Finalist

Community Engagement Initiative of the Year Award

VU thematic initiative

Finalist of the Community Engagement Initiative of the Year Award

"A Thematic Approach to Address Complex Societal Problems: A-Win-Win-Win Situation!"


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Summary

The Community Service Learning (CSL) team of the VU Amsterdam has adopted an innovative initiative we refer to as the ‘thematic approach’ where multiple existing courses and internships from a variety of programs offered by various faculties are clustered to address one complex societal issue. The topic of the thematic approach was built entirely around the needs of the local community as it resulted from a “Meet & Match” event in the local area of Amsterdam New-West which included residents as well as Local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and representatives of the Municipality of Amsterdam. These ‘externals’ were in charge of agenda setting and loneliness arose as an important topic to consider. Within previous studies considering multi- or interdisciplinary CSL, the collaborations oftentimes start with courses (Falk, 2012; Norton et al., 2018) or campus initiated programmes (Harrison et al., 2013) making our community centered theme based CSL approach perhaps unique. Following an action research approach (Lewin, 1946), the CSL team continuously linked both the specific issues that emerged from the Meet & Match event and new ideas and knowledge generated during ongoing community-based activities to other courses and internships, resulting in a wide variety of programs offered by various faculties within higher education institutes that are clustered to address the complex issue of loneliness in the local area of Amsterdam New-West. This approach thereby facilitates an ongoing process of knowledge co-creation to address the complex issues.

Key People


Dr. Prof. Marjolein Zweekhorst
Professor in education Innovation
Athena Institute,  VU University



Geertje Tijsma
PhD candidate
Athena Institute,  VU University



Floor Wijnands
Project management
VoorUit,  VoorUit



Marijke Visser
PhD candidate
Athena Institute,  VU University



Barbara Bijlstra
Project leader New-West Neighborhood Campus
Buurtcampus,  Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences



Gemma Huizinga
Advisor Social Basis
Municipality Amsterdam New West,  Municipality of Amsterdam



Wasilis Psathas
Neighbourhood worker
Huis van de Wijk ’t Blommetje,  CombiWell


Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the partners of the knowledge alliance loneliness, in addition to the partners mentioned above; Stichting Magneet, De Hippe Heks, Markant, De Regenboog groep, regionaal opleidingscentrum (ROC) and Stadsreporter. Also, we would like to thank all community members that have been present during the meet and match events for sharing their ideas and concerns on the topic. Moreover, we would like to thank all students from the VU University and the Amsterdam University of Applied Science, amongst whom Galoeh Adrian Noviar and Elias Kwabena Agyemang. A big thanks to all teachers for their valuable contributions to the issue of loneliness in Amsterdam New-West, amongst whom Nadine Blignaut - van Westrhenen, Peer Smets, Aalt Smienk and Fenna Wichers. We cannot mention all students and lectures by name but we would like to thank them all. Also, we would like to thank all members of the VU University CSL research team that have contributed to the thematic approach. Due to the hard work of these people, knowledge is being developed and shared continuously which enables us to address the complex issue of loneliness in Amsterdam New-West. We also would like to thank photographer Vera Duivenvoorden for her work on the photo exposition. Finally, we would like to thank the following funding bodies for contributing to the project, Broader Mind for Students (VU), CityDeal KennisMaken.

Images

the CSL team of the VU university

community member working with a student

the loneliness exposition

the meet and match meeting (1)

the meet and match meeting (2)

the meet and match meeting (3)

students in community

students working with community members

meet and match

moving photo expo on the VU university

presentation students in New-West

partners sign covenant on loneliness

partners sign covenant on loneliness zoomed in

IMPACT STORY

Impacting lifes

Next to the multiple tangible outcomes as a result of a variety of student projects within one theme we found that the approach; 1) assists in building new community networks, 2) enforces project continuity and thereby deepening knowledge, 3) incites new collaborations among students but also amongst faculty, 4) decreases the increased workload related to CSL projects for course coordinators and finally 5) increases student development, motivation and sense of ownership. These mutually beneficial attributes of the thematic approach have resulted in a covenant that has been signed at the end of year 2019. This in turn, gave rise to the ‘knowledge alliance loneliness’ which is a network consisting of the municipality of Amsterdam, two higher education institutes (the VU among them) and various CSOs aiming to address the complex problem of loneliness in Amsterdam New-west. The CSL student-projects of the VU have been one of the driving forces in initiating and maintaining this alliance. One recent outcome of the knowledge alliance loneliness is the been a photo contest #isditeenzaamheid to portray loneliness among local residents in New-West aiming to facilitate the discussion on loneliness and break the taboo on loneliness. The winning images could be seen in a traveling exhibition that moves through various locations within the city. Master students from VU University are currently conducting a CSL project in which they study the impact of the exhibition on the taboo of loneliness through conversations with people passing by thereby directly addressing this sensitive issue.

LEARNINGS

Lessons learned

In order to address the increasingly complex societal problems our societies are facing today, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches which allow for the inclusion of a variety of perspectives are required (Delano-Oriaran et al., 2015). We found that the thematic approach is a very effective way to do so as clustering various courses to address complex societal issues makes it possible for faculties to contribute to complex issues while also respecting the integrity of their own discipline, allowing for multi- and interdisciplinary collaborations while not imposing too much on the established curriculum. These attributes make the thematic CSL approach a valuable stepping stone towards advancing engagement in universities, and we can recommend this approach to anyone aiming to do the same in their institutions. Moreover, previous studies have criticized, especially in relation to advancing engagement, that this process is mostly considered from the institutional perspective and lacks a more community based view that emphasizes reciprocity (Curwood et al., 2011; Sweatman & Warner, 2020). This approach challenges this critique. We found that this bottom-up approach, starting entirely from the needs of a local community, yields benefits when compared to previous studies on course based multi- and interdisciplinary CSL as it provides a valuable way for Universities to adhere to their mission in relation to engagement, while continuously considering community needs.

FUTURE PLANS

What's coming?

The thematic approach is still ongoing and has over the years grown considerably from its start in 2018 until now. The first year four programmes from the Science Faculty and some thesis projects from the Faculty of Social Sciences were involved. To date, programs from the Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Religion and Theology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences have also contributed to addressing loneliness. In addition to increasing numbers in courses, programmes and faculties, the knowledge alliance loneliness has also grown considerably. In 2018 the approach started with 3 partners, currently the knowledge alliance has 12 partners, in addition to the VU University the Amsterdam University of applied sciences has also joined. The involvement of a diversity of partners and programmes is not only necessary to successfully address the complex issue of loneliness it also attributes to the sustainability of the initiative. To quote one of our partners; ‘Loneliness, that is not a theme that is just about to resolve itself. But if you can do it together, you can get much more sustainably on these kinds of slow questions that will always continue to demand attention in [an] ever new guise.’ Actually, addressing this complex issue has only gained relevance due to the effects of the recent COVID-pandemic and remains an ongoing process in which various actors come together to exchange knowledge and ideas. We expect the thematic approach and the knowledge alliance to continue in its quest for addressing this complex issue.


KEY STATISTICS

12

organizations and numerous students and teachers from various faculties and programs

30

Thesis from various faculties and programs

1

Neighbourhood Amsterdam New-West

5

Faculties involved

11

Programs involved

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