Faites connaissance : vos voisins sont sympas !

PLUS MAGAZINE — No. 164 · JUNE 2003 · €3.60 — www.plusmagazine.be [1 / 7 — COVER] Initiatives all over Belgium — GET TO KNOW THEM: YOUR NEIGHBOURS ARE NICE! [2 / 7 — PAGE 3 · EDITORIAL] Barbecue over the hedge. With the first fine days, windows open and neighbours make themselves felt, with everything that can be annoying about them: couples arguing, lawnmowers and power saws (Sundays included), barbecue smells, balls thumping against garage doors, barking dogs, radios at full volume. We say nothing, we keep control — until the day words go further than we mean them to. Neighbourhood problems are nothing new, but today everything is noisier, and we tolerate the signs of life of strangers far less than those of people we know. How could we know our neighbours, now that houses have become dormitories and streets have lost the social role they had when children played there? There is no question of nostalgia: we simply need a helping hand to recreate social ties in neighbourhoods. Hats off, then, to all these new initiatives encouraging neighbours to get to know one another (see pages 8 to 13). Breaking anonymity is also the method used by the new neighbourhood mediators (pages 78-79). Asking someone you greet by name to turn down their radio loses all aggression; and a neighbour no longer shielded by anonymity thinks twice before mowing the lawn on a Sunday. Once you realise those neighbours are actually rather nice, their Sunday barbecues no longer bother you — and why not swap grilled sausage recipes across the hedge... — Anne Vanderdonckt [3 / 7 — CONTENTS, JUNE 2003] Page 8 — Get to know them: YOUR NEIGHBOURS ARE NICE! Creating friendly ties between neighbours is the aim of the Immeubles en fête operation of 27 May. Similar experiments have already taken place in Schaerbeek, Kessel-Lo and Liège — successfully! Also read our legal feature "Don't shoot the neighbour" on pages 78-79 and our readers' forum on neighbourhood life on page 25. [4 / 7 — PAGES 8-9 · IN PICTURES – NEIGHBOURS' DAY · by Karima Amrous] Get to know them: YOUR NEIGHBOURS ARE NICE! Sharing a drink or a meal with your neighbours: a very simple but excellent idea that is taking hold here through the "Immeubles en fête" operation. But in many municipalities, residents have been mobilising for years to foster dialogue and solidarity with their neighbours — friendly initiatives that bring back smiles and vitality to neighbourhoods. [5 / 7 — PAGES 10-11] In 1999, a handful of cheerful utopians launched the Immeubles en fête operation in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, aiming to strengthen local ties and create solidarity between neighbours. Success came at once: 800 buildings took part. Four years later, the 2002 edition brought together no fewer than two million French people across the country! A very simple, entirely disinterested idea took on unhoped-for scale, probably because it meets a strong social need. Good news for Belgians: driven by Carl de Moncharline, an enthusiastic thirty-something specialising in event organisation, Belgium too is to hold its neighbours' day, in association with several European countries. For this first edition, only the city of Brussels is involved — a pity! — but from next year, we are promised, the initiative should extend to the rest of the country (practical details in the box). Bringing back the smile to your building. Why celebrate neighbours? "To fight exclusion and anonymity in cities," says Carl de Moncharline. "A great many people live shut away, passing their neighbours barely saying hello, out of fear or shyness. Personally, I find it particularly appealing to create situations where the residents of a building or a neighbourhood can get to know one another and be less afraid of each other. Because I am convinced people need contact — it is so natural." Natural, but not obvious. In Belgium as in many countries, most of the population lives in urban areas where individualism reigns. As a result, in some neighbourhoods relations barely exist, with people not even knowing the name of the neighbour across the landing. Opinions about neighbours run high: some see them as strangers or nuisances to be avoided; others enjoy a chat with the people in their building and value being able to count on them. Who better than a neighbour to look after the dog, water the plants or keep an eye on the flat while you are away? Breaking the ice. One of the aims of Immeubles en fête is precisely to revalue relations with that person who is both so close and so distant: the neighbour. When trust is there, neighbourly relations can be an excellent antidote to loneliness, isolation, even insecurity. In France, many accounts confirm that, without working miracles, neighbours' day has opened minds: people who barely looked at one another have broken the ice and got to know each other; couples have even formed. Proof that openness to others is first of all a state of mind, starting with simply saying hello and offering a smile. It may not be much, but that "not much" is sometimes enough to bring down the barriers of mistrust we build out of fear, shyness or ignorance. [Box] Neighbours' day in practice — When? Tuesday 27 May from 7 pm, so that people who work can attend. How? Tell your neighbours you intend to organise a small party. Put up the Immeubles en fête poster somewhere visible in your building — the hall or corridor. The poster was published on Tuesday 20 May in La Libre Belgique and La Dernière Heure, and can be downloaded from www.immeublesenfete.be. Postcards are available free in many places in Brussels (cafés, restaurants, bookshops); all you have to do is slip these invitations into your neighbours' letterboxes, stating the time and place. Where? In building halls, courtyards, gardens, at home or on the pavement — invite wherever you want (or can). What kind of party? Drinks and canapés, a barbecue, a shared table — invent the formula that suits your building or neighbourhood best. Do say on your invitation what you expect guests to bring: a bottle of wine, a quiche, a cake, etc. A nice gift: people who put the poster in their window will be given a bottle of Beaujolais by a delivery man touring the neighbourhoods. Let the party begin! [Poster reproduced] AN INITIATIVE BY CARL DE MONCHARLINE — Immeubles en fête, neighbours' day — "What if I invited my neighbours for a drink!" — Tuesday 27 May 2003 — as part of European Neighbours' Day — www.immeublesenfete.be [Box] Good or bad neighbour? Necessary evil or natural allies, neighbours provoke strong opinions. Who is your ideal neighbour? Someone who always has a kind word: 56% — Someone you never see and who leaves people in peace: 20%. Who is the worst neighbour? The one who likes to spy: 20% — The one who tips their bin in the stairwell: 16% — The one who does DIY on Sundays after 10 pm: 13%. (*) Sofres poll of 1,000 French people aged over 18. [6 / 7 — PAGES 12-13 · THEY GET THEIR NEIGHBOURHOOD MOVING] In many neighbourhoods, residents did not wait for a neighbours' day to launch initiatives fostering dialogue. SCHAERBEEK — Together, they beautify their street! In the neglected Destouvelles-Gaucheret area, the "Les amis d'Aladdin" children's centre transformed local relations, notably through a collective mural on the theme of peace between peoples, painted with residents in more than thirty languages of the neighbourhood and inaugurated on 21 September 2002, world peace day, at a hugely popular street party. A second collective panel now reads "The Earth deserves our respect, and so does the neighbourhood"; another street party took place in May and a large flea market is planned for September. KESSEL-LO (LEUVEN) — Better integrating "newcomers": Anna Missine, a 46-year-old civil servant and true missionary of good neighbourliness, launched the Neighbour's Day in Leuven in 1999 and campaigns for municipalities to encourage newcomers to introduce themselves; in this student city she and her neighbour Christiane Defillet canvass the university to encourage students to contact their neighbours. LIÈGE — Free-ranging discussions: in the St-Léonard district, educator Véronique Stasse invited residents to a debate in October 2002; some fifty people came, and a monthly debate evening, preceded by a film, has been held ever since, visibly improving relations between generations. [7 / 7 — PAGES 78-79 · LAW & RELATIONSHIPS · by Simon Casette and Annemie Goddefroy] Don't shoot the neighbour! Rather than settling a dispute with insults or in court, you can call on a neighbourhood mediator — a service increasingly widespread in our cities. The article details the sources of neighbourhood conflicts, the mediator's role as a neutral intermediary restoring dialogue, how the free, voluntary and confidential process works, when to use it, and how the service is organised city by city, with the boxes "Les choses de la vie" and "Genk rewarded for its neighbourhood mediation".