over ons
Now is the time to put our ideas about experimental learning and design-oriented research into practice in a place that is not yet fully laid out and equipped. That’s what we are doing at Sluislab, where students, teachers and researchers – together with the residents of the island – are cooperating to build a liveable city. The Lab will be investigating the concurrent social issues as the quarter takes shape.
Solutions are devised within neighbourhood projects and subsequently put to the test on the spot. The site of the building, as well as the residential spaces surrounding it, constitutes a test-bed in which we can find out what works and what doesn’t. Project themes include: placemaking, health, sustainability, mobility, inclusion and the smart city. The objective is to take this new part of the city a step further, and the best thing about it is that we ourselves are right at the heart of it. Starting in September 2020, we can be contacted every Thursday in the expo café of the Nautilus self-building project in the Sporthelden quarter. A temporary location will also be laid out soon at the site of the building itself, when Sluislab will become a physical part of the growth process.
Would you like to join?
Are you an entrepreneur with an idea for a cultural start-up on the Zeeburgereiland or part of an organisation that would like to find out how to involve people in a city quarter that has not yet materialised? Or perhaps you are a student who would like to focus your study on food forests in the city or the use of sensors and data in the neighbourhood? Maybe, from the municipal perspective, you would like to counter the scepticism about sky scrapers and queues of cyclists? Sluislab is a site for exploration, experimentation and discovery and for everyone who has an interest in these activities. Inholland students can register for a traineeship or graduation project, which will not only earn them points, but offers relevant work experience into the bargain. Organisations, entrepreneurs and residents are equally welcome. Call or mail us, join us for a bicycle ride, take part in a MeetUp session or contact us with your questions and initiatives; we are eager to collaborate!
Iholland Urban Living Labs
Sluislab is to the latest in the network of Inholland Urban Living Labs, in which students from various disciplines conduct practice-oriented research. The Urban Living Labs connect the college with the outside world. Students, teachers and researchers collaborate with residents, organisations and entrepreneurs to address social issues. These can include all manner of themes, ranging from the combating of loneliness to litter management or the best way to approach tourism. The tourism theme is a particular specialism of the Urban Leisure & Tourism Labvin Amsterdam-North. There are already Inholland labs In Haarlem and Rotterdam equally committed to their environment. External parties can turn to us with projects of benefit to the city, and students can participate as active researchers, not just as passive spectators on the benches of a lecture theatre.
