From Space to Soil

This article was written for Uncover magazine – From Global to Ground (10th edition). You can read the full magazine here. 

Authors: Peter Horsten and Simon de Wijs are the final editors of Uncover.

This is the driving force behind this anniversary issue of Uncover. From macro to micro, from the global to the local, from the abstract to the tangible. From the big questions about climate, biodiversity, inclusivity, and heritage to the places and people who grapple with these issues on a daily basis. Because transitions do not take place in policy documents or on conference stages. They take place on the ground. Driven by passion. Driven by commitment. Drawing energy from the local environment. 

‘There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth, there is only crew.’ Those words by Buckminster Fuller resonate throughout this issue and in the work by our keynote speaker Koert van Mensvoort. With the Evoluon as his UFO, having landed right in the heart of Brabant, he serves as a guide in exploring how we as a society can move forward. ‘Forward to nature,’ he proclaims. Not back to an idealised past, but beyond the present, towards something new. An invitation to join him in considering what is possible when you do not just observe the world but also shape it.

In this issue we are taking the same journey. We set off from the spaceship and travel across the continents, exploring inspiring projects and lines of research with the World Leisure Organization and ATLAS. We then zoom in on Europe via KreativEU and focus on the Netherlands with Sprong/CELTH. Finally, we land at our home base: Breda and the BUas campus.

Ten years of Uncover
This is the tenth edition of Uncover that the Academy for Leisure & Events of BUas releases. A milestone that calls for more than just looking back. It calls for a demonstration of what is possible in a decade when you connect people, organisations and ideas. We are celebrating this with a special opening article spanning all ten editions, as well as an exhibition in collaboration with the BUas Library. Ten years of working on the question of how leisure, tourism and hospitality can contribute to a world that is fairer, greener and more liveable. That ambition is more urgent than ever.

BUas: sixty years and in transition
This issue is being published in a special year for BUas. The university of applied sciences is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Sixty years of education, research and engagement with the region, society and the world. But an anniversary is not an end in itself. BUas is itself in transition and embraces this as the core of its identity. As Zoöp, the institution is actively working towards a climate-positive campus where people and nature flourish together, with initiatives in the fields of biodiversity, ecological awareness, and sustainable food supply. Not just words, but deeds: the recognition at SustainaBul 2026 is no coincidence.

BUas does not do this alone. In a conscious decision to operate across different scales simultaneously – rooted in the North Brabant region and the city of Breda, yet connected to Europe – students, researchers, entrepreneurs, civil society organisations, and policy-makers work together on issues that no one can solve on their own. The ambition: not just to contribute ideas about the future, but to help shape that future. With the hope that the footprint we leave behind will be meaningful.

The topics and contributions in this edition are recognisable for anyone who feels the urgency of our times: green transitions, climate adaptation, cultural heritage as an anchor in a changing society, and inclusivity as a precondition for real liveability. But Uncover does not opt for grand abstractions. We zoom in. We seek out the people who are committed to a cause, the places trying something new, the projects that show that things can be done differently. From Space to Soil. From Global to Ground.