Nederlandse steden bieden steeds meer winterprogrammering aan. Breda gaat verder dan een ijsbaan. De silent disco staat weer op het programma en nieuw zijn de curlingbanen.

Een warme kerst zonder gedoe: dát is waar de meeste Nederlanders in 2025 naar verlangen. December zou de maand van verbinding moeten zijn, maar voelt voor velen als een verplicht nummer. Uit onderzoek van kaartenaanbieder Greetz blijkt dat 55% zich sociaal onder druk gezet voelt om ‘gezellig’ te doen. Sociaal psycholoog Dr. Tila Pronk noemt dit “de kerstparadox”: het verlangen naar rust én naar verbinding tegelijk.

De klimaattop COP30 is afgesloten. Europa baalt want het grote onderwerp, het terugdringen van fossiele brandstoffen, kwam niet aan bod. Het Europees Parlement ziet een geringe actie op klimaatverbetering maar oordeelt dat de uitkomst van de top toch voldoende is.

Students are experiencing more and more problems to meet the expectations held by society, and are struggling to find ways to cope with the associated mental health issues. Higher education tries to provide guidance on this, but it usually does not tackle the root of the problem. The Social Innovation specialisation has been taking a different approach to education for twenty years, and with Resilience LABs is taking the next step towards education that aligns with today’s needs.

In 2020, the Urban Life and Placemaking (ULP) specialisation was launched as part of the Academy for Leisure & Events portfolio. From the start, ULP has focused on the dynamic nature of urban contexts and the role leisure and events can play within them. With the vast majority of the world’s population living in cities - a number that continues to rise - urban areas are increasingly the places where people shape and experience their everyday lives. Cities are also sites of contrast: they offer vibrant leisure opportunities that cater to diverse lifestyles, yet they simultaneously struggle with pressing societal issues. It is precisely this dual nature that positions leisure and events as powerful tools for urban transformation. At ULP, we view leisure and events not only as experiences, but as instruments for building more inclusive, just, and joyful cities - or, as we say, loveable and liveable cities. Since the programme was launched, nearly 100 students (20-25 annually) have joined ULP. Five years in, we are reflecting on what has been achieved, what is changing, and what lies ahead - for both the programme and the urban contexts we aim to shape. In an ever-changing world, reflection is key to staying relevant and impactful.

Can urban design truly make people healthier and more connected? The concept of healthy placemaking suggests it can, and that thoughtfully designed spaces can enhance physical well-being, mental resilience, and social interaction. Rather than focusing on aesthetics or adding green spaces - healthy placemaking argues for deliberate strategies to create environments that foster positive health. This extends beyond the mere absence of illness, as it also incorporates helping people feel in control, adapt to challenges, and form meaningful connections. Hart van Zuid, Rotterdam, is putting this concept into practice with several interventions; to see to what extent a redesigned urban space can truly empower residents, improve well-being, and strengthen social bonds, or whether healthy placemaking is likely to be yet another buzzword.

Despite the high density of visitor attractions in the Netherlands, many are not (fully) accessible. Where attention is paid to accessibility, the focus is often on technical and operational aspects, and hardly on the experience. This is surprising, as experience is often regarded as leisure’s ‘core product’. While universal design principles can enhance attractions, adapting well-established ones with long-existing facilities is not immediately straightforward. We therefore suggest working with evidence-based (re)developments on the basis of experience measurements that consider all types of visitors to effectively inform design interventions. However, experience measurements have been developed mainly by, for and on people without disabilities. In a research project co-funded by CELTH and leisure industry partners, we aimed to study how these measurement tools can be redeveloped to validly capture the experience of everyone, regardless of the challenges they might have.

In de nieuwe toekomstplannen van Schiphol staan kwaliteit en balans centraal. Tegelijkertijd werkt Schiphol aan verstilling en verduurzaming. Met haar nieuwe plannen - begroting van 10 miljard euro - wil Schiphol bijdragen aan de economie van de toekomst en de vooruitgang van Nederland. Maar er is ook meteen kritiek. Gemeente Amsterdam wil niet dat de luchthaven groeit.

Bij klimaatconferentie COP30 is ook overlegd over toerisme. Het Nature Positive Tourism Partnership, een gezamenlijk initiatief van de World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), UN Tourism en de World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, heeft gisteren de eerste sessie afgerond van de nieuwe webinarreeks 'Nature Positive Tourism Explained'. Dit is een initiatief om de transitie van de sector naar een natuurpositieve toekomst te versnellen.