Examine, through living lab research, how the redevelopment and densification of urban neighborhoods into healthy and socially sustainable living environments can be shaped together with residents and locally embedded stakeholders.

The Netherlands faces major challenges in the domains of housing, healthcare, and energy transition. Increasing the housing stock and improving existing residential environments in the coming years, while ensuring a healthy and physically and socially sustainable living environment for residents, is essential to address these pressing issues simultaneously. Much of the construction and improvement of housing will take place in large cities through redevelopment and densification. This research project aims to investigate how these redevelopments in an existing urban neighbourhood can best be approached through adequate involvement of its residents and other locally embedded stakeholders. It will employ a living lab research approach in Overvecht, a residential area in Utrecht that will be redeveloped and densified over the next two decades. The PhD candidate work on the crossroad of different disciplines, including Human Geography, Social Design, and Public Health.

This PhD research is part of Gezonde Leefomgeving Utrecht Kennisconsortium (GeLUK), which consists of Data- en Kennishub Gezond Stedelijk Leven. The objective of the research is to contribute to 'Werkplaats Overvecht' through scientific knowledge. This Werkplaats is a private initiative of housing corporations, large construction companies, investors and developers, working together over the next 20 years to improve the neighbourhood, leading to a healthy, and physically and socially sustainable living environment. Werkplaats Overvecht is an important partner with which the Municipality of Utrecht cooperates within the neighbourhood approach Samen voor Overvecht.

• dr. ir. Indre Kalinauskaite
• M.Z. (Mathilde) Kock
• dr. Gerald Mollenhorst
• dr. Irina van Aalst

Risicovol spelen – gedefinieerd als spannende en opwindende vormen van spel waarbij kinderen leeftijdsadequate risico's nemen – is een veelbesproken onderwerp in zowel wetenschappelijk als maatschappelijk debat. Hoewel de positieve impact van risicovol spel op de ontwikkeling van kinderen door diverse belanghebbenden wordt erkend, blijven de specifieke bepalende factoren in verschillende contexten onduidelijk. Het meeste onderzoek naar risicovol spelen beperkt zich tot gestructureerde omgevingen, zoals schoolpleinen en (avontuurlijke) speelplaatsen, waarbij het belang van de onafhankelijke exploratie van kinderen in woonomgevingen vaak over het hoofd wordt gezien. Bovendien zijn de stemmen van kinderen ondervertegenwoordigd in spelonderzoek en wijkplanning, waarbij de perspectieven van volwassenen op veiligheid doorgaans voorrang krijgen boven opwinding.

Dit PhD-project beoogt de volgende vraag te beantwoorden: Hoe beïnvloeden sociale en fysieke aspecten van woonomgevingen het risicovol spelen van kinderen, en hoe kan risicovol spelen vanuit het perspectief van kinderen worden bevorderd?

Het project bestaat uit twee fasen: een onderzoeksfase en een actiefase. In de onderzoeksfase onderzoeken we risicovol speelgedrag en -percepties tijdens de zelfstandige verkenning van de buurt door kinderen. Dit doen we door enquêtes uit te delen aan kinderen van 6 tot 12 jaar en hun ouders. Ook voeren we speelinterviews uit met de kinderen, gevolgd door focusgroepgesprekken. In de actiefase nemen we deel aan co-creatiesessies met kinderen om interventies te ontwikkelen die gericht zijn op hun fysieke omgeving (bijv. de inrichting van de openbare ruimte) en sociale omgeving (bijv. risicomijding bij ouders) om risicovol spelen in hun buurt te faciliteren.

• Elisavet Pasidi
• dr. Kirsten Visser
• dr. Gijs van Campenhout

Both China and the Netherlands have experienced large and rapidly changing inflows of migrants into cities, putting a major demand on their public and private housing markets. This project will have a better understanding of the impacts of social housing programmes and market forces on urban housing of different migrant groups. It will also assess the impact of innovative social housing programmes on the social integration of migrants. This project is a Dutch-Sino collaboration, funded by Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the National Natural Science Foundation (NSFC) in China.

• prof. dr. Pieter Hooimeijer
• dr. Yanliu Lin

• Nico Heerink (WUR)
• Eveline van Leeuwen (WUR)
• Several Chinese partners

The ZonMw research programme "Sport en Bewegen" has awarded a subsidy of 750,000 euros to the research project Calibrating Inclusive Sporting Encounters. Under the leadership of Dr. Maikel Waardenburg, a consortium consisting of universities, colleges and social partners will investigate the crucial role that organisation networks and first-line professionals, such as community sports coaches and social workers, play in guiding people in vulnerable positions to sporting encounters and how to organise them.

Through two "living labs" in Utrecht and Eindhoven, the research project generates more insight into the design and organisation of sporting encounters. First-line professionals work on the basis of various routines on which the exchange of knowledge is limited. Practical tools are developed together with professionals and residents in vulnerable positions. The aim is to achieve better guidance and more structural participation in sports.  This contributes to a more inclusive society for everyone. The tools to be developed will be made available to other locations and practitioners after the project has ended.

• prof. dr. ir. Dick Ettema

• TU/e (Industrial Design)
• Fontys Sports College (research group Move to Be)

PusH - Precarious Housing in Europe, aims to collect and discuss evidence on this growing European-wide phenomenon and make it available for teaching and dissemination in our partner institutions and beyond. The lack of decent, affordable housing and the occurrence of informal, illegal, or unsafe housing across all member states poses a threat to social inclusion in the EU, and hinders the mobility of EU citizens and the integration of third-country nationals. However, so far the issue has not been systematically taken up in curricula in HEIs across Europe. PusH addresses this gap by uniting seven partners from both older and younger EU member states enthusiastically committed to higher education and research that actively engage with societal needs, promote the co-creation of knowledge across disciplines, and bridge the research-practice divide.

• Sybille Munch (Leuphana)
• Tania Berger (Krems)
• Jonathan Darling (Durham)
• Giovanna Marconi (Venice)
• OSF
• CERS HAS