Three INSIDE students, Kyunga Kim (Lingering in the neighborhood), Nasma Al-Shutfa (Safe Steps) and Anđela Brnas (Mobiele Buurttafel), presented their project in Innovatielab Zuid-West, an initiative by housing association Staedion.

The Innovation Lab is intended as a driver for integrated collaboration in The Hague Southwest and for translating social themes into spatial opportunities. Professionals and residents work together in the Innovation Lab on innovative solutions for the challenges in Southwest.

The greenery in the Southwest as an opportunity

The central question was how the outdoor space around homes can contribute to a healthy, social and happy living environment. During the meeting, ideas and possible scenarios from the first Living & Care inspiration session were further explored and a start was made on formulating a so-called 'challenge' on which parties can work on.

It was found that the greenery in the Southwest The Hague can be seen as an opportunity. In Southwest you will find many green courtyards and the public space is spacious. Research shows that residents in The Hague Southwest are less healthy, both physically and mentally, than the average resident of The Hague. That is why the abundance of greenery in The Hague Southwest was identified as an opportunity.

With a challenge, the possibilities and opportunities for an issue are explored through design research with multidisciplinary design teams. This will be further developed together with residents. The outcome of a challenge provides input for the area transformation of The Hague Southwest. The contours for a series of challenges have been created. The development is done in collaboration with the municipality of The Hague, healthcare parties, residents, designers and other parties. The first challenge will start after the summer.

URBAN studio

URBAN is the third and last studio of the first year. This studio lasts 19 weeks and was supervised by Gerjan Streng of CloudCollective in collaboration with architects from the The Hague based office of La-di-da. This studio departs from the urban context and focuses on urgent societal issues within 'the relationship that people, as users, have with their immediate living environment'.

On the basis of extensive research by a variety of research tools, the students develop (temporary) spatial interventions that are relevant to the context and carry out a try-out/pilot version of these interventions on location. With their interventions in the public or enclosed space the aim is to strengthen the most diverse places where people come together and communities emerge.