Red&Blue Lab 11

On Thursday, 21st of March and Friday 22nd of March, Maastricht University hosted the 11th Red&Blue lab in Maastricht. On the first day, Red&Blue research fellows and colleagues from Maastricht University kicked off the lab with a guided tour of Maastricht and its impressive historical water infrastructure. We walked from the city centre to the Campagne neighbourhood, past hills covered in grapevines, almost reaching the Dutch-Belgian border. After a long walk and having learned about drainage channels and basins in Maastricht, we ended the day with a team dinner. Truly a wonderful day of teambuilding, fun and immersive learning!

The second day took place at Maastricht University campus and revolved around integrating our diverse, yet often intersecting knowledges. After a round of sharing first preliminary research insights by the research fellows, we formed groups based on potential synergies between our first insights. New groups and connections were found and exciting debates start up – fertile soil for serious transdisciplinary exchange. From these sub-groups, larger groups were formed, where we co-created concrete research strategies for our Red&Blue programme. It was inspiring to observe, and be a part of, transdisciplinary knowledge integration in-the-making. Another highlight of the day was the visit of Delta Commissioner Co Verdaas, who spoke to us about his role and responsibilities and responded to our questions and concerns we have about the future of the Dutch Delta and its governance. We ended the second day, and overall lab in Maastricht, with an enthralling music performance by one of our research fellows, Abdi Mevar.