Buurtcampus Amsterdam is a local learning environment run by the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA) in cooperation with the Openbare Bibliotheek van Amsterdam (OBA). Based in Amsterdam, the project connects students with residents, local organisations, professionals, entrepreneurs, teachers and researchers to work on issues that matter in the city’s neighbourhoods.
The initiative operates through three neighbourhood campuses in different parts of Amsterdam: Zuidoost, Oost and Nieuw-West. According to the project’s own description, the aim is to link the neighbourhood and its communities with education and research, while creating a rich learning setting and a varied programme for the area. Rather than working as a single research centre, Buurtcampus functions as a set of local hubs where students take part through courses, projects, internships and research assignments.
The themes are practical and urban: sustainability, inclusion, equal opportunities, vitality, liveability, and in some locations digital literacy and health. In Buurtcampus Zuidoost, for example, students and local stakeholders jointly search for solutions to neighbourhood challenges. The campus is located at OBA Ganzenhoef on Bijlmerdreef 1289 in Amsterdam. The project is described as the successor to BOOT Zuidoost, suggesting continuity with earlier neighbourhood-based educational work.
Up to now, Buurtcampus Amsterdam appears to have established itself as a stable model for place-based collaboration between higher education, the public library sector and local communities. Its strength lies in bringing academic work closer to everyday urban issues, while giving neighbourhood residents direct access to students and researchers.