Addressing health inequalities in vulnerable urban neighbourhoods by social community

The overarching goal is to measure the impacts of social community enterprises on the health of residents with low socioeconomic status. Four social community enterprises have been selected as case studies in four socially vulnerable neighbourhoods of the city of Arnhem. The aim of the social enterprises is to create, in co-creation with residents, added value for community members by deploying a mixture of social, economic and environmental activities. Core of the approach is that residents participate, make choices by themselves, improve their local community and by doing so improve their health. Concrete activities are creation of informal meeting places, creation of social enterprises, training of working skills, taking care of the physical environment and initiating support networks.

Objectives
1) to study the impact and reach of social community enterprises at individual, community and organizational level
2) to better understand the processes of change at individual, community and organizational level
3) to share results with other neighbourhoods of the city and other cities and social community enterprises to learn from each other and to inspire and stimulate the development of successful community enterprises and implement their approach in local policies.