humankind

Welcome back to our humankind glossary, a series where we navigate in the sea of words that we use at Humankind. Today we’ll talk about the Sense of Belonging. Feeling at home is more than having a roof over your head and knowing the nearest metro station. It's about the possibility of building new relationships and embracing the future, the capacity to undertake new ventures. If our citizens feel part of a community, it is more likely that they will feel ownership of the public space they inhabit. It may not be easy to feel at home in cities that are home to millions of constantly changing people, where making a living is hard, or where moving freely is impossible. Multiple questions may arise, but maybe some of the answers can be found moving from saying things like “this is where my house is” to saying “this is my home”. Creating a safe space for all kinds of human beings is an essential ingredient for a solid community with the capability and the willingness to improve the city's future. And although the social aspect is key, others are also important: for instance, the infrastructural one, when the space does not allow people with specific mobility or cognitive needs to move freely or safely; p; or the inclusiveness one, where minorities do not find the space to identify themselves in their own city. But why is it important that citizens feel that they belong somewhere? The association between well-being, sense of belonging, connectedness to a community, and meaningful participation in daily life can boost the quality of entire cities in all their layers.

Designing and thinking about the future is not an easy exercise, and it becomes even more complex when we’re dealing with the future of our cities. Behind questions like "what should our city look like in 10 years" there is a community – the inhabitants of the present city, but also those of the future one. When planning and working on cities we always try to work together with the community who inhabits a specific environment - it’s a must for a better comprehension of the context we want to work in. But change takes time. Let’s take interventions that take 10, 15, 20 years to transform parts of the city. With such a long span of time, can we also plan for the people actually experiencing the end result? Will those making the decisions on the transformation be the same experiencing the changes when they become real and tangible? This is the concept of dynamic communities. People move, change and grow – the people living in one building today are not the same that will be there in 10 years. So how do we know if they will be satisfied with the previously made decisions about their neighborhood? Dynamic communities are a concept part of the Theory of Change that becomes crucial when we engage in long-term transition projects and processes of change. Though there will always be a certain degree of unpredictability, we need to be able to account for the people of the future, and make decisions today based on their agency tomorrow. Want to know more about the Theory of Change? Check out our latest project on the matter, our collaboration with Gemeente Amsterdam on the Red Light District:: https://lnkd.in/g62BH33X

How can we imagine and create more human urban futures? It starts with us. With understanding how we, as humans, experience the places we live in. How do changes in the public square next door affect how a retired 70 year old woman makes her way to the market? How does a child, who recently moved in the city, experience the arrival of a new type of shared bikes? How will the users of one specific park feel about the installation of an arts pavilion in it, and how should the pavilion look to best fit their needs? Understanding how people interact within their habitats is what we call Citizen Experience. Curious to know more about this service? Head to our website: https://lnkd.in/emcKspCB

Last summer, together with the City Development Department of Gemeente Rotterdam, we worked on the #Riverfront project. Its goal was to explore new possible ways to use the waterfronts of Nieuwe Maas and Rotte rivers, focusing on vibrant public spaces. Water is central to the city's identity, having shaped its location, name, and global renown, so this project is part of one of Rotterdam’s most strategic focus areas. Our aim was to link spatial, cultural and economic development, a reflection of our view of public spaces as convergences of different kinds of people and interests. Want to know more? Keep reading here: https://lnkd.in/dua-aMGq

First things first: what is #qualitative data? While we are used to researching through quantitative data (that is, essentially, numbers), often during investigations of all kinds there is also room for more anthropological analyses that have nothing to do with numbers, but rather, with the stories of the people living in the systems we study. Surely, having an overview of any situation through numbers, metrics and calculations gathered from large pools of information helps to have a broad idea of any context to start with. But, can numbers tell us why a parent prefers to take one path rather than another, can they tell us what their motivations are? Can logic explain why 87% of a community prefers one park over another, or why their preferences change with the seasons? Observations, comments, and ideas from people give us a better understanding of the contexts we study and work on. And, consequently, a clearer idea of the steps to take in order to improve them. Especially when working in an unfamiliar context, it is good to take time for ground research, trying to understand what the hidden dynamics are. Even with the numbers on our side, it remains complex to understand the behaviours, habits and motivations of people. But the use of one type of data does not exclude the other, quite the contrary – they should be combined to provide a complete overview of what the current situation is. The combination of qualitative and quantitative data proved very important in one of our projects in particular, our #CitizenEngagement research on EIT Urban Mobility's #RAPTOR programme. Through a combination of mixed research methodologies, qualitative data often made the gaps between reality and planned pilot testings clearer, allowing us to see elements that we would have otherwise missed. To discover more about our approach, visit our website: https://lnkd.in/damsmSgi

In September 2023 we joined forces with our colleagues from Technical University of Munich with the support of EIT Urban Mobility for a 7-month applied training and personal mentoring program for PhD candidates to connect their academic background to urban mobility business and entrepreneurship opportunities. The programme’s first edition ran from September 2023 to May 2024 and gathered 19 PhD students from various parts of the world such as India, South Africa, Italy, Denmark. Participants were focused on a process of bridging the possible gaps between what is studied at an academic level and what the market actually demands and, with it, the specific needs of the possible users benefiting from new services or products. The next mentorship program is scheduled to start in November 2024. In the meantime, if you want to start learning, sign up for the FREE Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to get a head start on the course content! Visit our website to find out more about Mobilizing PhD and the outcomes of the first edition: https://lnkd.in/dSdSTsBe

This post is the third of nine chapters where we dive into our approach to creating Good Public Space and explain the elements of our model. Today it’s time for eating and drinking. Let’s take Plein 1940 in Rotterdam, for example. This square, located behind the Maritiem Museum, offers a great view over Leuvehaven but lacks vibrancy. What if it could also feature a small cafe for having a coffee and a cinnamon roll? Imagine redesigning this space with a focus on eating and drinking – what other elements do you think would be needed? Want to know more about how we evaluate eating and drinking in our Good Public Space Analysis? Read the blog post here: https://lnkd.in/dQWAGttd

Books in the Office is back, and today we're excited to share something a bit different: "Fifty Ideas for Building Better Cities" by Monocle (you know, that also publishes Monocle Magazine, on international affairs, design, and lifestyle). This isn’t just a book; it’s a collection of diverse insights, best practices, and essay extracts from 50 architects, educators, designers, and urban planners. Across 50 chapters, Monocle lays out the key ingredients for thoughtful urban design: green spaces, community building, mobility, climate change, inclusivity, nightlife, and technology, to name a few. While 205 pages might seem too brief to dive deep into such complex topics, the goal of this book isn’t to provide a crash course in urban planning. Instead, it's a source of inspiration. Each chapter reminds us that every city is unique, shaped by its own context and, most importantly, by its people. Having this compilation on your bookshelf is essential for those moments when you need a creative spark. The variety of countries, solutions, and interventions showcased here offers fresh perspectives that could guide your next big idea.

Attention, City Leaders! 🚨 There’s just one week left to apply for the Citizen on the Move hybrid training course! This program focuses on enhancing the capacity of city governments to engage with citizens and other stakeholders in the sustainable mobility transition. We’re excited to collaborate once again with EIT Urban Mobility for the second edition of this course—last year’s experience was truly rewarding! Our module, “Context is King” centred on urban mobility pilots, where cities test new mobility concepts, techniques, or products to address various challenges. Our work focused on the transition from the “lab test phase” to the more practical implementation, focusing on citizen responsiveness and potential challenges. Want to learn more about last year’s edition? Click here: https://lnkd.in/gRtGwhev Are you interested in being a part of Citizen on the Move? You can find all the information here: https://lnkd.in/dxgY9xYD Julienne Chen Carolina Cominotti Katarzyna Janusz

Since Monday we’re hosting in Rotterdam the students of the Summer School #RemakingTheStreet, our landmark summer project developed in collaboration with TUM Accessibility Planning and supported by EIT Urban Mobility. The first three days were filled with lectures, workshops and bike tours. Among others, we had Coding the Curbs visit us to give an interesting workshop about parking spots as public space; and Give A Bike, who literally put a spanner and a bike in our students' hands. Can you think of a better welcome to the Netherlands? With a combination of theoretical and practical knowledge, we are sure that the students will be ready to create an urban intervention in the next two days using the various tools they have been cultivating these days with us and last week with our colleagues at #TUM. Two more days to go!