Learning for Equality in Rotterdam

Urban knowledge powered by students: This website starts a fresh, multidisciplinary discussion about local problems and efforts to fight them.

The newly launched Learning for Equality in Rotterdam website facilitates and strengthens the exchange of student-produced knowledge about social issues in the city. The project is funded by Erasmus University’s Community of Learning and Innovation and sponsored by the Vital Cities and Citizens Initiative.

Urban knowledge boosted by students

By making students' work the focal point, the project enriches the narratives of urban struggles and challenges with new and innovative perspectives. It brings together a range of EUR undergraduate and graduate work from various disciplines, all actively engaging with Rotterdam’s pressing social issues. The topics addressed by students include affordable housing, Rotterdam’s ‘Slutwalk,’ the  ‘toeslagenaffaire’, local integration policies, and Black hair salons. In all cases, students' creativity and expertise combined with their personal familiarity with Rotterdam substantially contribute to discussions on urban space. Besides essays and research papers, the site also publishes podcasts, presentations, external websites, and illustrations. The result makes the experience of engaging with the complex topic urban (in)equality a lot more approachable and less daunting, further strengthening the learning process and encouraging the exchange of ideas.

Community-building

Helping circulate this new knowledge among broader audiences, Learning for Equality in Rotterdam hopes to encourage collaborations in and outside the university walls. The aim is not only knowledge exchange but also to underscore the value of this knowledge for strong and diverse community-building. The team is convinced that an understanding of local social challenges from a wide range of perspectives is key to overcome these challenges collectively.

Authors of the item: Wiebke Aepkers, Isabel Awad, Mariana Fried

Credits to the image: Alana & Louise Wieland

A colorful illustration shows four students talking to each other, with a representation of the EUR campus in the background. The logo of the "Learning for Equality" project is presented in the center of the image with some icons of the city, such as the central station, the cubic houses, the Euromast tower, De Hef bridge, and the Rotterdam Slavery Monument.