Assisted Reality as an enabler for resilient remote learning during COVID-19

During the COVID'19 pandemic the vital practical aspect of Technical Vocational Educational Training (TVET) almost halted completely., as most providers were insufficiently prepared to respond to the containment measures applied to stop the spread of the virus. In this paper., we report on our preliminary work towards developing a resilient maritime TVET ecosystem by enabling remote learning and examination using Assisted Reality (AR) technologies. We present a novel framework for remote maritime TVET., incorporating AR devices., and evaluate our approach in real world conditions., in a class of more than 28 students of the Rotterdam Mainport Institute. We attempt to qualitatively and quantitatively measure the effect such systems have on the students learning process and report on the results. © 2022 IEEE.

Planning for Sustainable City Tourism in the Netherlands

The purpose of this paper is to examine policies and planning for sustainable city tourism in Amsterdam and Rotterdam and relate them to the notions of 'tourism reset' that emerged during the COVID pandemic period. Amsterdam is a prime European tourist city and has been suffering from problems associated with overtourism. Rotterdam receives much less tourists and can be seen as an emerging tourist city. Both cities have recently adopted new tourism policies, essentially future tourism visions. The case of Amsterdam and to a lesser extent that of Rotterdam show that formulating and agreeing on a tourism policy vision is easier than the decision-making process and implementing a vision. The instruments and powers of local government to manage the quantity and qualities of tourism are limited. Overtourism problems have stimulated carrying capacity thinking, which is considered inadequate for a multi-faceted problem like urban tourism.

De ervaringen van jonge statushouders met de schoolsluiting vanwege COVID-19

This paper focusses on the experiences of Syrian refugee youth in Rotterdam with the first school closure (spring 2020), due to COVID-19 policy measures. Based on repeated qualitative interviews with 19 boys and girls – before, during and after the school closure – we examine how Syrian refugee youth have experienced the school closure, and how this influence their educational position by using the four central tasks of education of Van de Werfhorst and Mijs (2010). Syrian refugee youth in our study emphasize that online education is more difficult to understand and stress they miss their friends at school. Moreover, their circumstances at home are not ideal for online learning, and therefore reaching the appropriate level of education becomes harder. This paper highlights the importance of the social aspect of education. Whereas going to school normally also stimulate friendships and their socialization in Dutch society, the school closure makes this more challenging. Especially for refugee youth school has extra relevance for reasons of e.g. mental health, resiliency, and socialization. Through our case studies, we argue that the school closure contributes to an accumulation of risks and inequalities. We conclude that the school closure will likely increase educational inequality for young people with a refugee background and makes their educational position more vulnerable.

Storytelling nights: Performing (post)memory of Cape Verdean migration to Rotterdam

The Cape Verdean community in Rotterdam (the third biggest Cape Verdean diaspora in the world) have left a clear imprint on Rotterdam’s culture especially in terms of music production. Recently, this cultural and historical legacy has been gaining more recognition. In the field of performing arts, which constitute a relevant aspect of the urban nightlife (when not impacted by the current COVID-19 restrictions), the stories of migration circulating among the community have inspired Dutch-Cape Verdean artists to create thought-provoking plays on diasporic identity negotiations and belonging. In this regard, two theatre storytelling pieces by second-generation Dutch-Cape Verdean female artists, Lena Évora’s Muziek en Verhalen uit Mijn Geboorteland (‘Music and stories from my homeland’) (2018) and Sonya Dias’s Het Verhaal van Mijn Moeder (‘The story of my mother’) (2017), engage with the notions of ‘home’ and ‘story’ in a particularly thought-provoking way, especially in what concerns night aesthetics. By close reading these two plays within the framework of Diaspora and Critical Archival Studies, this article aims to address how arts play a role in creating imaginary records of Cape Verdean migration history and contribute towards a more inclusive recognition of Rotterdam’s multicultural social texture and its nightlife.

The experiences of refugee youth with school closure due to COVID-19: A qualitative study on increasing educational inequality of young people from Syria in Rotterdam

This paper focusses on the experiences of Syrian refugee youth in Rotterdam with the first school closure (spring 2020), due to COVID-19 policy measures. Based on repeated qualitative interviews with 19 boys and girls – before, during and after the school closure – we examine how Syrian refugee youth have experienced the school closure, and how this influence their educational position by using the four central tasks of education of Van de Werfhorst and Mijs (2010). Syrian refugee youth in our study emphasize that online education is more difficult to understand and stress they miss their friends at school. Moreover, their circumstances at home are not ideal for online learning, and therefore reaching the appropriate level of education becomes harder. This paper highlights the importance of the social aspect of education. Whereas going to school normally also stimulate friendships and their socialization in Dutch society, the school closure makes this more challenging. Especially for refugee youth school has extra relevance for reasons of e.g. mental health, resiliency, and socialization. Through our case studies, we argue that the school closure contributes to an accumulation of risks and inequalities. We conclude that the school closure will likely increase educational inequality for young people with a refugee background and makes their educational position more vulnerable. © 2021 Amsterdam University Press. All rights reserved.