Afbeelding
Humans are social beings and interacting with others is good for our health and well-being. It makes us feel like we matter, gives us reassurance and makes us happy. In addition, there is a continuous interaction between people and their social environment. This is what social quality is about: the extent to which people are able to participate in society, in a way that fits with them and benefits them. The key issue the professorship deals with is: how can we work together to learn about, study and working fostering social quality? The Social Quality professorship ties in with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) ‘Good health and well-being’ and ‘Sustainable cities and communities’.
Social quality means that people are able to make use of the possibilities at their disposal, develop on a personal level and thereby contribute to their environment in turn, such as within their own social network, the neighbourhood, the town and society. In our research we consider four key conditions. The first involves examining whether social quality is related to socio-economic security and whether people have security in terms of housing, meaningful day-to-day activities and sufficient income. The second condition is social inclusion and examining whether someone is able to participate in society. The third condition is social cohesion and relates to whether someone is connected to the people around them and to their environment. The final condition is social empowerment and whether someone is given the space to develop and make use of their skills.
Professional practice
Within the professorship we actively collaborate with municipalities, welfare organisations, healthcare organisations, volunteer organisations and residents. All these partners come together in the various forms of cooperation.
Research
Issues in the field of social quality form the starting point for all our activities. This often takes place based on an issue from professional practice or we actively seek out partnerships with partners in the industry and the target group that is the focus of the project or study. Our professorship centres around learning and carrying out research together. We make full use of design-based and human-centred research, in which the target group actively participates. We are committed to co-creation within our professorship.
Research by students
The Ateliers Sociaal Domain (Social Domain Labs) are an example of a project in which students are very actively engaged. The labs are places where students and lecturers from various disciplines can come together. Students work on sub-questions within a larger project, which means they can get acquainted with applied research, from the perspective of different disciplines, at an early stage. This takes place on the basis of a question or issue from professional practice, alongside various partners from that field, whereby interim insights and results are immediately tested and used in professional practice.
