Leisure has an important relationship to time, space, and place. In leisure studies we are used to thinking about time as the basic resource for leisure. We need leisure time in order to be able to enjoy leisure, and so the struggle for leisure time has been an important focus of leisure research.

What happens if 120 second-year students go on a placemaking mission in the city of Amsterdam? A story about happy communities, making international headlines and contributing to the agenda of the Night Mayor.

It is a term you see pop up in strategic plans, policy documents and in education more and more: placemaking. Will it be the new ‘buzzword’ of the 2020s, or is there more beyond this flashy concept? At the Future of Leisure conference last March, it was one of the central themes, and it already has a prominent place within education. How does the Academy for Leisure & Events make sure that placemaking has a meaningful and practical application within our programmes? This article shows how and why we give placemaking a ‘place’ in our leisure curricula. 

As our society evolves, so does our understanding of sustainability and its interplay with Leisure & Events. This complex relationship was spotlighted as one of the focus areas during the Future of Leisure Conference. Showing us the potential for a world where leisure not only coexists but thrives alongside sustainable practices.

If you open your eyes, you see the cracks; if you listen, you hear the squeaking and creaking: nitrogen, loneliness, food banks, energy prices, working conditions, gender inequality. The old doesn't seem to work anymore. Old, mostly white, men and women talk on TV. Politicians speak in circles. Scientists say things must change. 'The world is falling apart,’ a cry of urgency to those who want to hear and those who do not. It is clear that things have to change, but how?

There is a growing awareness of the social impact of leisure. In companies, governments, social enterprises and in leisure science itself, both in terms of an object of study and a task: the 2014 Butler lecture, for example, made recommendations for leisure scientists to boost social impact and help society understand and address social challenges.

Roland Kleve, director of the Academy of Leisure & Events, Breda University of Applied Sciences writes the closing column of this edition of Uncover.

Met hun 360 graden kijk op een leisure locatie brengen bedenkers André Marques en Tim Wes een opvallend concept naar de Maasstad. De Kunstfabriek | Unit699 wordt een plek waar kunst gecreëerd, bedacht en gevierd wordt.

The collaboration workplaces (Samenwerkplaatsen) of the ULLB sees direct involvement of residents in their own living environment as a prerequisite for sustainable, inclusive development. Leisure practices, such as the ones in the new library, provide an opportunity to support the transformation of the role of residents in the social playing field.