Educational Environment
The creative industry has shown a lot of interest in working on social issues, such as in the field of education. The Fund has been committed to this theme for a long time, especially in relation to vocational education. The goal is to improve the quality of the learning environment and to explore new educational concepts by engaging designers.
Parallel to society, education is subject to change. This applies in particular to vocational education. The field of work for which senior secondary vocational students are trained, has been changing for years due to digitization and automation. Those who used to be trained for a clearly defined job, now have to be much more flexible, able to adapt to the changing employment market and be at home in many more markets. This requires a new vision for learning and learning environments: from the classroom and the school building to the school building’s location in a city or region and the digital learning environment. What role can designers play in thinking about this new vision and developing innovative mindsets, prototypes or design proposals?
learning environment of the future
From 2017 to 2020, the Fund implemented the Learning Environment of the Future programme. Through three open calls and four pilot projects, twenty collaborative projects were supported, in many cases applying research by design. They were preferably carried out in everyday practice and in close collaboration with educational institutions, so that design proposals could be tested directly in practice. In the run-up to the open calls that fell under the Learning Environment of the Future programme, the Fund also issued three open calls between 2014 and 2017 aimed at renewing the educational environment.
community of practice
To stimulate the exchange of knowledge, the Fund initiates cooperative ventures and organizes meetings to exchange knowledge and experiences and to present results.
open calls
In 2020, with the Open Call Learning Environment of the Future, the Fund again invited senior secondary vocational educational institutions and designers to work together on transition challenges and accommodation questions for future-proof vocational education. The goal of the call was to stimulate the start of new research projects, but also to increase the impact of existing projects. Ten projects were selected in phase one and then supported in two phases:
- The X11 Cavity Wall, Studio Makkink & Bey
- Engaging Campus-Cité, de Ruimdenkers
- ROC Flex, Open Kaart
- Zadkine Fashion Experiment, .Krill architectuur en onderzoek
- Studying for a Changing Employment Market, Studio Morgen
- Land & Hand: The Base, KETTER&Co
- Toolbox for the Future, Maarten van Kesteren
- Vehicle_Students Make the Future, Marjan van Herpen Architect
- Senior Secondary Vocational Learning Environment for People with a Mental Disability, Het Proces Design Research
- The Craftsman starts a Venture in the City, Site Practice
With the Open Call Flexibility of the Learning Environment, the Fund and the Netherlands Association of Senior Secondary Vocational Schools invited urban planners, architects, designers and (digital) makers to submit proposals aimed at new strategic visions, design proposals and/or prototypes for flexible educational accommodation. Four projects were selected in March 2018:
- Friesland College, Agora as a basis, Anne Makkink with Alex van de Beld (Onix International) and Ronald van Asselt (Avvenire Holding)
- Summa College, Summa Biënnale, .Krill architectuur, Yolanda Steijns, Froukje van Dijken, Greetje Hoiting, Erwin Niedeveld and Igor Runsink
- Horizon College, ROC Hub, Open Kaart with Atelier PRO, ICS adviseurs, Dolf Broekhuizen and Mathijs de Boer
- CITAVERDE, The Adaptive Learning Environment, Augustus Architecten with Architecten en Bouwmeesters and Ghijsen Vastgoed
With the Open Call The Interdisciplinary Learning Environment, the Fund called on interior designers, architects, interaction and other designers, makers and digital makers to explore the design challenges within interdisciplinary vocational education in collaboration with four senior secondary vocational institutions. Eight designers were selected in March 2019:
- Scalda: architect Yukiko Nezu (Urbanberry) and digital designer Keimpe de Heer (Stichting SETUP)
- Drenthe College: architect Caro van Dijk and digital designer Frank-Jan van Lunteren (Stichting SETUP)
- Central Netherlands: interior designer Lonneke van Reijalt (FUNC) and architect Dawid Strebicki
- Albeda: interaction design Jeffrey Braun (Department of Extraordinary Affairs) and spatial designer Joost Dingemans (Staalslagerij)
With the Open Call Scope for Creative Craftsmanship, the Fund called for participation in a design-based research project aimed at developing a learning and creative environment for new creative craftsmen with a senior secondary vocational certificate. The research by design was carried out on location in the Plaatsmakerij, a creative incubator in the former ING complex on the Haarlemmerweg in Amsterdam. The project was a joint initiative of the Practoraat Creatief Vakmanschap [Creative Craftsmanship Vocational Research Group] of ROC van Amsterdam [Amsterdam Regional Training Centre] and the Creative Industries Fund NL. The following designers were selected in January 2017:
- Caspar Kienjet, spatial designer
- Elsbeth Ronner, architect
- Hannah van Luttervelt, designer/product designer
- Ruud Winder, graphic designer
- Aoife Wullur, designer/social designer
- Mascha van Zijverden, fashion designer
The focus of the Open Call Educational Environment was on the large number of educational buildings that had been built for vocational education since the 1990s. What was the vision behind this building boom? And to what extent can the buildings be adapted to the new views on vocational education? For which professions are young people being trained for twenty years on? And what kind of environment is appropriate for that? Six projects were selected in February 2015:
- Building with Vision in Vocational Education: Gratwanderung
- Spatial Strategies for Self-confident Vocational Education
- Workplace Central
- From Island to Link
- City as a School
- Flex Test RO
The starting point of the Open Call Educational Environment for Inventors, Thinkers and Doers was that good educational facilities are an important precondition for the quality of education. This concerns both the technical and educational quality of buildings. Design, programme and location must be seen in conjunction with other social facilities at a local and supralocal level. The following projects were selected in April 2014:
- Technical School Revisited
- The New School Collective
- The Media Yard
- FryskLab
- Makers’ School
Image: Nimeto, impression interior after completion, by Maarten van Kesteren
