The Foundation for the Promotion of Social Participation
creativity and involvement

The Foundation for the Promotion of Social Participation, Stichting Bevordering Maatschappelijke Participatie (BMP), is a Dutch project organisation operating both at national and European level. It was set up in 1986 as a supporting foundation for social action activities in the province of North Holland. Since 1992, BMP operates as an autonomous organisation aimed at promoting people's participation in the development of society. BMP focuses on exploring new social themes and formulating new methods of approach. It is committed to facilitating the active involvement of individuals, groups and organisations in social trends that affect them. BMP’s projects place great emphasis on opportunities for self-development and self-realisation for groups and individuals. At the heart of BMP there is a permanent team of four people who are responsible for coming up with new themes and projects. Project staff are hired on temporary contracts. Various bodies fund BMP on an individual project basis. These bodies include ministries, local authorities, community organisations, funds, the European Commission, etc. BMP greatly values its independence. This allows BMP to take initiatives, including putting forward unorthodox themes and safeguarding the innovative character of its projects. As well as working on its own initiative, BMP also carries out research for others. In practice, this means that BMP and its principal consult closely on the plan of approach for the survey in question and that they jointly look at the funding possibilities. In recent years, BMP has focused on three core themes:

• Ageing of society and the position of seniors
• Human rights
• Immigration and the position of immigrants and refugees

Examples of BMP projects

• Specially Unknown, a European oral history project  is to promote the participation of refugees in cultural life and society through the dissemination of the results of the Dutch oral history project Ongekend Bijzonder by implementing its innovative methods (life stories, co-creation & cultural productions) in collaboration with partners in 4 EU cities (Antwerp, Paris, Bochum, Turin) as well as to investigate in 9 Member States (The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Portugal and Sweden) how cultural participation can be used as an instrument for the integration of refugees in society overall. 2017 -2019
• Feasibility study into the support for a Dutch oral history centre in which universities, museums, archives and social and cultural initiatives exchange data, experiences, methodology and knowledge. 2018
• Neighbourhood Academies on upbringing and parenting. The development of local pedagogical societies in which parents play the main role. A five years national project with 17 local academies. 2013-2018
• Refugee oral history project Ongekend Bijzonder (Specially Unknown) in the four main cities of the Netherlands. The collection of 248 life stories of (former) refugees and the making of over 30 cultural productions in co-creation, based on these stories. 2013-2017
• AMWAHT – Informal Carers with a migrant background are working on their future. January 2009 up to October 2011. The development of a training and empowerment program to support informal caretakers who want to set-up mutual support group
• The Power of Older Refugees (POR), a European project in eleven countries, consisting of a Delphi survey, urban discussions and four local empowerment programmes in Berlin, London, Vienna and Ghent. 2006 – 2009