Welkom in Rotterdam! Een studie naar interculturele ontmoetingen tussen 'oude' en 'nieuwe' Rotterdammers

The central question in this report is whether and how policy interventions intended to promote
intercultural contacts contribute to the social cohesion in a multicultural society. The research
questions are: How diverse are the social networks of participants outside the project? What
motivates them to engage with the ‘other’? How do they experience the actual intercultural
encounters? And what impact did the encounters have on participants’ perceptions of the ‘other’
and themselves? For this qualitative research a case study is conducted at the ‘Welkom in
Rotterdam’ project. The study focuses on both ‘old’ (i.e. indigenous) as well as ‘new’ (i.e. immigrant)
Rotterdam residents. Data were gathered by means of 21 in-depth interviews and participant
observation. Based on the results, we can conclude that organised intercultural encounters
contribute directly and indirectly to the social cohesion in Rotterdam.