Difference between revisions of "Eiland van Brienenoord"

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[[File:brienenoord.jpg|Eiland van Brienenoord|300px]]
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{{Article
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|Image=eiland1.jpg
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|Caption=Eiland van Brienenoord
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|Summary=Just a few minutes outside the concrete jungle of Rotterdam Zuid, there's still a tiny piece of green situated beneath 'de van Brienenoord brug' on the Nieuwe Maas River. Most of the island is still untouched nature. To maintain a little human control, there are a few Schotse Hooglanders (Scottish Highland cows) placed on the island to graze.
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|Article=Authors: Wessel van den Berge, Lou Muuse, Gabriëlla Meijer, Kai Chung, Dennis Wuisman and Carli Schenkeveld
  
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==A public ‘free haven’ for the civic economy?==
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===A public 'free haven' for the civic economy?===
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During a special master class at the Redesigning Business Event of the Willem de Kooning Academy, a free haven for ‘makers’, 'thinkers', ‘doers’ and 'dreamers' was imagined for the Van Brienenoord Eiland in Rotterdam. '''De Makers van Rotterdam[http://demakersvanrotterdam.nl/]''' and [http://www.sandersgeluk.nl/ Sandersgeluk] are currently managing the clubhouse ‘De Arend en de Zeemeeuw’ at this Island. They plan to use this location as a work space, but more importantly as a public ‘free haven’ with a tremendous potential: a place where the powers of social and cultural imagination are brought together. Maurice Specht, one of the founders of De Makers van Rotterdam, looks at the Island van Brienenoord as a place where "one can escape from the city life, with a view of the city. He asked the participants of the masterclass to think of a new purpose for this island, without damaging it; to create a haven for thinkers, doers and dreamers in which one can reflect on modern day society. What kind of infrastructure would it take to make this happen?
 
  
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=== Facilitating the emerging civic economy in Rotterdam ===
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Underneath one of the biggest bridges across the River Maas, a beautiful island houses wild nature, garden allotments and a former youth club house: 'De Arend en de Zeemeeuw'. [http://demakersvanrotterdam.nl/ De Makers van Rotterdam] and [http://www.sandersgeluk.nl/ Sandersgeluk] current manage this clubhouse. They plan to use the location as a work space, but more importantly as a public 'free haven' with tremendous potential: a place where the powers of social and cultural imagination are brought together. During the Willem de Kooning Academy's Redesigning Business Event (November 2014), this idea of a free haven for 'makers', 'thinkers', 'doers' and 'dreamers' was further explored during a five day long masterclass on the Eiland van Brienenoord itself.  
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In many cities, we are increasingly witnessing the emergence of new forms of ownership: the consumer society is turning into a civic economy. In recent years in Rotterdam, a number of social initiatives and subsidy-free enterprises have been founded, such as [http://hotspothutspot.nl/ Hotspot Hutspot], [http://www.leeszaalrotterdamwest.nl/ Leeszaal Rotterdam West] and [http://www.sweatshopdeluxe.com/shop Sweatshop Deluxe]. Neighborhood initiatives like [https://www.facebook.com/zorgvrijstaat Zorgvrijstaat Rotterdam West], strive for more autonomy from citizens; they want to make people aware, activate and guide people in creating a network to solve their own problems. Their focus is on solving social issues through social, cultural and artistic interventions. Wouldn't it be nice if these initiatives could take some distance from their field of work, live in a different environment with different disciplines in order to reflect, gain new insights and develop their competences every once in a while?
 
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Both De Makers van Rotterdam as well as Sanders Geluk aim to facilitate this on Island van Brienenoord. The mission of'''De Makers van Rotterdam''' is to identify and strengthen social entrepreneurship in Rotterdam, and to stimulate discussion on the subject. The team consists of a philosopher, a public administrator and a cultural programmer. '''Makerscollectief Sandersgeluk'''[http://www.sandersgeluk.nl/] puts together social projects in the broadest sense of the term, and consists of a theatre producer, a visual artist and the same cultural programmer mentioned above.
 
  
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==The Year of the Doubt==
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Eiland van Brienenoord was created in the 19th century, when sludge plates where formed in the Nieuwe Maas. These plates grew and became attached to each other and started to be overgrown with reeds and bushes. Over time a wide variety of plants, trees, flowers and bushes grew, which eventually made the island highly suitable as a home for birds, butterflies and insects. Together the plants & animals sustain a little ecosystem on the island which is still largely intact. All of this, from the sudden emergence of an island and it eventually harbouring a lovely piece of untouched nature, make Eiland van Brienenoord a pretty unique spot in an ever growing city like Rotterdam. In the course of the 20th century, part of the island was reserved for allotments to give the residents of Rotterdam enjoyable gardens. This is fitting for a city where 68% of the housing consists of apartments.  
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The masterclass participants, coming from different educational institutes in Rotterdam, proposed to make doubt the central theme for the development of the island. Within our society there seems to be no room for doubt; You’re expected to make convincing decisions. And if you don’t, you’re considered weak. Think about how we judge politicians, scientists and business people. A lot of contemporary companies and organizations try to solve problems by using old methods. Wouldn't it be nice if they would just admit, that they are facing some problems they can’t solve? If there’s more room for doubt, for “not-knowing” there’s room for creativity, coming from all kinds of disciplines. So that new collaborations can arise in order to search for new methods to tackle these obstacles. A doubt oriented development would consist of different steps. The first steps take place within the first year; the Year of the Doubt. Within this year three steps are distinguished:
 
  
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===Step 1: Urban Myth, a Pull Strategy===
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[[File:eiland2.jpg|View on the Van Brienenoord bridge]]
  
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We want to reach a broad target group containing business people, creatives, politicians, craftsmen and scientists. Our goal is to get these people together on the island, in order to share their knowledge with each other using doubt as a means. Using the mystery and unfamiliarity of the island, we propose to create a hype; By creating an urban-myth, we want to make people curious and allow them to give their own interpretation of what’s going on. We spread three press releases: The first one’s about new valuable material being found on the island, which metaphorically refers to discovering the value of doubt. The next two are also about activity and discovery, which make the mystery more convincing and therefore make the reader even more curious.
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[[File:eiland3.jpg|Under the van Brienenoord bridge]]
  
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[[File:krantenknipsels.jpg|800px| PressRelease]]
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Maurice Specht, one of the founders of De Makers van Rotterdam, sees Eiland van Brienenoord as the perfect place to withdraw from the harsh, noisy and rapid city life. Isolated from what is going on in downtown Rotterdam, the island is really tranquil. A true oasis of peace where you can enjoy birds whistling and the smell of fresh air. That said, you can still see the Kop van Zuid's skyline & hear the traffic passing over the Van Brienenoord Bridge in the background. But the daily city life is left behind on the other side of the island's drawbridge. It seems an ideal place to talk, reflect and debate modern day society, given that it is almost the opposite environment from where you see the city from another perspective. Maurice asked the participants of the masterclass to come up with innovative ways to make this island useful in this debate, without damaging the grounds and changing it radically. To turn it into a haven for creative, social and business entrepreneurs and everyone else who has input to the concept. He set some guidelines including two key principles: one, there should be room for doubt & two, it should 'tot de verbeelding spreken' (be visually appealing).  
  
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[[File:re-openingIsland.jpg | thumbnail ]]
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==== Facilitating the emerging civic economy in Rotterdam ====
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Many cities are increasingly witnessing the emergence of new forms of ownership: the consumer society is turning into a civic economy. In recent years in Rotterdam, a number of social initiatives and subsidy-free enterprises have been founded such as [http://hotspothutspot.nl/ Hotspot Hutspot], [http://www.leeszaalrotterdamwest.nl/ Leeszaal Rotterdam West] and [http://www.sweatshopdeluxe.com/shop Sweatshop Deluxe]. Neighbourhood initiatives like [https://www.facebook.com/zorgvrijstaat Zorgvrijstaat Rotterdam West], strive for more autonomy from citizens. They want to make people aware, stimulate them and guide them to create networks to solve their own problems. Their focus is on solving social issues through social, cultural and artistic interventions. Wouldn't it be nice if these initiatives could take some distance from their field of work, live in a different environment with different disciplines in order to reflect, gain new insights and develop their competences every once in a while?
  
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===Step 2: The Game, a Kick-off===
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Both De Makers van Rotterdam as well as Sanders Geluk intend to facilitate this process on Eiland van Brienenoord. The mission of De Makers van Rotterdam is to identify and strengthen social entrepreneurship in Rotterdam, and to stimulate discussion on the subject. The team consists of a philosopher, a public administrator and a cultural programmer. [http://www.sandersgeluk.nl/ Makerscollectief Sandersgeluk] puts together social projects in the broadest sense of the term, and consists of a theatre producer, a visual artist and the same cultural programmer mentioned above.
  
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[[File:Brug.jpg|Start van de game]] [[File:gameuitleg2.jpg]]<br />
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===The Year of Doubt===
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<br />
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The masterclass participants, coming from different educational institutes in Rotterdam, proposed 'doubt' as the central theme for the development of the island. The reason for this is that there seems to be no room for doubt in our society: you're expected to make convincing decisions. And if you don't, you're considered weak. Think about how we judge politicians, scientists and business people. A lot of contemporary companies and organisations try to solve problems by using old methods. Wouldn't it be nice if they would just admit that they can't solve some problems? If there's more room for doubt, for "not-knowing" there's room for creativity, coming from all kinds of disciplines. New collaborations could arise that could to search for new methods to tackle these obstacles. A doubt oriented development would consist of different steps. The first steps take place in the first year, the Year of the Doubt. There are three steps in this year.
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''Time’s ticking away slowly. When the clock reaches “00:00:00”, the bridge will opens and the participants can enter the island. Once they’ve all entered, the bridge rises again, so that no one can leave the island. The game begins!''
 
  
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At the beginning each participant can obtain a controller. The controller will ask you several questions about the island; Once you have given an answer to all these questions the controller will lead you to a place on the island by using vibrations. When the controller lights up, you’ve reached your goal. Here you will meet other participants. For this kick-off different structures will built on the island as a metaphor for different kinds of doubts. Physical dynamic structures that changes form to accommodate different kinds of doubt.
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====Step 1: Urban Myth, a Pull Strategy====
  
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[[File:huisjes.jpg|Examples: Objects of doubt|thumbnail]]
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We want to reach a broad target group comprising business people, creatives, politicians, craftsmen and scientists. Our goal is to get these people together on the island to share their knowledge with each other using doubt as a means. Using the mystery and unfamiliarity of the island, we propose to create a hype. By creating an urban myth, we want to make people curious and allow them to give their own interpretation of what's going on. We will issue three press releases. The first one's about new valuable material being found on the island, which metaphorically refers to discovering the value of doubt. The next two will be about activity and discovery, and will make the mystery more convincing and therefore make readers even more curious.
  
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===Step 3: Programming essential themes ===
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[[File:krantenknipsels.jpg|PressRelease]]
  
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Within this year of doubt, we will look at doubts that we think are or should be important;
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[[File:re-openingIsland.jpg]]
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====Step 2: The Game, a Kick-off====
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[[File:Brug.jpg|Start van de game]]
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[[File:gameuitleg2.jpg|Time's ticking away slowly. When the clock reaches "00:00:00", the bridge will fall down and the participants can enter the island. Once they've all entered, the bridge rises again, so the entire island becomes isolated. Let the game begin!]]
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At the beginning each participant will get a controller. The controller will ask several questions about the island. Once all these questions have been answered, the controller will lead you to a place on the island by using vibrations. When the controller lights up, you've reached your goal. Here you will meet other participants. Different structures built on the island act as metaphors for different kinds of doubts and serve to kick-off the next phase. They are physical dynamic structures that change form to accommodate different kinds of doubt.
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[[File:huisjes.jpg|Examples: Objects of doubt]]
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====Step 3: Programming essential themes ====
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During this year of doubt, we will look at doubts that we think are or should be important.
 
   
 
   
 
=====Economy=====
 
=====Economy=====
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We’ve all experienced what the consequences of not doubting within economics have caused our society. For example bankers not doubting themselves and bankers not doubting each other, causing our society to shake on it's foundations. Together with economic experts we question modern day economics, to obtain new insights. Themes could be: value, sharing, scarcity and income inequality. In order to do so, there will be various activities like workshops and games, that will make us empathize with different social/economic roles, make us gain insight in economic systems and make us think of new possibilities within economics.
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Bankers having no doubts about themselves nor doubting each other partly caused our society to shake to its foundations. This is one big example why triggering doubt within economics isn't such a bad idea. Guided by economic experts we question modern day economics. To do so, there will be various activities like games (LARP) that will make us empathise with different social/economic roles, help us gain insights in economic systems and make us think of new economic possibilities that we as citizens can achieve. Themes could be: value, sharing, scarcity and income inequality.
  
 
===== Ecology =====
 
===== Ecology =====
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The van Brienenoord-eiland’s nature might be beautiful, but it’s also very much disturbed by the city’s industry; the ground looks grayish, the ponds have minimal current, the flora isn’t very vital and you can see it’s soil is polluted because of the many blackberry-bushes trying to heal it. There’s no doubt our society has environmental issues; Is there for example a way we can cleanse this island and also win insights how to change our society’s ecology? Can we use the eco-systems that are present on this island to do so? Or do we need elements from outside the island? Together with van Brienenoord-eiland’s own forester and various ecologists we will rethink the ecology of our society.
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The Van Brienenoord Eiland's nature might be beautiful, but it's also very much disturbed by the city's industry. The ground looks greyish, the ponds have minimal current, the flora isn't very vital and you can see its soil is polluted because of the many blackberry bushes trying to heal it. There's no doubt our society has environmental issues. Are there things we can learn from the island's nature that can help us gain insight in our urban ecology and help us improve it? Guided by Van Brienenoord Eiland's very own forest ranger and various ecologists and landscape architects, we will question our urban ecology.  An excursion through the island's nature will include demonstrations and lectures on how our consumerist behaviour relates to the deterioration of our planet's ecology, followed by an open debate about how we as citizens can change this.
  
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<youtube>FweRHHsDdfI#t=21</youtube>
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{{#ev:youtube|FweRHHsDdfI}}
  
 
===== Relations =====
 
===== Relations =====
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When you think about doubt in relation to relationships, you ought to think there’s something wrong. But because of it’s reflective function, doubt can be very powerful within this context. In order for relationships to grow and strengthen, you will very much need it. Expressing your doubts within any kind of relation can be hard, it can result in very emotional situations. Can accepting doubt make expressing and receiving doubts more bearable?
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When you think about doubt in relation to relationships, you probably think there's something wrong. But because of its reflective function, doubt can be very powerful within this context. In order for relationships to grow and strengthen, you will very much need it. Expressing your doubts within any kind of relationship can be hard; it can result in very emotional situations. Can accepting doubt make expressing and receiving doubts more bearable? Guided by psychologists and anthropologists we will rethink relationships. By holding contests between teams, putting these teams through heavy emotional and physical situations, we will test and gain insights on what it takes to have a sustainable relationship.
 
 
 
===== Science =====
 
===== Science =====
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There’s been a lot of scientific research by different scientists on similar subjects, with different outcomes. This makes us non-scientists who expect science to be the truth doubt if it is. Is this expectation always realistic? There’s no doubt scientists strive for certainty and answers, but the road towards it must be full of doubt. We think scientists and non-scientist should get together and doubt about what science is and what to expect from it.
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There's been a lot of scientific research by different scientists on similar subjects with different outcomes. This makes us non-scientists who expect science to be The Truth doubt if it is so. Is this expectation always realistic? There's no doubt scientists strive for certainty and answers, but the road towards it must be full of doubt. We think scientists and non-scientists should get together and doubt about what science is and what to expect from it. In order to do this, we will switch roles by performing each other's science-based activities. This will make scientists and non-scientists empathise with each other. This will be followed by a discussion on how each group experienced the exercise.
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====Business Model====
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In order to develop towards an autonomous think, make and work place for and about the future of the city we need a business plan.
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The masterclass came up with the following ideas to act as guidelines for this business plan for the future.
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* Extreme cost-reduction: no alarm, no insurance, no electricity etc.
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* No dependency on external funders for the operations budget. We can make profit from renting the location to external parties.
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* A limited number of people to run the office.
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* 'Artist/writer/thinker in residence' programme: in exchange for rent these people can work/live on the island.
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* Cultural subsidies and/or funding to be sought for the cultural and substantive programme.
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* Develop our own products to generate a modest amount of money.
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* Act as a breeding place for new civic entrepreneurs; start-ups have a lasting investment in the island.
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* Summer weekends with catering.
  
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==Business Model==
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''Doubters inc. was formed during The masterclass '''The Civic Economy''' during the '''Redesigning Business Week''' organised by the WdKA, Rotterdam, and came together at Eiland van Brienenoord in november 2014.''
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In order to develop towards an autonomous think-, make- and workplace for and about the future of the city we need a business plan.
 
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As guidelines for this future plan, the masterclas came up with the following ideas:
 
  
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* Extreme cost-reduction: no alarm, no insurance, no electricity, etc.
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''Doubters inc. consist of the following participants:''
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* For the exploitation budget, not to be dependent on external funders. We can make profit from renting the location to external parties
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* The office can be ran by a limited amount of people
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* ''[http://www.carlischenkeveld.nl/ Carli Schenkeveld] (lifestyle)''
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* “Artist/writer/thinker in residence”-program: in exchange for rent these people can work/live on the island
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* ''Otske Pennin (spatial design)''
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* For the cultural an substantive program we will request cultural subsidies and/or fundings
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* ''[http://gabriellameijer.hotglue.me/ Gabriëlla Meijer] (fine art)''
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* Develop our own products, that create a modest amount of money
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* ''Kai Chung Ip''
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* To function as a breeding place for new civic entrepreneurs; start-ups have a lasting investment in the island
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* ''[http://www.loumuuse.com Lou Muuse] (lifestyle)''
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* Summer-weekends with catering
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* ''[http://www.pinkponyexpress.nl/ Jessica Hammalund Bergmann]''
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* ''Maurice Specht (developer & clubhouse owner)''
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* ''[http://www.cargocollective.com/delamontagnes/ Wessel van den Berge](graphic design)''
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* ''Dennis Wuisman (graphic design)''
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* ''Maarten van Blokland (TU)''
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* ''[http://ateliermonte.com/ Isaac Monté]''
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* ''Liza Koch (lifestyle)''
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* ''Natascha Goed (product design)''
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* ''[http://www.tabogoudswaard.nl/ Tabo Goudswaard]''
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* ''[http://www.optrek.org/ Sabrina Lindemann]''
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* ''Miek Walda (entrepreneur)''
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* ''Hanako Lodder (esoteric feng shui expert)''
  
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''The masterclass was hosted and guided by Isaac Monté ([http://beyond-social.org/wiki/index.php/Sweatshop_Deluxe Sweatshop Deluxe]) and Maurice Specht (De Makers van Rotterdam) and organised and guided by Jessica Bergmann (Pink Pony Express).''
  
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''Location: [http://maatschappelijkvastgoedbeweegt.blogspot.nl/2013/03/de-arend-en-de-zeemeeuw-gedreven-om-een.html Clubhouse "De Arend en de Zeemeeuw"], [http://www.natuurvereniging-ijsselmonde.nl/eropuit/brienenoord2.php Eiland Van Brienenoord 5 (Van Brienenoord Island)], Rotterdam.''
  
  
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'''Doubters inc.'''[http://beyond-social.org/wiki/index.php/twijfel] consist of the following [[participants]]:
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===Personal Doubt Appendix===
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* [http://www.carlischenkeveld.nl/ Carli Schenkeveld] (lifestyle)
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===== I doubt that ... =====
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* Otske Pennin (spatial design)
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"At the moment I'm doubting my graduation internship. My interest is in acoustics, but I am also interested in architecture and sustainability. A combination of these would be awesome, but I haven't found an internship that contains these three interests. And if I don't, then which one will I be able to most excel in? Which interest fits what partner and supervisor? Will this result in a new experience? Or will it be the same path I've already gone down a thousand times? I just don't know yet."
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* [http://gabriellameijer.hotglue.me/ Gabriëlla Meijer] (fine art)
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* Kai Chung Ip
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* [http://www.loumuuse.com Lou Muuse] (lifestyle)
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===== I doubt that ... =====
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* [http://www.pinkponyexpress.nl/ Jessica Hammarlund Bergmann]
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* Maurice Specht (developer & clubhouse owner)
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"The doubt of whether you make intuitive or rational decisions. Society teaches us to make rational ones, some of which are even expected of us. Because of this we become more disconnected from our feelings, which is bad because in my case most of my best choices come from the heart. I doubt about whether I should listen to my heart, my first thought, my feeling or my intuition. Or should I make rational choices with the knowledge I have. For me this is a choice between security and happiness."
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* [http://www.cargocollective.com/delamontagnes/ Wessel van den Berge](graphic design)
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* Dennis Wuisman (graphic design)
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* Maarten van Blokland (TU)
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===== I doubt that ... =====
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* [http://ateliermonte.com/ Isaac Monté]
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"In the past I doubted about everything, which made me very vulnerable, insecure and frustrated. It made me indecisive, which I was very aware of as a child. This made me sad. In my teenage years things were a little less hard, because I knew a little more about what I wanted in life. I couldn't explain it though, but at least I was making decisions following my intuition. Since I got to know myself better, a lot of my daily life doubts slowly disappeared.
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* Liza Koch (lifestyle)
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* Natascha Goed (product design)
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The only thing is that the doubts that do remain are a lot deeper. I question why we're so harsh to one another in this society and I doubt that it is humane. Doubts about the status-quo, massive corporations, the economy, politics, the food industry, the fast-fashion industry, the medical industry, banks, housing associations, and so on.  
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* [http://www.tabogoudswaard.nl/ Tabo Goudswaard]
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* [http://www.optrek.org/ Sabrina Lindemann]
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These organisations are too big for me to understand; they're not transparent and therefore don't trust them. I doubt that they are sustainable; I doubt that they are social. I doubt if they can continue this big or that we should continue on a more humane scale. New collectives built on trust, love and sharing should emerge, so that we can continue with less doubt about things that are too big to understand."
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* Miek Walda (entrepreneur)
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* Hanako Lodder (esoteric feng shui expert)
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===== I doubt that ... =====
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"When I'm done studying, I'll travel the world. There are so many places I wish to see and so many adventures I want to have.  
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Should I go alone? Or should I find a travel companion?
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I don't know if I'm that good at being alone.
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I would love to do some voluntary work in order to help people in need, but after reading the news I doubt if these people will benefit from it."
  
  
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The masterclass was hosted and guided by Isaac Monté (Sweatshop Deluxe) and Maurice Specht (De Makers van Rotterdam) and organised and guided by Jessica Bergmann (Pink Pony Express).
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===== I doubt that ... =====
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"Doubt is a lack of trust! Trust is something you can build, therefore the lack of trust can be conquered. Trust in yourself! Trust in someone else! Trust in love! What I would love to have is 100% trust in everything. That I never have to doubt again. But therefore I trust to doubt."
  
  
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Location: [http://maatschappelijkvastgoedbeweegt.blogspot.nl/2013/03/de-arend-en-de-zeemeeuw-gedreven-om-een.html Clubhouse “De Arend en de Zeemeeuw”], [http://www.natuurvereniging-ijsselmonde.nl/eropuit/brienenoord2.php Eiland Van Brienenoord 5 (Van Brienenoord Island)], Rotterdam.
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===== I doubt that ... =====
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"The biggest doubt I have at the moment is a very important one for my future. It's a doubt between choices... What to do after school? Do you want to choose your passion, the unknown, where you enter the intangible? Or do you want to choose more security, the more concrete future, but at the same time fewer opportunities. It's a doubt between choices where you think you know the future but where you certainly don't know the future. You have the easy money, but not the fun, or you have to work harder, take more risks and wait longer for the same result (in this case money). The thing is that nothing is wrong, there are more answers and there surely will always be more questions to doubt about."
  
  
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[http://www.sweatshopdeluxe.com/home/ Sweatshop Deluxe] is a Rotterdam-based design label with its own production workshops. The label provides young designers an opportunity to manufacture their designs. Sweatshop Deluxe stands for Design with a capital D, manufactured according to social principles. Each Sweatshop Deluxe product is unique: hand-made, in limited editions, and designed by promising young designers. The products are manufactured by people who are otherwise unable, for a variety of reasons, to participate in the regular labour market. Sweatshop Deluxe uses wherever possible sustainable or recycled materials.
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===== I doubt that ... =====
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"For me, my designership through the years has been and will always be full of doubt. It's all about making decisions and if you would know everything, then there would be nothing new to learn. So when I'm working on a project and I have doubts, it simply means there's things I don't know yet. A moment that I find very exciting is the moment that I am going to learn something new. This can be knowledge, skills or often a new visual input that is inspiring. Most of the time I solve this myself by doing research, but sometimes it helps to speak to someone who I trust and who I think is able to make my doubts disappear. In the past, teachers, fellow student/designers and supervisors have been the ones for me.
  
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I never felt that there wasn't any room for my doubts. The Academy and my internship have always been very supportive in that respect. This is why I do not associate doubt with a negative feeling and that's why it's not an issue for me. Maybe there's no room for doubt in the place where I will live in the future, a place beyond the Academy. A time where I might need the Island of Doubt."
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Latest revision as of 16:56, 6 December 2017


Eiland van Brienenoord
Just a few minutes outside the concrete jungle of Rotterdam Zuid, there's still a tiny piece of green situated beneath 'de van Brienenoord brug' on the Nieuwe Maas River. Most of the island is still untouched nature. To maintain a little human control, there are a few Schotse Hooglanders (Scottish Highland cows) placed on the island to graze.

Authors: Wessel van den Berge, Lou Muuse, Gabriëlla Meijer, Kai Chung, Dennis Wuisman and Carli Schenkeveld

A public 'free haven' for the civic economy?

Underneath one of the biggest bridges across the River Maas, a beautiful island houses wild nature, garden allotments and a former youth club house: 'De Arend en de Zeemeeuw'. De Makers van Rotterdam and Sandersgeluk current manage this clubhouse. They plan to use the location as a work space, but more importantly as a public 'free haven' with tremendous potential: a place where the powers of social and cultural imagination are brought together. During the Willem de Kooning Academy's Redesigning Business Event (November 2014), this idea of a free haven for 'makers', 'thinkers', 'doers' and 'dreamers' was further explored during a five day long masterclass on the Eiland van Brienenoord itself.

Eiland van Brienenoord was created in the 19th century, when sludge plates where formed in the Nieuwe Maas. These plates grew and became attached to each other and started to be overgrown with reeds and bushes. Over time a wide variety of plants, trees, flowers and bushes grew, which eventually made the island highly suitable as a home for birds, butterflies and insects. Together the plants & animals sustain a little ecosystem on the island which is still largely intact. All of this, from the sudden emergence of an island and it eventually harbouring a lovely piece of untouched nature, make Eiland van Brienenoord a pretty unique spot in an ever growing city like Rotterdam. In the course of the 20th century, part of the island was reserved for allotments to give the residents of Rotterdam enjoyable gardens. This is fitting for a city where 68% of the housing consists of apartments.

View on the Van Brienenoord bridge

Under the van Brienenoord bridge

Maurice Specht, one of the founders of De Makers van Rotterdam, sees Eiland van Brienenoord as the perfect place to withdraw from the harsh, noisy and rapid city life. Isolated from what is going on in downtown Rotterdam, the island is really tranquil. A true oasis of peace where you can enjoy birds whistling and the smell of fresh air. That said, you can still see the Kop van Zuid's skyline & hear the traffic passing over the Van Brienenoord Bridge in the background. But the daily city life is left behind on the other side of the island's drawbridge. It seems an ideal place to talk, reflect and debate modern day society, given that it is almost the opposite environment from where you see the city from another perspective. Maurice asked the participants of the masterclass to come up with innovative ways to make this island useful in this debate, without damaging the grounds and changing it radically. To turn it into a haven for creative, social and business entrepreneurs and everyone else who has input to the concept. He set some guidelines including two key principles: one, there should be room for doubt & two, it should 'tot de verbeelding spreken' (be visually appealing).

Facilitating the emerging civic economy in Rotterdam

Many cities are increasingly witnessing the emergence of new forms of ownership: the consumer society is turning into a civic economy. In recent years in Rotterdam, a number of social initiatives and subsidy-free enterprises have been founded such as Hotspot Hutspot, Leeszaal Rotterdam West and Sweatshop Deluxe. Neighbourhood initiatives like Zorgvrijstaat Rotterdam West, strive for more autonomy from citizens. They want to make people aware, stimulate them and guide them to create networks to solve their own problems. Their focus is on solving social issues through social, cultural and artistic interventions. Wouldn't it be nice if these initiatives could take some distance from their field of work, live in a different environment with different disciplines in order to reflect, gain new insights and develop their competences every once in a while?

Both De Makers van Rotterdam as well as Sanders Geluk intend to facilitate this process on Eiland van Brienenoord. The mission of De Makers van Rotterdam is to identify and strengthen social entrepreneurship in Rotterdam, and to stimulate discussion on the subject. The team consists of a philosopher, a public administrator and a cultural programmer. Makerscollectief Sandersgeluk puts together social projects in the broadest sense of the term, and consists of a theatre producer, a visual artist and the same cultural programmer mentioned above.

The Year of Doubt

The masterclass participants, coming from different educational institutes in Rotterdam, proposed 'doubt' as the central theme for the development of the island. The reason for this is that there seems to be no room for doubt in our society: you're expected to make convincing decisions. And if you don't, you're considered weak. Think about how we judge politicians, scientists and business people. A lot of contemporary companies and organisations try to solve problems by using old methods. Wouldn't it be nice if they would just admit that they can't solve some problems? If there's more room for doubt, for "not-knowing" there's room for creativity, coming from all kinds of disciplines. New collaborations could arise that could to search for new methods to tackle these obstacles. A doubt oriented development would consist of different steps. The first steps take place in the first year, the Year of the Doubt. There are three steps in this year.

Step 1: Urban Myth, a Pull Strategy

We want to reach a broad target group comprising business people, creatives, politicians, craftsmen and scientists. Our goal is to get these people together on the island to share their knowledge with each other using doubt as a means. Using the mystery and unfamiliarity of the island, we propose to create a hype. By creating an urban myth, we want to make people curious and allow them to give their own interpretation of what's going on. We will issue three press releases. The first one's about new valuable material being found on the island, which metaphorically refers to discovering the value of doubt. The next two will be about activity and discovery, and will make the mystery more convincing and therefore make readers even more curious.

PressRelease

Re-openingIsland.jpg

Step 2: The Game, a Kick-off

Start van de game

Time's ticking away slowly. When the clock reaches "00:00:00", the bridge will fall down and the participants can enter the island. Once they've all entered, the bridge rises again, so the entire island becomes isolated. Let the game begin!

At the beginning each participant will get a controller. The controller will ask several questions about the island. Once all these questions have been answered, the controller will lead you to a place on the island by using vibrations. When the controller lights up, you've reached your goal. Here you will meet other participants. Different structures built on the island act as metaphors for different kinds of doubts and serve to kick-off the next phase. They are physical dynamic structures that change form to accommodate different kinds of doubt.

Examples: Objects of doubt

Step 3: Programming essential themes

During this year of doubt, we will look at doubts that we think are or should be important.

Economy

Bankers having no doubts about themselves nor doubting each other partly caused our society to shake to its foundations. This is one big example why triggering doubt within economics isn't such a bad idea. Guided by economic experts we question modern day economics. To do so, there will be various activities like games (LARP) that will make us empathise with different social/economic roles, help us gain insights in economic systems and make us think of new economic possibilities that we as citizens can achieve. Themes could be: value, sharing, scarcity and income inequality.

Ecology

The Van Brienenoord Eiland's nature might be beautiful, but it's also very much disturbed by the city's industry. The ground looks greyish, the ponds have minimal current, the flora isn't very vital and you can see its soil is polluted because of the many blackberry bushes trying to heal it. There's no doubt our society has environmental issues. Are there things we can learn from the island's nature that can help us gain insight in our urban ecology and help us improve it? Guided by Van Brienenoord Eiland's very own forest ranger and various ecologists and landscape architects, we will question our urban ecology. An excursion through the island's nature will include demonstrations and lectures on how our consumerist behaviour relates to the deterioration of our planet's ecology, followed by an open debate about how we as citizens can change this.

Relations

When you think about doubt in relation to relationships, you probably think there's something wrong. But because of its reflective function, doubt can be very powerful within this context. In order for relationships to grow and strengthen, you will very much need it. Expressing your doubts within any kind of relationship can be hard; it can result in very emotional situations. Can accepting doubt make expressing and receiving doubts more bearable? Guided by psychologists and anthropologists we will rethink relationships. By holding contests between teams, putting these teams through heavy emotional and physical situations, we will test and gain insights on what it takes to have a sustainable relationship.

Science

There's been a lot of scientific research by different scientists on similar subjects with different outcomes. This makes us non-scientists who expect science to be The Truth doubt if it is so. Is this expectation always realistic? There's no doubt scientists strive for certainty and answers, but the road towards it must be full of doubt. We think scientists and non-scientists should get together and doubt about what science is and what to expect from it. In order to do this, we will switch roles by performing each other's science-based activities. This will make scientists and non-scientists empathise with each other. This will be followed by a discussion on how each group experienced the exercise.

Business Model

In order to develop towards an autonomous think, make and work place for and about the future of the city we need a business plan.

The masterclass came up with the following ideas to act as guidelines for this business plan for the future.

  • Extreme cost-reduction: no alarm, no insurance, no electricity etc.
  • No dependency on external funders for the operations budget. We can make profit from renting the location to external parties.
  • A limited number of people to run the office.
  • 'Artist/writer/thinker in residence' programme: in exchange for rent these people can work/live on the island.
  • Cultural subsidies and/or funding to be sought for the cultural and substantive programme.
  • Develop our own products to generate a modest amount of money.
  • Act as a breeding place for new civic entrepreneurs; start-ups have a lasting investment in the island.
  • Summer weekends with catering.

Doubters inc. was formed during The masterclass The Civic Economy during the Redesigning Business Week organised by the WdKA, Rotterdam, and came together at Eiland van Brienenoord in november 2014.

Doubters inc. consist of the following participants:

The masterclass was hosted and guided by Isaac Monté (Sweatshop Deluxe) and Maurice Specht (De Makers van Rotterdam) and organised and guided by Jessica Bergmann (Pink Pony Express).

Location: Clubhouse "De Arend en de Zeemeeuw", Eiland Van Brienenoord 5 (Van Brienenoord Island), Rotterdam.


Personal Doubt Appendix

I doubt that ...

"At the moment I'm doubting my graduation internship. My interest is in acoustics, but I am also interested in architecture and sustainability. A combination of these would be awesome, but I haven't found an internship that contains these three interests. And if I don't, then which one will I be able to most excel in? Which interest fits what partner and supervisor? Will this result in a new experience? Or will it be the same path I've already gone down a thousand times? I just don't know yet."


I doubt that ...

"The doubt of whether you make intuitive or rational decisions. Society teaches us to make rational ones, some of which are even expected of us. Because of this we become more disconnected from our feelings, which is bad because in my case most of my best choices come from the heart. I doubt about whether I should listen to my heart, my first thought, my feeling or my intuition. Or should I make rational choices with the knowledge I have. For me this is a choice between security and happiness."


I doubt that ...

"In the past I doubted about everything, which made me very vulnerable, insecure and frustrated. It made me indecisive, which I was very aware of as a child. This made me sad. In my teenage years things were a little less hard, because I knew a little more about what I wanted in life. I couldn't explain it though, but at least I was making decisions following my intuition. Since I got to know myself better, a lot of my daily life doubts slowly disappeared.

The only thing is that the doubts that do remain are a lot deeper. I question why we're so harsh to one another in this society and I doubt that it is humane. Doubts about the status-quo, massive corporations, the economy, politics, the food industry, the fast-fashion industry, the medical industry, banks, housing associations, and so on.

These organisations are too big for me to understand; they're not transparent and therefore don't trust them. I doubt that they are sustainable; I doubt that they are social. I doubt if they can continue this big or that we should continue on a more humane scale. New collectives built on trust, love and sharing should emerge, so that we can continue with less doubt about things that are too big to understand."


I doubt that ...

"When I'm done studying, I'll travel the world. There are so many places I wish to see and so many adventures I want to have. Should I go alone? Or should I find a travel companion? I don't know if I'm that good at being alone.

I would love to do some voluntary work in order to help people in need, but after reading the news I doubt if these people will benefit from it."


I doubt that ...

"Doubt is a lack of trust! Trust is something you can build, therefore the lack of trust can be conquered. Trust in yourself! Trust in someone else! Trust in love! What I would love to have is 100% trust in everything. That I never have to doubt again. But therefore I trust to doubt."


I doubt that ...

"The biggest doubt I have at the moment is a very important one for my future. It's a doubt between choices... What to do after school? Do you want to choose your passion, the unknown, where you enter the intangible? Or do you want to choose more security, the more concrete future, but at the same time fewer opportunities. It's a doubt between choices where you think you know the future but where you certainly don't know the future. You have the easy money, but not the fun, or you have to work harder, take more risks and wait longer for the same result (in this case money). The thing is that nothing is wrong, there are more answers and there surely will always be more questions to doubt about."


I doubt that ...

"For me, my designership through the years has been and will always be full of doubt. It's all about making decisions and if you would know everything, then there would be nothing new to learn. So when I'm working on a project and I have doubts, it simply means there's things I don't know yet. A moment that I find very exciting is the moment that I am going to learn something new. This can be knowledge, skills or often a new visual input that is inspiring. Most of the time I solve this myself by doing research, but sometimes it helps to speak to someone who I trust and who I think is able to make my doubts disappear. In the past, teachers, fellow student/designers and supervisors have been the ones for me.

I never felt that there wasn't any room for my doubts. The Academy and my internship have always been very supportive in that respect. This is why I do not associate doubt with a negative feeling and that's why it's not an issue for me. Maybe there's no room for doubt in the place where I will live in the future, a place beyond the Academy. A time where I might need the Island of Doubt."

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