The winners: 3rd call Public Engagement Seed Fund

Aranka Ballering - Chatcards for change: Conversations on living with persistent somatic symptoms
University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)

Persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) are distressing somatic symptoms that last for at least 3 months. The disconnect between the symptoms' severity, persistence, and potential lack of clear somatic and mental causes, renders PSS stigmatized, as the legitimacy of (people with) PSS may be questioned. This project will explore, in collaboration with people with PSS, stigmatization related to PSS. Based on this collaboration chatcards will be developed. These chatcards offer people with PSS a structured way to discuss their experiences of stigmatization with others. Openness about health-related experiences may foster empathy and awareness about life with PSS, resulting in a decrease of PSS-related stigmatization.

Liesbeth Kool and Esther Feijen-de Jong - Clients perspectives on sustainable employability of midwives
University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)

The aim of this project is to improve the sustainable employability of midwives by including women's voices in the reform of the organization of midwifery care. Input from pregnant women and their partners will help us to develop practical and effective solutions for sustainable midwifery care that meet the needs and perspectives of both midwives and pregnant women.

Changes in the organisation of midwifery care often conflict with midwives' professional values, such as providing individualised care and maintaining autonomy. Previous research has lacked the perspectives of pregnant women, which are essential for sustainable solutions. In this project, we are incorporating their perceptions into these solutions by actively seeking their views on the issues midwives struggle with.

John Exalto - Een filosoof op de vlucht: Comenius in Groningen
Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences

De Tsjechische wetenschapper Jan Amos Comenius vluchtte in de zeventiende eeuw naar Nederland en vond tijdelijk onderdak aan de Groningse universiteit. Hij sprak met diverse hoogleraren over natuurwetenschap, filosofie en theologie. Dankzij de bijdrage van het Aanmoedigingsfonds gaan we met leerlingen van de bovenbouw van het vwo uit de regio in gesprek over deze casus. We bediscussiëren de betekenis van het instituut universiteit en het belang van kennismigratie en kennisuitwisseling vroeger en nu.

Karène Sanchez Summerer - Holland in the Holy Land, the Holy Land in Holland. Dutch connections to the Holy Land (1900-1950)
Faculty of Arts

This project highlights the underexplored historical connections between the Netherlands and the 'Holy Land' (1900–1950) through Dutch travelers, photographers, and visual culture. By organizing an itinerant exhibition, panel discussions, and a culinary activity with various local and national partners, this project will enrich public understanding, and engage diverse audiences in re-evaluating Dutch- 'Holy Land' relationships during a formative period in the Middle East.

Rimvyde Muzikeviciute - Farming Sugar, Cultivating Salt
Campus Fryslân

The project "Farming Sugar, Cultivating Salt" aims to engage local stakeholders and inhabitants in exploring the ecological and cultural transformations of coastal agricultural landscapes in Groningen and Friesland. By focusing on sugar beet cultivation, this project dives into the complex relationship between humans and their coastal environment, emphasizing the historical, ecological, and societal impacts of agricultural practices and their impact on the modern landscape. By incorporating art-based participatory methods, it connects scientific knowledge on food consumption and production with the lived experiences of local stakeholders (e.g. farmers, consumers). The project aims to generate a dialogue on awareness and relatedness to our food and stimulate collective action towards more sustainable food systems implementing local embodied knowledge.

Bettina van Hoven - Let’s Roll - visual stories about living with a wheelchair
University College Groningen

In this project, we create a prototype documentary about everyday experiences of wheelchair-users. We use different approaches to visual storytelling and ways in which to engage audiences. The project connects first-hand, lived experiences with scientific concepts and cinematic approaches to storytelling.

Johanneke Hartog - Heart-ROCQ stakeholder engagement: Sport and Dialogue event
University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)

The project aims to stimulate dialogue between different stakeholders (patients, healthcare providers, therapists, researchers, and policymakers) by organizing a sports and discussion afternoon, where the different perspectives on the Heart-ROCQ program will be explored. The Heart-ROCQ program is a multidisciplinary pre- and post-operative rehabilitation program for patients awaiting heart surgery. This evaluation will in addition to the Heart-ROCQ study (DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031738), which investigates the effect of the program on clinical outcomes, and aims to address societal issues related to maintaining high-quality healthcare in a time when an increasing number of patients with multiple comorbidities are being seen and healthcare costs are rising. This event will lay the foundation for creating a long-term user panel that will provide continuous input and help optimize a national implementation study to improve pre- and post-operative care for patients undergoing heart surgery.

Mónica López López - Queering the Walk. Exploring the LGBTQIA+ Activist Youth Experience through a Walking-Writing-based Immersive Public Artistic Intervention
Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences

“Queering the Walk” aims to know how LGBTQIA+ activist youth experience daily inhabiting Groningen. Based on the post-qualitative method of walking-writing, we aim to create a participatory cartography that can re-map the city landscape according to the experiences of LGBTQIA+ activist youth.

Ilse van Dijk - Integrating W̱SÁNEĆ Indigenous knowledge and cultural practices into adaptation and conservation
Faculty of Spatial Sciences

"My PhD research is about the cultural consequences of climate change, and how Indigenous stewardship can contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, with a case study of W̱SÁNEĆ First Nation on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. This involves an approach of braiding together different knowledge forms, namely Indigenous knowledge and Western academic knowledge. The British Columbia Assembly of First Nations have called attention to the need for Indigenous involvement in climate change planning in order to protect Indigenous cultural rights (Teegee, 2020). Many First Nations, including W̱SÁNEĆ, are working to re-establish themselves as stewards of the environment. According to W̱SÁNEĆ law, they have a sacred duty to look after the environment, which they view as non-human relatives. Through my research, I want to learn from the community and increase the recognition of the value of Indigenous knowledge in addressing climate change.

With the support of the Public Engagement Fund, I am able to organise creative deep mapping workshops with W̱SÁNEĆ Youth and Elders (Knowledge keepers). In these workshops we explore their perspectives and experiences with climate change and their goals for the future. The Public Engagement Fund also enables me to give back the resulting deep maps to the community either through an exhibition or as educational material on the subject."