Projects

The third Sustainable Development Goal is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for the population at all ages. Significant progress has been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality. But in order to achieve the target of less than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030, improvements in skilled delivery care have to be made. Not only child and maternal mortality is a huge problem, but also the premature death due to incommunicable diseases in general. To reduce those death rates by 1/3 by the year 2030, more efficient technologies for clean fuel used during cooking and education about using tobacco is needed. By focusing on providing more efficient funding of health systems, improved sanitation and hygiene and increased access to physician’s significant progress can be made in helping to save the lives of millions. 

Have you ever wondered what it would be like when you’re of old age? Would you have professional care and nursing services offered at home and have your children and grandchildren tending to your socio-emotional needs? For many, having professional, holistic care provided in general is not an option. Even when contrasting two European countries but with different socio-economic backgrounds, in this case The Netherlands and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the disparity is sobering. With homecare innovation still being at its infancy as a topic of national interest in BiH, the local Mozaik Foundation took on four WHC students – Lisa, Léa, Lena and Janna – and commissioned them to investigate the homecare situation in BiH, essentially comparing its health and social care systems with the Netherlands’. Based on valuable conversations and interviews with Dutch-based and BiH experts and professionals in the field, the team presented their findings as a constructive advisory report brimming with insights, advice and tips for stimulating social entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs in BiH to start innovating for homecare solutions. Curious to read what these are and what else the team uncovered? Check out the complete report! 

A project by Lisa Grages, Léa Jebali, Lena Meisinger and Janna Neleman 

This project also connects to SDGs 1,5,8,9, and 17. 

Client: Mozaik Foundation(opens in new tab)

"I was very impressed by the quality product the project team delivered to us, the Mozaik Foundation, as it was a very thorough report about the BiH homecare situation. (...) [The students] main contribution was definitely their role in doing research in something that even on a government level here in BiH was not happening yet, as we lack this kind of information and researchers because homecare was still not so big of a topic in BiH." - Product owner Mozaik Foundation 

Have you ever wondered about how the field of obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) came to be, and why racism has got anything to do with it? It’s a mystery that Grace certainly set out to solve, and what she uncovered was nothing short of shocking. Turns out that the so-called “Father of Gynaecology” – James Marion Sims, a man amusingly enough – achieved his lauded title by spending years experimenting on and exploiting enslaved black women in the 1800s. There was no such thing as consent from patients nor pain relief provided (word had it back then that enslaved people did not feel any pain). Moving on to the next century, eugenics took hold and unsurprisingly it quickly became clear that the issue was already deeply entrenched in structural racism and misogyny. From The Negro Project to the Mississippi appendectomy, Grace takes us through several historical anecdotes of how, time after time, the American healthcare system has tremendously failed BIPOC women. Black, Hispanic and Native American women have been subjugated to forced or coerced sterilization, under the guise of population control while hiding its ugly racially motivated agenda in plain sight. Racial disparity in OB/GYN treatment and maternal health remains a worldwide issue today. The real question is then: should race be recognized as a biological concept in healthcare? Grace poignantly offers two perspectives for starting the conversation: the racial essentialism argument versus the nominalism argument. Whichever way you swing on this debate, it is apparent that BIPOC women who have sacrificed their bodies and souls to the perils of medical advancement since colonial times, deserve the recognition and acknowledgement that has long since been denied to them in mainstream scientific history. After all, to truly achieve gender equality (SDG 5) and reduce overall ethnic and racial inequalities (SDG 10), is to minimize medical bias, provide safe reproductive rights and ensure the wellbeing of all women (SDG 3). 

A project by Grace Vianna Bitengo

This project also connects to SDGs 5 and 10. 

Report: The history of race in obstetrics gynaecology and the mortality rate of black women

Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to creating sustainable development. The access to inclusive education for everyone can help equip locals with the tools required to develop innovative solutions to the world’s greatest problems. Currently over 265 million children are still out of school and 22% of them are of primary school age. In addition, some children who are attending schools are lacking basic skills in reading and math. In the past decade, major progress has been made towards increasing access to education at all levels and increasing enrolment rates in schools particularly for women and girls and basic literacy skills have improved tremendously. However, still bolder efforts are needed to make even greater strides for achieving universal education goals. For quality education to be provided to the children of impoverished families, investment is needed in educational scholarships, teacher training workshops, school building and improvement of water and electricity access to schools. 

What is consent? A bold but a very important question to ask. Consent is a term that has gained a lot of weight but has also been taken very loosely, depending on who you ask. The importance of consent is bigger than ever. What exactly does consent mean to the students of Windesheim?

Consent may be subject to different opinions based on gender, race and even specific backgrounds. But one thing is for sure, it is still often kept under the table. The students have taken on this journey of raising awareness about consent and sensitizing students about this topic. Consent is a daily occurrence, and these students have done their best to present exactly that. Boundaries are often pushed, and they need to be recognized. Join the journey of these students in this documentary. Problems like these have no space in today's world, and it's time for everyone to know.

Project Plan
Project Brief

A project by Noa Glastra van Loon, Femke Rouschop, Tessa de Waal, Leila Azelmad and Florian Schmidt

This project also connects to SDG 5, 10 and 16. 

"No one wants to work anymore" has never been less true than today. Today's market is saturated with so many young people that are eager to start their careers, without even knowing where to begin with. But above all, one question looms in the minds of young adults and even some adolescents: is it worth going to college? This team set on a journey to see exactly what separates the honours degree students from the rest when it comes to accomplishing goals. Many students, lecturers, alumni, and companies have been interviewed, which you will see in this documentary. The WHC community plays quite a big part in all of this, and you get to find out just how much value an honours degree entails and what it means when it comes to your chances on the labour market. Fight for what you want to achieve and stand for what you believe, but is it enough? Today, we find out.

A Project by Mirthe de Raadt, Nicoletta Prange, Christopher Bernzen, Sarah Ghasemi

To achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls is the fifth Sustainable Development Goal. The world has made great progress toward this goal, but still women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world. Progress is occurring regarding harmful practices such as child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation, which has declined by 30% in the past decade. But there is still much work to be done to completely eliminate such practices. Implementing new legal frameworks regarding female equality in the workplace and the eradication of harmful practices targeted at women is crucial to ending the gender-based discrimination prevalent in many countries around the world. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but also a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. 

As time passes, many things change constantly. One of those changing things has always been the beauty standards, affecting us more than we think about it. Especially in today's world of social media and the rise of influencers, beauty standards are not only more prominent, but are also pushed more and more to act as a standard for people. They oppose freedom as they create a narrative for men and women to stick to, instead of just being themselves. One of the places where that is more prominent is the Western world, and the people most affected by it are women, especially those of colour. You may not fall into that category, but you are still affected by the beauty ideals that surround us. You may not feel as if it has a huge impact today, but listen to the ones that feel it the most. These are the stories of those women and what they think about the beauty ideals that surround them in real life and social media, these are their thoughts as women of colour in the Western world. And they've got a lot to say.

“We don’t want to be brave. We want to be free.” Slogans like these can be found on countless of signs during the International Women’s Day march on the 8^th of May. The reality highlighted by this statement is grim and serious: women march for those who are brave but cannot live freely. Femicide rates – the targeted murder of women – run rampant worldwide, and out of 25 countries where these numbers soar highest, 14 alone are in Latin America. The definition of femicides is legally disputed, but the facts are clearcut: femicides are characterized by ongoing threats or abuse, sexual violence and unequal power relations. Countless of cases go unprosecuted. The gendered motive behind such murders is what captured Famke to dig deeper. In her exposé, Famke explores the cultural dimension of violence, the ancient-rooted notion of patriarchy and its solidification in machismo. There, she explains why women are more likely to be killed by someone they know versus strangers, and what types of interventions must happen to prevent gender-motivated violence. Notably, under an initiative spearheaded by the UN and the EU in tackling SDGs 5 (gender equality) and 16 (peace and justice for all), Famke emphasizes the importance of combining legal changes with early intervention programs such as non-violent conflict resolution trainings and multi-agency efforts in offering direct assistance in cases of violence. A holistic approach is after all, our best shot at stopping femicides. There is reason to hope, she urges, and real change must begin with promoting a more positive and healthy perspective on masculinity. 

By Famke van der Wal

Report: Ni una más - Feminists against femicides

Feminism is about all genders having equal rights and opportunities. It's about respecting diverse women's experiences, identities, knowledge and strenghts, and striving to empower all women to realise their full rights. Even though that may be it's definition, it has swayed back and forth many times in regards of what it does to and for women.

Such a strong word with a clear statement, meant to bring everyone together for a great and noble cause. Yet, despite it's focus being on empowering women, not all women had felt like it was a good movement for them. One term got a bit blurry in between all of that, and that is inclusion.

While some believe feminism stands for the rights of all women, it is argued that the movement itself isn't inclusive. Feminism in itself has become mainstream, riddled with beliefs that all women encounter the same struggles regardless of their race. The following is a student product focusing on that exact issue, in a form of slam poetry. It questions the inclusion of women of colour in the feminist movement and introduces a solution for it.

By Helena Cormelia Remeo

Short paper: Racism within Feminism

This project also connects to SDG 10.

The tenth Sustainable Development Goal is to reduce inequality within and among countries. Still, the world has to face inequality and large disparities regarding access to health and education services and other assets. There is growing consensus that economic growth is not sufficient to reduce poverty if it is not inclusive and if it does not involve the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental. There has been some progress regarding income inequality and creating favorable access conditions for exports from least developing countries. But, in order to reduce inequality, politics should be paying more attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations. Also, the increase in duty-free treatment and continuation of favoring exports from developing countries, can help achieving this goal. 

Pornography. What feeling does this word invoke in you? Is it fear or disgust? Is it excitement or curiosity? Or simply indifference? Or perhaps, is it a mélange of different feelings? Whatever your stance on it is – whether for it, against it, or on neutral grounds – Sam takes you through the intersectional research behind this notorious industry and the social criticism this dividing topic stirs among the public. On the one side, we have the outrage at how porn is, among others, stimulating more violence against women, enforcing patriarchal structures and inequality, and even seemingly inducing human trafficking to meet high demands. What about those on the other side of the divide? The pro-porn advocators as such, directly challenge the concerns arising from the naysayers: pornography can provide sexual relief on a virtual basis without actual performance, and it’s a form of self-expression where pro-porn feminists have gone against conventionalism and reclaimed pornography to make it better. How? By focusing on sustainable aspects like fair pay, respect towards women, couple friendliness, diversity and cinematic value. There is reason to hope. In his vlog, Sam implores you to think twice and look for an alternative route. In short: pornography should not be banned, but as Sam emphasized, “it needs to be talked about instead of being ignored, its nuances and complexities must be recognized”. There is such a thing as ethical, “fair trade” porn, which requires more mainstream attention – because the cons of mainstream porn as it currently is, are simply “unacceptable”. What’s your verdict?    

A project by Samuel Wagner

Humor is personal. What we deem as funny or hilarious is essentially a subjective matter of experience. As such, there is a reason why satirical jokes can instigate quite the controversies. Through episodic video clips organized into a fun interactive game, Willem takes his viewers on a cruise through satire scenarios in its various shapes and forms, including satirical takes on politics, racism, sexism, personality traits and religion. Meanwhile, he urges his viewers to agree or disagree at the end of each scenario, ultimately leading to different results and responses (and therefore differing video clips). Featuring pop culture references such as an illustrative example from a South Park episode, a snippet of a stand-up comedy special and more, Willem infuses his interactive social commentary with several theories on cultural relativism, superiority and more, while peppering it all with a good dose of his own sense of humor. With free speech being threatened all over the world, Willem believes that satire is a potent conduit for social awareness and education. No boundaries or limits should be placed on satire, he muses, as it is a right to freedom. Free speech is, ultimately, a trademark – whether a direct or indirect one – of SDG 10, reducing inequalities. What smarter weapon to wield against inequalities than a dash of self-aware satire?

A project by Willem van Dort

Final product

What is German? When posed this question, what comes to mind? Is it Lederhosen and versatile types of Wurst (sausages)? Or is it fast cars, the Autobahn and its people’s industriousness? Whichever thought pops up first, the question to what is considered German has been at the heart of the perennial debate about whether Germany needs a Leitkultur – a leading culture. The issue itself has been in the public eye since around 20 years ago, brought into the limelight annually in the context of refugee migration. What exactly it is and whether Germany needs one or not, Eiko addresses key topics in the ‘for’ and ‘against’ arguments in his 10-minute podcast. He calmly takes us through different perspectives, led by a central thread: Does a Leitkultur contribute to a more cohesive society or does it achieve the opposite effect, polarizing people in the end? Germany alone already is a diverse country, so what is inherently German culture is hard to define. The Northerners would likely tell you something completely different than the Southerners, as regional cultural identification or sense of local patriotism is stronger than a national one. Consequentially, Eiko poses that while the idea of a guide for newcomers on impressions of the German culture and way of life is nice, it should be offered as an informal and regionally dependent activity. As Eiko eloquently phrased it, in his eyes, “Germany is a cosmopolitan country, and everything you need to do to be part of society, is to adhere to the rules written down in its constitution.” Only then, no matter whether you prefer Bratwurst or Baklava, wear hotpants or a burqa, everyone is welcomed. This way, we can counteract the discriminatory connotation of enforcing a single Leitkultur and ensure more diversity and respect multicultural representation (SDG 10). 

A project by Eiko Saathoff

The economic and social progress over the last century was followed by environmental degradation that is endangering the very systems on which the future development and survival depend. And still, currently, material consumption of natural resources is increasing, particularly within Eastern Asia. Countries are also continuing to address challenges regarding air, water and soil pollution. If the global population reaches 9.6 billion by 2050, the equivalent of almost three planets will be required to sustain current lifestyles. In order to reach this goal, the world needs to “do more and better with less”. There also needs to be significant focus on operating on supply chain, involving everyone from producer to final consumer. The education on sustainable consumption and lifestyles and providing the population and consumers with adequate information will help to reach this goal. 

Our planet has been changing rapidly, and not always in the best direction. The human impact on the planet has led to a rapidly increasing climate change issue and has caused a sustainability problem for generations to come. Yann felt the need to create his own business that'll change the way we look at source materials and re-using products to work more on sustainability. He felt personally frustrated and it served as the biggest motivation for him.

His solution to help solve this problem was to start a clothing brand that's completely focused on sustainability - and that's where Ragnarøk(opens in new tab) began. Yann had no background in fashion, textiles or manufacturing, but had spent months into researching and learning to achieve that goal. All of this has led to accumulating an expertise in sustainable materials, business practices and the circular economy, which is certainly not a bad thing to have in today’s world. The idea for Ragnarøk was born from a personal observation: Humanity has the power to tackle the existential threat that we have created for ourselves.

Their motto is that they refuse to ‘simply accept that there are no other options to the way we produce and consume’. Ragnarøk set out to find an alternative that would lead to a more responsible future by thinking ahead about sustainability, hoping it would lead to a more honest future in the long run.

The company contributes to a multitude of Sustainable Development Goals, but in order to keep it tangible, the main focus is on SDG 12. SDG 12 is about ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns, which are key to sustain the livelihoods of current and future generations. Unsustainable patterns of consumption and production are root causes of the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

Their contribution to SDG 12 zeroes in on starting with the absolute smallest impact possible, eliminating it and ultimately even reversing it to start regenerating the planet. They’ve felt the inadequate responses from our global policy-makers, so now it came time for the rest to act. Yann had an amazing idea and had brought it to fruition.

The community of Windesheim Honours College was at the heart of the initiation phase. The rich network of students, lecturers and external relations was highly valuable in assembling the initial start-up team, getting the right entrepreneur coaching or other leads. Windesheim has shown their interest in the projects that their students do time and time again, as these types of projects are of great importance that may very well lead us into a better future.

A project by Yann Wunsch, Daniel Cohen Stuart