Red&Blue Lab 02
The second RED & BLUE lab was hosted by and held at the AMS Institute in Amsterdam. This was the second edition of a monthly ‘Lab’ meeting that is organized to enhance group spirit, keep up to date on each other’s work, find mutual synergies and to discuss overarching themes such as which stakeholders to involve. In the morning, the program started of with a brief round of presentations by all PhD’s and Postdocs on their progress leading to a range of short discussions. Next on the program was a brainstorm session for the stakeholder analysis. Based on the input from the previous Lab meeting, a matrix was made which identified ‘gabs’ in the list with stakeholders. During the workshops, effort was made to fill these ‘gabs’.
During the lunch break, Gerben Mol gave a presentation about the AMS Institute and gave a tour of the grounds of the former naval yard where the institute is located. In the afternoon, the official applicants of the RED & BLUE program joined the group. In several sessions, they were brought up to date regarding research developments of the researchers and the stakeholder analysis. During these sessions, the group also participated in two workshops on what urban cases to use and how to connect the different fields of research within RED & Blue with one another. There were several outcomes that were voiced by the participants. First of all, the participants recognized that the different fields of research, divided in the different ‘work packages’ fit together increasingly well. However, communication between the work packages can still be improved, enabling a more efficient workflow. It was also stressed that although independent research is important, it is also important to stay in tough with practice. Finding a good balance between the two should be a constant consideration. This could also enable a strong connection with societal debates and professional conversations going on, such as ‘Bodem en Water Sturend’. All in all, it was concluded that the RED & BLUE community is getting stronger and stronger.
