The House of the World: meeting place for new people and ideas

From the report provided by the city, we experience that Dutch people often stay at home, in their own garden. In the culture of migrant families public realms as parks and playgrounds are often used. It seems that the public realm in Tilburg is not created for the purpose to meet each other. Also markets as places where people could meet each other are not numerous in Tilburg. The city has still many challenges to create meeting places where people from different cultures can meet each other in public realm.

There are many resident initiatives in Tilburg, financially supported by the municipality. One example is The House of The World. It is a unique experimental garden for multicultural meetings, a source of inspiration for people who want to do their best for a tolerant world. The House of The World is a platform for education and exchange, for debate, expositions, movies and creative activities. In its restaurant work refugees. Another example is The Round Table House, which is a inter-religious centre in Tilburg-North. In this house residents with their questions about religion and society are important. This house bundles multiformity. People from all different religions can organise their meetings there. In this way social cohesion is promoted and stimulated. The artist Karin Bruers proposed to place 1,000 ‘art’ benches in the city of Tilburg. These benches are called ‘social sofas’ and encourage residents to can sit down and talk to each other. The municipality supports the idea creating more meeting places. People in a neighbourhood can apply for a social sofa.