Y1 projects
Sustainable planet
The world shows the signs of falling apart, but there is still time to get together and influence the future. Collaboration among individuals and across disciplines is key if we are to meet these challenges. To understand how contemporary problems can be addressed, we are inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which aim “to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people embrace peace and prosperity by 2030.” We have explored readily available knowledge throughout Groningen and beyond and have created science-based proposals that can meet these problems, coming up with solutions that are economically, socially, and environmentally sound.
The Amfidroom Project
"Amfidroom“ or an amphidromic point is a geographical location in the ocean where the tidal system progresses around a point or center of little or no tide. The way we thought of it, it can be seen as a point of calmness, not reached by the ongoing movement of the ocean. Within our project we tried to use this idea of a „moment of reflection“ to think about our personal connection to the (North) sea and which memories and emotions it makes us feel and think of.
In our small research teams we focused on various aspects, trying to explore where these deep connections humans seem to have to the sea come from and how the ecosystem of the north sea is currently changing.
The North sea is currently a place under high pressure, since it raises complex and urgent questions for the future. Several economic investment plans are under development, which might change the already threatened ecosystem further.
We realized that in order to make people concerned about the influence our actions are having and motivate them to adopt a more north-sea-friendly/ considerate behavior, we have to make them more aware of the intrinsic value the sea has for us as humans.
Modern Myths
Over the past few months, we delved into the dynamics of myth emergence in our society. We divided this complicated topic into several subtopics that make up the subpages on our website. These are; group formation and manipulation, bubble characteristics, external dynamics, bubble interaction and finally the topic how bubbles and social dynamics are at play in the world around us and within our UCG community.
While reading through the website you will be challenged to open up your mind towards the emergence of different opinions and narratives within our society, and help you consider how you and your bubble construct your worldview.
Once upon a time I
Our project focuses on the dysfunctional societal gender norms found in children’s literature. We researched these problems by analysing available children’s books and exploring relevant pieces of literature. Our objectives were to reflect on these issues in children's books and to explore how to represent gender more accurately by creating children's books that challenge these norms. In light of what we learned, our final deliverables are four different children’s books that take these issues into account and turn them into fun and educational stories.
Once upon a time II
This year once upon a time II focussed on writing a children’s book covering some type of trauma. At the beginning of the project, much literature was covered to understand how to address sensitive topics to children. Now, four different groups produced four books to help children deal with the addressed trauma.
The boardgame project
The students participating in the Board Game Project Were tasked with creating a board game that models a real-world phenomenon. The objective was to create a beautiful and commercially appealing game with an engaging narrative and rules that are simple and easy to understand yet create wicked and interesting challenges to the players. They were divided into four teams to design and play-test their game. The games are now available on tabletopia.com to make up for the unexpected circumstances and to allow everyone to play them.