The current COVID-19 pandemic confines people to their homes, disrupting the fragile social fabric of deprived neighbourhoods and citizen’s participation options. In deprived neighbourhoods, community engagement is central in building community resilience, an important resource for health and a prerequisite for effective health promotion programmes. It provides access to vulnerable groups and helps understand experiences, assets, needs and problems of citizens. Most importantly, community activities, including social support, primary care or improving urban space, enhance health through empowerment, strengthened social networks, mutual respect and providing a sense of purpose and meaning. In the context of inequalities associated with COVID-19, these aspects are crucial for citizens of deprived neighbourhoods who often feel their needs and priorities are ignored. In this perspectives paper, illustrated by a varied overview of community actions in the UK and The Netherlands, we demonstrate how citizens, communities and organizations may build resilience and community power. Based on in-depth discussion among the authors we distilled six features of community actions: increase in mutual aid and neighbourhood ties, the central role of community-based organizations (CBOs), changing patterns of volunteering, use of digital media and health promotion opportunities. We argue that in order to enable and sustain resilient and confident, ‘disaster-proof’, communities, areas which merit investment include supporting active citizens, new (digital) ways of community engagement, transforming formal organizations, alignment with the (local) context and applying knowledge in the field of health promotion in new ways, focussing on learning and co-creation with citizen initiatives.
This article analyses four of the most prominent city discourses and introduces the lens of urban vitalism as an overarching interdisciplinary concept of cities as places of transformation and change. We demonstrate the value of using urban vitalism as a lens to conceptualize and critically discuss different notions on smart, inclusive, resilient and sustainable just cities. Urban vitalism offers a process-based lens which enables us to understand cities as places of transformation and change, with people and other living beings at its core. The aim of the article is to explore how the lens of vitalism can help us understand and connect ongoing interdisciplinary academic debates about urban development and vice versa, and how these ongoing debates inform our understanding of urban vitalism.
Dit proefschrift gaat over de veerkracht van regionale arbeidsmarkten en de bijdrage die een triple helix partnership daaraan kan leveren. Het rapporteert over een onderzoek waarin de Health Hub Roden als triple helix partnership centraal staat. Vanuit de opvatting dat dit uiteindelijk bijdraagt aan een sterkere concurrentiepositie van de economie wordt in zowel internationaal, nationaal als regionaal beleid de noodzaak benadrukt om de samenwerking tussen onderwijs, overheid en bedrijfsleven te versterken. Ook in de wetenschappelijke literatuur wordt veel geschreven over triple helix samenwerking. Een belangrijk deel van de triple helix literatuur beargumenteert vanuit de theorie hoe deze partnerships zouden (moeten) werken, maar de vraag hoe dergelijke partnerships in de praktijk werken, bleef tot nu toe onderbelicht in empirisch onderzoek.De aanleiding voor dit onderzoek is gelegen in de unieke kans die zich voordeed om Health Hub Roden, een triple helix partnership in de provincie Drenthe, en de betrokken partners longitudinaal en diepgaand te onderzoeken en zo in de ‘black box’ van een triple helix partnership te kijken om te achterhalen in hoeverre, en via welke mechanismen, een dergelijk partnership bijdraagt aan de economische veerkracht van de regio (in termen van werkgelegenheid en arbeidsparticipatie). Om inzicht te verkrijgen in de manier waarop die bijdrage precies geleverd zou kunnen worden, is op basis van literatuuronderzoek en empirisch onderzoek een globaal ordeningsmodel van mogelijke causale mechanismen ontwikkeld waarmee op microniveau in kaart gebracht kan worden in hoeverre er een bijdrage vanuit het triple helix partnership was. Het begrip causale mechanismen en het traceren daarvan staat centraal in de onderzoeksmethode process-tracing, die binnen dit onderzoek is gebruikt.Na het ontwikkelen van het globale ordeningsmodel is in kaart gebracht in hoeverre er in dit onderzoek bij dit concrete partnership voor de achtereenvolgende schakels waaruit de causale mechanismen zijn opgebouwd ook daadwerkelijk empirisch bewijs gevonden is. Op basis van het empirisch onderzoek kan gesteld worden dat er indicaties gevonden zijn voor een relatie tussen activiteiten vanuit het triple helix partnership en de ontwikkeling van werkgelegenheid en arbeidsparticipatie. Werkervaringsplaatsen voor mensen met een afstand tot de arbeidsmarkt hadden een positief effect op de arbeidsparticipatie. Daarnaast resulteerde het netwerk in meer omzet in bestaande markten, met vervolgens een effect op de werkgelegenheid. Samenwerking in projecten droeg bij aan productinnovatie, met (mogelijk op termijn) een werkgelegenheidseffect in bedrijven tot gevolg. Ook werden in het empirisch materiaal aanwijzingen gevonden voor een relatie tussen samenwerking in projecten en de kwantitatieve personeelsvoorziening in bedrijven doordat bedrijven op deze manier hun (innovatie)capaciteit tijdelijk (en gratis) konden uitbreiden of makkelijker nieuw personeel konden werven. Ook werd via samenwerking in projecten gewerkt aan de competenties van personeel. In het ontwikkelde ordeningsmodel werden tot slot mogelijke effecten op procesinnovaties (en vervolgens werkgelegenheid) en ondernemerschap beschreven, maar in deze case werden geen of nauwelijks effect vastgesteld. Met dit onderzoek is inzicht gegeven in mogelijke handelingsopties in triple helix samenwerking en de wijze waarop daarmee een bijdrage geleverd wordt aan werkgelegenheid en arbeidsparticipatie. De belangrijkste adviezen voor het vormgeven van toekomstige samenwerkingen hebben betrekking op de noodzaak van het bepalen van een gezamenlijke lange termijnagenda voor de triple helix samenwerking, het vragen van daadwerkelijk commitment van de betrokken partners, het verbeteren van het inzicht in de collectieve scholingsbehoefte en het stimuleren van informeel leren. Een eerste aanbevelingen voor vervolgonderzoek betreft het toetsen van de beschreven causale mechanismen in vervolgonderzoek. Daarnaast zou een onderzoeksagenda opgesteld kunnen worden waarin relevante onderwerpen het bevorderen van de vraagarticulatie,het bevorderen van samenwerking tussen bedrijven, de rol van docenten en onderzoekers in deze samenwerking, de kwaliteit (en toegevoegde waarde) van dergelijke projecten in vergelijking met de meer traditionele vormen van samenwerking tussen onderwijs en bedrijfsleven en tot slot het stimuleren van open innovatieprojecten.
In recent years, disasters are increasing in numbers, location, intensity and impact; they have become more unpredictable due to climate change, raising questions about disaster preparedness and management. Attempts by government entities at limiting the impact of disasters are insufficient, awareness and action are urgently needed at the citizen level to create awareness, develop capacity, facilitate implementation of management plans and to coordinate local action at times of uncertainty. We need a cultural and behavioral change to create resilient citizens, communities, and environments. To develop and maintain new ways of thinking has to start by anticipating long-term bottom-up resilience and collaborations. We propose to develop a serious game on a physical tabletop that allows individuals and communities to work with a moderator and to simulate disasters and individual and collective action in their locality, to mimic real-world scenarios using game mechanics and to train trainers. Two companies–Stratsims, a company specialized in game development, and Society College, an organization that aims to strengthen society, combine their expertise as changemakers. They work with Professor Carola Hein (TU Delft), who has developed knowledge about questions of disaster and rebuilding worldwide and the conditions for meaningful and long-term disaster preparedness. The partners have already reached out to relevant communities in Amsterdam and the Netherlands, including UNUN, a network of Ukrainians in the Netherlands. Jaap de Goede, an experienced strategy simulation expert, will lead outreach activities in diverse communities to train trainers and moderate workshops. This game will be highly relevant for citizens to help grow awareness and capacity for preparing for and coping with disasters in a bottom-up fashion. The toolkit will be available for download and printing open access, and for purchase. The team will offer training and facilitate workshops working with local communities to initiate bottom-up change in policy making and planning.
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.
The increasing concentration of people in urban environments in an era of globalisation means that social, economic, and environmental resources for living and working are under pressure. Urban communities experience increased stress levels due to inadequate and overburdened infrastructure and services, challenges due to ethnic and cultural diversity, socio-economic inequalities as well as the impact of environmental degradation. For these communities to build resilience under these circumstances therefore requires a multipronged approach. The underlying question this project will answer is: “What are the key characteristics of experiencescapes that contribute to resilience-building in communities?” The project will dive into the identification of building blocks of experiencescapes and roles of relevant actors that can support communities in building resilience. Within the context of a multidisciplinary approach, this project applies a range of qualitative research methods, such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, participant observation, storytelling techniques, life stories, as well as various biometric quantitative methods, available through the experience lab of BUas. The outcome of the project will enable practitioners and researchers alike in various sectors to understand what and how they can contribute to creating an environment in which people can meaningfully interact in a way that builds resilience in communities. This outcome is communicated not only through academic publications and conference contributions, but also through public reports and a handbook for practitioners and students. These reports and handbooks support identification and application of building blocks of experiencescapes that support building resilience in communities. Finally, the knowledge generated in the project will contribute to the development of curricula of various educational programmes at Breda University of Applied Sciences by expanding the scope of experience design into the area of people-to-people relationships.
