Northern Participation Learning Community ‘&SamenSpel’ kicks off

The kick-off of the Northern Learning Community on Participation took place on 8 April 2026. The learning community will be called ‘&SamenSpel’ and is a multi-year, regional partnership focused on improving citizen participation in major societal challenges, such as the energy transition. This initiative is made possible by a multi-million-euro investment from the Just Transition Fund Groningen-Emmen and aligns with the ambitions of the Northern Netherlands Partnership (SNN) to strengthen the Northern Netherlands as a learning region.

The learning community has been specifically established to bridge the gap between citizens, public authorities, and professionals from the education sector and the business community. By sharing practical experiences and developing effective participation processes, the &SamenSpel Learning Community aims to create a region in which public authorities, the education sector, the business community and residents work together to tackle societal challenges. In addition, knowledge is directly applied in local projects, such as in the Groningen neighbourhoods of Selwerd and Vinkhuizen and through community roundtables in surrounding municipalities.

In this way, participation becomes part of the DNA of society in the Northern Netherlands, in line with the ambitions set out in the participation policies of the participating municipalities and provinces.

Stakeholders

The &SamenSpel Learning Community is a collaboration between a large number of parties. The knowledge institutions University of Groningen, Hanze, NHL Stenden and DC-Terra, the municipalities of Westerkwartier, Groningen and Emmen, and the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe are involved. Gasunie and Bureau EMMA are also participating, alongside local projects and innovation initiatives in the region.

Projects and focus areas

The &SamenSpel learning community focuses on:

• Practice-oriented knowledge development: research into effective methods for citizen participation, in collaboration with the Wubbo Ockels School and Hanze Research.

• Local application: direct implementation of acquired knowledge in projects, such as participation processes and community forums in municipalities in the northern Netherlands.

• Development of modular education from vocational to higher education, as well as retraining, further training and continuing professional development for future professionals, alongside monitoring programmes.

• Symposia and knowledge sharing: organisation of meetings and an online platform for sharing experiences.

In addition, a knowledge base and an (online) participation platform will be set up, where everyone (citizens, public authorities, research institutions and businesses) can find the methodologies, processes and so on.

Right from the start of the project, provision was made for the possibility of eventually applying the knowledge and experience gained in the Northern Netherlands to other regions as well; for this reason, links have been actively sought from the very beginning with a national knowledge platform for participation, the Participation Knowledge Hub.

Funding

The learning community receives support from the Just Transition Fund (JTF). The JTF is a European grant programme that helps regions transition to a climate-neutral (green) economy.