<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Last year, Women Skate the World had its own skatepark in Amsterdam so they opened it up for girls-only sessions mixing skateboarding, small events, talks and creative workshops. Even if they have an indoor space where they can host these sessions, they also wanted to take it outside in an outdoor morning program in July - August during the summer holiday.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Giving an overview of the context where the program was carried out, this project took place in Amsterdam Southeast’s Amstell III area, which is planned to be rebuilt into a residential area by 2027. In terms of demographics, the area hosts over 150 nationalities varying from expats to immigrants, from Dutch middle-class families to illegal residents of the Netherlands. This borough was built in the sixties as a place for middle class families but in the end became a place where many (labor) immigrants were placed in social housing.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Nanja says that over the years the borough was effectively ignored, mismanaged and underfunded. As a result, the area has been infamous for its crime rates, violence and poverty, however, nowadays most of this is just an image reflecting on the situation in the 90s. Crime rates have decreased and the neighbourhood is rapidly gentrifying and becoming a hotspot for creativity and innovation. Besides that, part of this image has been created out of institutionalized racism taking place in the Netherlands. The area has a longstanding experience with racism and underrepresentation in local authorities and governments.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>As it is in many areas with a lower socioeconomic status, research shows low sports participation, high obesity rates, increased unsafe home situations, lower school level outcomes, higher unemployment rates and one of the worst mental health problem rates. Nanja’s project target group was&nbsp; girls aged 8-16 who reside in Amsterdam Southeast, most likely from lower or no-income families.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The municipality of Amsterdam helped them out covering the direct costs of skateboards and protective gear. In that way, Nanja managed to reduce that costs and use the Roll Model fund for indirect costs like a stipend, rent, and resources for the programming around the skateboarding – with a main focus of getting more girls on a board.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Due to Covid-19, they had had to postpone the project and make some adjustments to the indoor area to be sure that they could keep the required 1.5m distance in their programs as well providing hygiene materials.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

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<p><span><span><span><span><em><span>“It was pretty good, I think the most difficult was the influence of COVID-19, of course. So I think the program changed a bit, as well as others. I was really happy that the Leadership program continued even though it was online. I think most of what I got from the ROLL Models program was about networking and being inspired by other people doing the same work.” </span></em></span></span></span></span></p>
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