Fresh Perspectives – 10 projects selected

25 November 2025

general impression

In the first phase of the Open Call Fresh Perspectives, 10 projects have been selected for a development contribution of € 10,000. These 10 projects are also given the opportunity to apply for a second grant of € 50,000 to develop their collaborative project further.

Interest in the open call was high. The selected projects describe their tasks in depth, focusing on current developments and different perspectives. The collaborations show great commitment and the committee looks forward to the outcomes of some unexpected projects with surprising approaches.

A significant proportion of the projects explores the role of designers in healthcare and welfare. In addition, the selection includes matters relating to democratisation and social justice, such as improving citizen-government relations and digital literacy. Themes such as sustainability, cultural preservation and residential environment are also represented.

selection

A few notable projects are:

Legal Creatures: The Architecture of the Law – Carlijn Kingma
Carlijn Kingma examines the law as an invisible architecture, in collaboration with Thomas Bollen (Follow the Money). Autocratic leaders undermine the independence of the judiciary, while private interests use legal systems to evade climate responsibility. With the project Legal Creatures, Kingma aims to map these structures by using cartography. In the first phase, she works with scientists to identify invisible legal instruments of power. She also develops a visual language with human-like ‘legal creatures’ to make abstract legal structures understandable. The first phase produces a visual framework with design principles and a proof-of-concept map, including documentation of metaphors and storylines. A detailed implementation plan for phase two is also being developed.

Material Liberatory – Areej Ashhab
Palestinian material knowledge is rapidly disappearing. With Material Liberatory, Areej Ashhab aims to preserve this knowledge and make it accessible. She is doing so in collaboration with RIWAQ Centre for Architectural Conservation in Palestine. They are creating a dynamic archive, combining library, laboratory and teaching spaces in multiple locations. The aim is to enable knowledge-sharing, collaboration and ecological recovery relating to materials, and to strengthen the dialogue between Palestinian and Dutch design knowledge. Through fieldwork, workshops and round-table discussions with artisans, heritage experts and designers in Palestine and the Netherlands, different working methods are explored. The first result is a design for a prototype of the Material Liberatory, an educational programme focused on material knowledge, an archive of samples and a detailed plan for phase two.

Threadquarters – Studio Katharina Spitz
In a digital landscape where memes and algorithms reinforce polarisation, Studio Katharina Spitz (in collaboration with Threads & Tits) is exploring with the project Threadquarters how collective making processes can contribute to digital literacy and democratic awareness. Together with researchers and local institutions, a mobile textile studio will be set up in which participants respond to digital content via textiles. The results return to the online space as interventions. The first phase involves designing the mobile textile studio. Participants learn to critically question digital imagery by translating it into textiles. Participatory design and artistic research are combined to develop a transferable methodology. The result is a tested prototype of the studio, an elaborated method and new knowledge about the role of craft within critical, digital education. The project forms the basis for a larger project in which the studio will be deployed in several places and the outcomes shared online.

Further projects selected were:

• V.V. Vertrouwen Vooruit – SETUP: Design intervention to map the relationship between citizens and government through research at an amateur football club, with the aim of creating a new vision for the implementation of the Open Government Act.
• Speelruimte – Laura Bolscher: Experiment with a more playful day schedule at De Heygraeff residential care park by developing play objects that encourage contact between people with and without a disablity.
• Health Oriented Design – BURA urbanism: Research together with GGD (Public Health Service) and RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) on how health can achieve a stronger position in the design of mixed urban areas.
• Karaktermoord op een eiland – Cleo de Brabander: Research into the spatial, cultural and visual characteristics of Curaçao, with the aim of establishing design principles for sustainable development that protect the island’s unique identity.
• Over & Weer – Gortemaker Algra Feenstra: Method that takes the step from co-creation to co-realisation, aimed at developing sustainable residential care environments where residents with different care needs live together.
• Anatomy of a Circular Bathroom – Studio ACTE: Practical experiment in which residents, designers and contractors work together on circular bathroom renovation, resulting in a handbook of practices for reuse and adaptable design.
• Sculpting Our Food Service – Another Provision: Development of a new format for local dialogue about food supply through co-design workshops, to be tested at the model canteen Mensa in Rotterdam-Zuid.

Read more about all the projects in the awarded grants archive (in Dutch).

numbers

After a check on the formal criteria and completeness, a total of 52 applications were taken into consideration and submitted to the advisory committee. Of the 20 positively assessed applications, the 10 highest-scoring projects were selected for subsidy. The total budget available for the first phase was € 100,000.

follow-up

The 10 selected projects will start the first phase of up to five months in December 2025. During this period, the designers and their partners will explore the intended theme further, work on a prototype or proof of concept and draw up a project plan, budget and collaboration agreement. If the project is successfully completed, a new application can be submitted in 2026 for phase two, aimed at implementing the project with a grant of € 50,000.

Header image: Speelruimte – Laura Bolscher