'Bewonersorganisatie Wallenbuurt' (English: ‘Community Organization Wallenbuurt’, established in the latter part of 2023) covers the area in between de Hoogstraten, de Damstraat, het Damrak, de Prins Hendrikkade and Geldersekade/Kloveniersburgwal, also known as Noordelijke Burgwallen - Oude Zijde (Northern Burrough Walls – Old Side).
The aim of 'Wallenbuurt' is improving the social climate by connecting citizens, who reside in a wide circle around the Old Church, and by stimulating various activities focused on strengthening social cohesion and promoting neighborhood activities.
These activities consist of running a Community Room (OKP30), artistic and cultural events, improving the outlook and appeal of the neighborhood via ‘Wallen Schoon’ (Wallen Clean-up campaign) and arranging community brunches, lunches, dinners, parties, and other events such as festivals, thematic events, clubs, and seminars.
In this way, within the Wallen district we combine useful and entertaining activities.
The origine
In the summer of 2023 in the Old Church an art campaign called It’s OK was organized. This campaign intended to meet each other in "circles" to discuss uncertainties, that people are currently confronted with, with the ultimate aim to address challenges through discussions and to look for a way out. A lot of these circles were organized in the period June till September, amongst which also 4 Neighborhood Circles about ways to strengthen the social connections in the historic city center between elderly, retired, youth, authentic citizens, but also expats, professionals, and students alike.
Out of these 4 Neighborhood Circles 4 central themes or wishes emerged: setting up a community room, organizing Art & Culture activities, arranging community meals and clearing up our neighborhood and improving its overall appearance. These four initiatives take place under the aegis of the community organization, but function rather independently. The community room, called OKP30, performs a central role of action and as meeting point. Here new ideas emerge, and their implementation is designed.
The organization
The 'Wallenbuurt' initiative is carried out by volunteers. They themselves give shape to our common agenda. Each of the four initiatives is managed by one or by several ‘leaders’. One initiative can take shape quickly, whereas another may take more time to reach maturity. An important condition that prevails, is cooperation with other initiatives and institutions in the neighborhood. Any duplication of interventions we want to avoid.
In this way community room OKP30 actively coordinates with other similar rooms like Huis de Pinto, De Moddermolen and also community center De Boomsspijker.
When organizing dinners cooperation takes place with Binnenbuurten and at times with Café40. And in case of cultural activities cooperation is sought with local artists, musicians, and gallery owners, as well as Dakterras Art Productions, Red Light Arts & Culture and Stichting kunstRUIM.
In connection with the topic ‘Tourism’ fine-tuning takes place with 'We Live Here' and Wijkcentrum d’Oude Stadt, as well as a platform called ‘Het Is Genoeg’. Furthermore, cooperation is sought for with the District Manager, the local Police Constable, and with the Executive Committee responsible for the city center, but also with various cultural institutions active in the historic city. In the Old Church particularly we have found a natural partner in the context of music, culture, and social embeddedness.