1	Entrepreneur	Male	41–50	Artist and founder of local community meeting place	Community sector organization	Dutch	5–10 years
2	Entrepreneur	Male	41–50	Director of social enterprise for active citizens	Community sector organization	Moroccan-Dutch	10–15 years
3	Volunteer	Female	61–70	Senior resident and coordinator of organization for seniors	Third sector organization	Dutch	5–10 years
4	Professional	Female	61–70	Director of organization on women’s emancipation	Community sector organization	Dutch	10–15 years
5	Volunteer	Female	31–40	Resident organizing community disco	Third sector organization	Dutch	5–10 years
6	Entrepreneur	Male	41–50	Professional theatre director of community theatre company	Community sector organization	Dutch	10–15 years
7	Professional	Female	31–40	Director of organization on women’s emancipation	Community sector organization	Moroccan-Dutch	5–10 years
8	Entrepreneur	Male	31–40	Young co-founder of youth network	Community sector organization	Moroccan-Dutch	5–10 years
9	Professional	Male	51–60	Welfare and outreach worker	Community sector organization	Greek-Dutch	15–20 years
10	Professional	Male	41–50	Welfare and outreach worker	Community sector organization	Moroccan-Dutch	15–20 years
11	Entrepreneur	Male	51–60	Founder and director of social enterprise	Community sector organization	Dutch	20–25 years
	Copenhagen, Nord Vest
12	Professional	Female	41–50	Outreach worker on green projects	Public sector	Danish	5–10 years
13	Entrepreneur	Female	31–40	Business Owner of local food shop and catering enterprise	Private sector	Danish	0–5 years
14	Entrepreneur/volunteer	Male	41–50	Resident on non-profit and for-profit cultural activities	Third sector	Danish	5–10 years
15	Entrepreneur/volunteer	Male	31–40	Resident outside the neighbourhood on cultural activities	Third sector	Danish/Greenland	5–10 years
16	Professional	Female	31–40	Outreach worker lives in the neighbourhood	Community sector organization	Danish	0–5 years
17	Professional	Female	51–60	Senior resident on local safety issues	Community sector organization	Danish	25–30 years
18	Volunteer	Male	31–40	Resident on local technology lab	Third sector organization	Danish	5–10 years
19	Professional/volunteer	Male	21–30	Local council member active in neighbourhood activities	Public sector	Danish	5–10 years
20	Professional/volunteer	Female	61–70	Senior resident and local council member	Public sector	Danish	10–15 years
	Birmingham, Balsall Heath
21	Professional	Male	41–50	Manager of a local youth centre	Community sector organization	Yemeni	10–15 years
22	Volunteer	Male	41–50	Active in mosque and in welfare initiatives	Community sector organization	Pakistani	0–5 years
23	Professional	Male	41–50	Community worker on neighbourhood and crime prevention programmes	Community sector organization	Pakistani	20–25 years
24	Professional	Male	41–50	Director on crime, safeguarding and sexual health projects	Community sector organization	Asian British	15–20 years
25	Entrepreneur	Female	31–40	Young activist organizing street parties	Third sector organization	Black British	0- 5 years
26	Professional	Male	51–60	Executive of a local community development organization	Community sector organization	White British	10–15 years
27	Professional	Female	41–50	Community development worker on cohesion projects	Community sector organization	Pakistani	10–15 years
28	Professional	Female	51–60	Youth worker and trustee of a local community project	Community sector organization	African Caribbean	10–15 years
29	Professional	Female	41–50	Health development worker running fitness and well-being projects for women	Public sector organization	Pakistani	20–25 years
30	Entrepreneur	Female	41–50	Social entrepreneur on community cohesion in public places	Community sector organization	Middle Eastern	5–10 years
31	Professional/entrepreneur	Female	51–60	Artist, entrepreneur and activist	Third sector organization	White British	20–25 years
32	Professional/entrepreneur	Male	61–70	Political activist and local councillor	Public sector	Scottish/Irish	20–25 years
	Govan, Glasgow
33	Professional	Male	31–40	Coordinates social inclusion and learning hub	Community sector organization	White British	0–5 years
34	Professional/entrepreneur	Female	41–50	Coordinates local community hub	Third sector organization	White British	0–5 years
35	Entrepreneur/volunteer	Male	51–60	Managing Director of community-led development organization and local activist	Community sector organization	White British	>30 years
36	Professional	Female	41–50	Public servant and coordinates local regeneration activities	Public sector	White British	10–15 years
37	Professional/entrepreneur/volunteer	Male	51–60	Outreach worker, local activist and leader	Community sector organization	White British	20–25 years
38	Professional	Female	41–50	Public servant coordinates local community planning activities	Public sector	White British	0–5 years
39	Professional	Male	21–30	Director	Third sector organization	White British	0–5 years
40	Professional/entrepreneur	Male	31–40	Coordinates community enterprise and working hub	Community sector organization	White British	5–10 years
41	Entrepreneur/professional	Female	41–50	Coordinates community participation organization; community advocate	Community sector organization	White British	15–20 years

Nio, I., A. Reijndorp, and W. Veldhuis. 2008. Atlas Westelijke Tuinsteden Amsterdam: De geplande en de geleefde stad. Haarlem/Den Haag: Trancity.

 Google Scholar