Roos Gerritsma
. Lab lead:
As the founder of the Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab, urban sociologist and associate professor Roos Gerritsma was there at the start of the lab in 2015.
Over the IJ presents art productions all year round, always with urban themes and at exciting locations in Amsterdam. The Over het IJ Festival takes place in July every year; ten days of theatre on location featuring both new and established makers at indoor and outdoor locations, including the NDSM shipyard, the banks of the river IJ and various other locations in Amsterdam-North. Other Over het IJ events are the yearly Noorderparkfestival, a cultural festival for and by residents, organisations and entrepreneurs from Amsterdam-North, and the Eendrachtsparkfestival. You can find more information here.
5 questions for Mechteline van Es
What do your activities with Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab involve?
I thoroughly enjoyed sharing an ambitious idea for Amsterdam-North with two groups of students. Our ambition is to better connect the different sectors, so that more can be done for North and the community becomes stronger. Sectors are: Culture, Care &Welfare, commercial sector of products and services, education, government and tourism. Organisations within these sectors are interconnected via networks but much less or not at all connected among each other. We therefore want to establish a community North where everyone can find each other, and give and take. Common denominator: Talent development. We have asked students to share their knowlege and experience. The students were actively engaged in structuring this plan and it was thrilling to see their input for the project.
What is your favourite spot in Amsterdam-North?
The NDSM shipyard.
Finish this sentence: for me, leisure and recreation mean…
… relaxing, resetting and inspiration.
What factors do you think are key for the positive development of the tourism, recreation and events industries?
Collaboration between as many parties as possible.
What is your ambition in relation to the collaboration with the Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab Amsterdam?
My ambition is to develop a collaboration with the Lab which gives students a chance to work on an issue in the field and thus get in touch with people and companies. This will allow them to gain experience, increase their network and use their talents. For my organization, this collaboration makes new connections possible and it is nice to let people from other sectors look at our ideas and let them think along.
