Exploring Amsterdam’s Inclusive Side

Hi, my name is Lola Isbouts. I want to tell you about an inspiring day in the life of a Leisure and Events student specializing in Urban Life and Placemaking. During the course ‘’Urban Scope’’, I have the opportunity to explore a diverse range of cities, examining them from different perspectives.  This time, we are focusing on inclusion, and I would like to share my experiences, hoping to offer you a touch of inspiration, just as I was inspired myself. 

Feel at home
We started the day at Pakhuis de Zwijger, where we were invited to explore their initiative and learn more about their program ‘Designing Cities for All’. With this program, they are focusing on the role of designers in shaping and creating cities for and by everyone. They themselves call them ‘Cities of Belonging’, cities in which everyone feels and is allowed to feel at home. Through interactive case studies, I recognized the profound impact of small adjustments on society. We discussed themes as safety, accessibility, equality, diversity etc., the importance of this and ideas on how to improve our cities, also looking from a leisure perspective. 

Migrant boats
After a promising start, we visited Rederij Lampedusa, where the eye-opening boat trip, guided by the charismatic Tommy AlSharif, left a lasting impression. The organization repurposed two Mediterranean migrant boats, establishing an inclusive and vibrant canal cruise company in Amsterdam. With a diverse crew hailing from Syria, Somalia, Eritrea, Egypt, and more, we were privileged to hear Tommy’s multifaceted tale. An Egyptian immigrant, political activist, aspiring novelist, and devoted father, he learned me about his own created ping-pong method: Extend a helping hand, for in this ever-evolving world, you never know when you might be the one in need. 

Safe space
Ending our day with a presentation and tour Community Centre Gibraltar, that is extended with a wheelchair-friendly playground. It showed me that by creating for the marginalized, we automatically become inclusive for the majority as well. It creates a safe space for children and parents to connect and bound, which disproves the idea of needing separate spaces. The challenges faced by such small organizations were also discussed, which is just as important to learn from for our professional future. However, it was evident to me that the strength and passion that the founders invested in this project resulted in these wonderful initiatives.

Interactive workshop
Our day in Amsterdam came to an end, but on campus we also dove into the way the city of Breda is working on the theme of inclusion, by our guest speaker Wouter Schelvis. Breda has been named as the most accessible city in Europe in 2018, and through an interactive workshop we experimented with creating our own policies to improve cities, to become more accessible. Wouter Schelvis was one of the driving forces behind the project on behalf of Stichting (Foundation) Zet. He was also Accessibility Policy Officer at Breda Gelijk (Equal) and has now his own company Access Wout.

New insights and knowledge 
I feel enriched with new experiences and I am grateful for getting the chances to learn in this dynamic way. It gave me insights in how personal stories can be a valuable addition to a leisure experience to make people bond and think about important topics that the world is dealing with. Next to that I learned that the topic of inclusion is so much broader then people think off at first. It’s up to us to make our cities more inclusive, and all the small additions will make the biggest change!