On behalf of the Utrecht section of the sector plan 鈥榃elfare, Participation and Citizenship in a Digital World,鈥� my aim is to strengthen the interaction between science and society. I do this by stimulating transdisciplinary collaborations between the sector plan AP's (Assistant Professors) and social partners, for example by programming activities, knowledge sharing, co-creation and (public) dialogues, seminars and interactive meetings.
A specific form of transdisciplinary research is the Living Lab approach, a space for developing and testing context-specific innovations in a real-life setting. This involves working in an ecosystem or network of stakeholders who are relevant to the social problem that these stakeholders want to solve. The target group affected by the social problem is central, and all stakeholders (knowledge institutions such as universities, (local) authorities, civil society and businesses) work together in a co-creative manner. My goal is to implement the Living Lab approach for one or more of the research projects within the sector plan. Such a living lab is a long-term collaboration between stakeholders and a dynamic learning environment in which science, civil society, (local) government and citizens learn together and mutually reinforce each other.
With a background in communication and a career in different aspects of Dutch higher education such as setting up (educational) programmes, I connect substantive themes with organisational skills. I believe in the power of co-creation and collaboration (at the local level) to learn together.
Within the Research Support Team of the LEG faculty, I work with colleagues in the areas of research policy, community management and impact makers. From this position, I contribute to the faculty's strategic objectives in the areas of social impact and interdisciplinary research and educational collaboration.