Internationale studenten zijn van belang voor hogeronderwijsinstellingen, internationale klaslokalen en de Nederlandse economie. Maar internationale studenten worden vaak geconfronteerd met diverse praktische moeilijkheden en het wennen aan een nieuwe omgeving. Ook blijkt uit de jaarlijkse Studentenwelzijnsmonitor van Inholland dat internationale studenten gemiddeld een lager gevoel van sense of belonging hebben dan Nederlandse studenten. Voor studenten is sense of belonging belangrijk omdat het positief verband houdt met studiesucces, studievoortgang en negatief verband houdt met studieuitval. Sense of belonging gaat over het diepgaande emotionele gevoel van verbondenheid, thuis voelen en jezelf kunnen zijn. Dit zijn universele basisbehoeften van de mens die bij vervulling een positief effect hebben op iemands mentale en fysieke welzijn. Uit intern onderzoek blijkt dat de sense of belonging onder de internationale studenten laag is en correleert met het welzijn en de betrokkenheid van de studenten. International Office van Inholland heeft behoefte aan meer informatie over waarom de sense of belonging van de internationale studenten laag is en wat zij eraan kunnen doen om dit te verbeteren. In deze studie is gekeken naar de behoeften, ervaringen en opbrengsten die hebben bijgedragen aan de sense of belonging van internationale studenten en wat Inholland hierin kan betekenen. Er zijn 21 kwalitatieve interviews gehouden met internationale studenten van verschillende opleidingen en Inholland-locaties. Er is gebruik gemaakt van een semigestructureerde interviewguide.
School belonging is important for well-being and academic achievement of youth. School belonging is a broad concept for which researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds have developed a variety of synonyms and indicators. To explore the content of the concept of school belonging, an expert rating study was conducted with 73 expert researchers who rated different synonyms, indicators, and clusters of indicators of school belonging. Results showed that the experts considered connectedness the most suitable synonym of school belonging and inclusion, acceptance, connection, and respect the best indicators. With a multidimensional scaling analysis, two dimensions (the object of belonging and the intra- versus interpersonal nature of belonging) and five clusters of indicators were identified. The findings of this study provides some conceptual clarity that may help future research.
Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a form of structured peer guidance attached to a specific course, provided by an experienced and trained student to a group of students. Previous studies show a positive effect of SI on learning outcomes, some found effects on well-being, and sense of belonging. However, literature on SI lacks randomized controlled trials and does not fully address the risk of self-selection bias. The current study tested whether SI has an effect on grades, mental well-being, and sense of belonging with a pre-registered randomized field experiment and a sample of 493 Dutch first-year students. Students who were offered SI obtained significantly higher grades (d = 0.26) but did not score significantly different on mental well-being or belonging.
In 2017, renowned Prof Kate Raworth from Oxford University and Amsterdam University introduced Doughnut Economics, an economic model to enable humans to thrive within the planetary boundaries and resources. Several private and public actors, including the city of Amsterdam, adopted the model in their circular economy development's strategies. Doughnut-Architecture aims to develop further the AREA (Atelier for Resilient Environmental Architecture) Framework, a tool designed by graduating students Charlotte Uiterwaal, Isabella van der Griend, Ryan McGaffney, Karolina Bäckman, at the faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology (TU-Delft), under the supervision of Henri van Bennekom. AREA-Framework support architects to intervene in the built environment taking as a reference the Doughnut Economics model. The AREA-Framework is at an initial stage, and its categories and subcategories are only qualitative. TU-Delft, the architectural practices Space&Matter and SuperuseStudios, in collaboration with the interdepartmental research group Circular Built Environment Hub (CBEH) and architectural practices from the network of 400 construction companies belonging to the Ex'tax project, the advice from Kate Raworth and the Amsterdam-Donut-Coalitie will further develop the AREA-Framework primarily quantitatively and also qualitatively. TU-Delft, Space&Matter, SuperuseStudios, other architectural practices from the Ex'tax-network will test the framework on different phases of real projects, interdepartmental research and education. The ultimate goal is to develop the framework further, to increase the number of architectural practices successfully implementing the Doughnut Economics in the built environment at a national level. The framework will contribute to positioning the architectural practices concerning Doughnut Economics and the Circular Economy. The project results are firstly an online open-access publication about the further developed Framework to be applied by architects; secondly, the preparation and submission of a follow-up research proposal about the extended development and implementation of the Framework applicable to the built environment by all the Ex'tax construction sector companies.
JEWELS TOUR is a 4-year project funded by Interreg Europe and dealing with the valorisation of Jewish Cultural Heritage (JCH) in some European cities (Ferrara in Italy, Coimbra in Portugal, Erfurt in Germany, Lublin in Poland, Riga in Latvia, Ośrodek in Poland). Jewish cultural heritage is an integral part of the shared cultural heritage in Europe, and initiatives such as this project bring local stakeholders from different parts of Europe together to investigate the common responsibility of protecting tangible and intangible Jewish heritage. Across Europe, municipalities and local organizations recognize a need to make Jewish heritage accessible, and to do so in a sustainable way, that is in a way that benefit locals as well as visitors, with attention to economic as well as cultural and social benefits. The project aims is to devise policy instruments to promote Jewish cultural heritage, hereby including also digital ones, when possible. Technology is seen as an instrument to collect and share stories with equity, hereby also exploiting the emerging Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage that is promoted at European level.Societal IssueCultural heritage has been increasingly recognised as a strategic asset for an inclusive and sustainable development across Europe, due to its capacity to promote diversity and intercultural dialogue, while contributing to a stronger sense of belonging and mutual respect. The JEWELS TOUR project addresses the challenge of Jewish Cultural Heritage (JCH) discontinuity, reflecting both in a low level of investments and connection between heritage resources and local/regional productive sectors, as well as in the attractiveness regarding the promotion of JC assets as drivers for sustainable tourism and regional development.Benefit to societyIn recent years, Cultural Heritage has been increasingly recognised as a strategic resource for a sustainable and peaceful Europe, due to its capacity to promote diversity and intercultural dialogue, while contributing to a stronger sense of belonging and mutual respect . At EU level, cultural investments are considered as key drivers of territorial development and social cohesion, and as essential elements leading to the promotion of social innovation. JEWELS TOUR contributes to sustainable tourism and social innovation by revaluing Europe’s JCH, reinforcing the sense of belonging and cultural diversity in Europe.Collaborating partnersFerrara Municipality Italy, Breda University of Applied Sciences Advisory Partner Netherlands, Ośrodek "Brama Grodzka - Teatr NN" Partner Poland, Coimbra Municipality Partner Portugal, City of Erfurt Partner Germany, Riga Investment and Tourism Agency Partner Latvia, Lublin Municipality Partner Poland.
The question we have chosen – and been invited – to answer is “What is Europe: Past, Present, and Future.” This sits within the resilient societies theme of the NWA call. The reason for our choice of the ‘resilience’ theme is based on the many disciplines working on the project, which stretch beyond the historic (living history theme) into the societal.It has a deeper conceptual basis, however. It springs from an assumption that a shared sense of belonging and inclusion is one foundation for and aspect of resilience – just as a rope braided together from many strands is stronger than one where the strands are fraying apart. Positive and inclusive expressions of belonging and affiliation are present in education, sports, and music – highly visible sites of representation that have profound reach and impact in society. Racialisation, othering, and selective or stereotypical representations, however, work against resilience. They are circulated widely and generate exclusion and hurt. In these linked work packages, then, we take up the question’s invitation to expand and disrupt, what the NWA’s call itself defines as a normative prior understanding of Europe. In the words of the question, this definition emphasizes Europe’s nature as white, Christian-secular, bounded by the geographic limits of Western Europe, shaped by Greco-Roman heritage and tradition, democratic, and home of the enlightenment. Our consortium seeks to analyze this representation, research and present more expansive and accurate ones in consultative reflective and co-creative processes. Through the process, the new knowledge, and our highly participatory research and dissemination models we will change societal understandings of the bounds of Dutch, and European identities. This will forge a greater sense of belonging across all of the communities, including academia, involved in our project.This project is vital for building resilience through tackling sources of fragmentation and alienation in past and present. It is much needed as we look forward to an increasingly diverse and mixed demographic future.
