Overview report of evaluation research Peaceable Neighbourhood executed in the sections Overvecht and Kanaleneiland of Utrecht (Netherlands) from 2009-2011 commissioned by the municipality of Utrecht, Department of Social Development.




From the report's Introduction:

In two neighbourhoods in Utrecht; Overvecht and Kanaleneiland, quite a few problems with children and youngsters occurred in recent years. A few of them were covered in the media, earning both neighbourhoods a negative reputation. But youth workers also reported that neighbourhoodactivities were chaotic, and it was not rare that violent incidents took place, that caused frustration with professionals, children and parents. The professionals working in the area noticed that remarkably fewer problems took place with children who attended schools working with The Peaceable School method. Consequently, the interest arose to apply elements of the Peaceable programme in the neighbourhood as well.

The Peaceable School programme has been used in primary schools in Kanaleneiland and Overvecht for over ten years. Their goal is to teach children civil competences. Central to the method is active participation of students in the school: children must feel that they ‘matter’, and they have a say in the school. A particularly noteworthy element of the method is peer mediation: selected and trained children solve conflicts that arise in the schoolyard.

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