Knowledge by, for and about newcomers
Knowledge by, for and about newcomers
Den Helder Expert Pool
Municipality of Den Helder
February - June 2025
Expert pool, monitoring framework
The municipality of Den Helder wants to ensure the involvement of newcomers in the newcomers program. To this end, we are deploying a pool of experts, followed by a Monitoring and Evaluation session. In doing so, we are taking into account the integral content of the municipality's newcomers policy.
The expert pool makes it possible to gather people's own experiences: Ukrainian displaced persons, status holders, asylum seekers, and unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Together with the municipality, we determine the themes we want to focus on, using the 14-indicator model as a framework. We then translate this into substantive research questions and appropriate working methods. In the first expert pool meeting, we take a broad look at the needs of people as newcomers to the Netherlands. In the second meeting, we delve deeper into the municipality's ambitions and goals and jointly determine whether these are in line with the lives of newcomers.
In an M&E session, we work with the municipality to determine how to make the formulated objectives measurable using the 14-indicator model. Finally, we guide the municipality on how to structurally deploy the newly formed expert pool or sounding board group to gather experiences from newcomers.
The experiences of newcomers in Den Helder—gathered through expert pools and interviews—painted a clear picture: people want to participate, but encounter obstacles such as inadequate information, limited access to healthcare, and unclear guidance.
The Newcomers program team has translated these insights into concrete actions, prioritizing themes such as work, healthcare, safety, information provision, and social connection. Every four weeks, actions are planned and developed to ensure that the movement remains visible and ongoing. The municipality actively shares the results with team leaders, aldermen, consultants, and the target group itself—in understandable language and in multiple languages.
Chain partners are also involved in working together to provide services that better meet the needs of newcomers. The approach not only provided policy insight, but also energy, ownership, and inspiration for broader application within the municipality.
>> Article: New policy must remove barriers for newcomers in Den Helder, North Kop Region
