This year has been a 365-day long marathon in which our collective resilience has been put to the test. Despite our activities being postponed or transformed and adapted, we are happy to report we have quite a few milestones to be proud about and a lot more content to share with you. Below, we list several resources, articles, interviews and webinars which we created this year, grouped in several categories to make your navigation easier.
Research & resources
The PROSPECT project has officially come to an end but all the resources which were created during this past year are ready to use. This peer-to-peer learning programme for cities not only educated participants regarding financing sustainable plans and actions, but also extended this knowledge online. Here are some free online resources you can access: learning resources, the online library, success stories and good practices.
If research is one of your interests, we invite you to read a PhD focus article with Mr. Daniel Adamu, on tackling affordable housing issues. You can access it here.
This spring, IHS colleagues prof.dr. Jurian Edelenbos and Dr. Jan Fransen, heading the Vital Cities and Citizens Erasmus Initiative, joined forces in an Impact Study of Covid-19 on the city of Rotterdam. Four different Policy letters, as well as Knowledge and Inspiration updates were published. You can find them here.
The final Public Report on Complex Land Markets in Uganda and Somaliland was published as a follow up on one of the IHS research projects, and can be accessed here.
This year, our information manager, Nigel Browne, published an article on Smart Cities, in which he explores the significance of the “Smart city” concept by reviewing its key components in relation to two ongoing trends—the Fourth Paradigm (the digital revolution) and rapid urbanization. Throughout the year, Nigel has also curated Covid-19-related information in a resource hub he created.
IHS was able to link with researchers from the Tongji University and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China and find out how the city of Shanghai coped with COVID-19. The note documenting this case study can be accessed here.
Lastly, IHS currently conducts research in Nairobi, to determine how smart and frugal processes explain differences in Community Resilience in Nairobi’s informal settlements during Covid-19.
IHS Academic staff
We interviewed our land expert, Ore Fika, who teaches in the Urban Land Governance for Sustainable Development Master track, while working on obtaining her doctoral degree. In this interview, she talks about the importance of Land Law and its connection to real estate, gentrification and sustainable development of cities.
Dr. Jan Fransen and IHS alumna Daniela Ochoa Peralta wrote an article in MONU (Magazine of Urbanism) #33, special issue on Pandemic Urbanism. You can read the article here, on pages 78-81.
Our colleague Alexander Jachnow wrote a blog for Urbanet, in which he speaks about the "new normal" of urban planning as a result of the pandemic. Read it here.
IHS staff Maartje van Eerd, along with Sunitha don Bosco, from Anna University, in Chennai, India, wrote a blog on FemLab.co, titled: Not quite the death of distance: Challenging the resettlement utopia of Perumbakkam. This blog stems from their experience working on a research project and documentary film in Chennai.
IHS Alumni
At the World Urban Forum, we got to meet and collaborate with our alumna - Dianne Wakonyo - on our "Creative Cities are Safer Cities" event. We also had a talk with her, which you can read in an Alumni spotlight.
As always, WUF was also the venue of our IHS Alumni International Urban Professional and Youth Awards, 2020. For the first time, IHS Alumni International created the Distinguished Alumni category of the awards, granting the first title to Ms. Claudia Lopez Hernandez, IHS alumna and Mayor of Bogota, Colombia. The winners for the Urban Professional Award were Mr. S.K Das and Mr. Henk Ovink and the Youth Urban Professional Award went to Bhumijo and Farhana Rashid. Read more about the inspiring urban professionals we awarded here and have a look at the photos here.
If you're wondering who our alumni are or what kind of background our course participants have, read this alumni spotlight with Rupsa Chakraborti, urban planner and human geographer with experience in urban development and sustainable mobility.
You can re-watch one of our six alumni webinars held this year. You can choose between:
"Confronting Urban Food Waste through Critical Design and Public Pedagogy" with Pamela Tudge (please scroll down)
"Enabling Street Vending through Technology" with Aakarsh Shamanur (please scroll down)
"The importance of Technical Assistance for Incremental Housing (Rethinking habitable spaces as a solution to the COVID-19 crisis)" with Luciana Valenzuela & Diana Munoz (please scroll down)
"Sustainable societal change: What has land governance got to do with it?" with Karl Sam M. Maquiling, Tasneim Gaafar & Brighid Sammon (please scroll down)
"Egypt's Housing Crisis: An Etymology" with Yahia Shawkat
"Urban mobility in the new normal: the challenges and opportunities in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic" with Justin Hyatt, Stefanie Holzwarth & Alan Vera
IHS alumnus Aakarsh Shamanur was interviewed by the Erasmus University during Nuffic's Week of the International Student.
In one of our past refresher courses, participants visited the remote community of Alto Fucha in Colombia. A series of inspiring blogs emerged, as a reflection that experience. Read here part I, part II and part III of the Alto Fucha blog series.
At the end of this year, the IHS Alumni International board members ended their 3-year terms by sharing their reflections and goodbye thoughts with the alumni community. Have a look at Mansi, Yanu, Eduardo and Justin's goodbye videos!
Corporate updates
Before the global lockdowns, IHS took part in the World Urban Forum; look at the photos here.
In a period of generalized uncertainty, IHS was still able to guarantee education for the 2020-2021 academic year, which now happens in a blended form, both on-site and online. Check that message here.
This year has been intense not only because of the pandemic. International anti-racism protests reached also the Netherlands and IHS published a statement on where we stand regarding racism.
Over the summer, IHS joined the European Green Cities Development Foundation, a platform that aims at promoting best practices, facilitating research and knowledge exchange, and collaborating with partners to provide design and solutions that contribute to sustainable urban development. You can read more about our new strategic alliance here.
What awaits next year?
We start early on the 13th of January with a monthly live chat in which we aim to answer any questions related to joining our master programme. Find out more here. Until then, we wish everyone a better new year, with a lot of resilience, inspiration and hopefully more face-to-face connections.
