The Rotterdam Arts & Sciences Lab (in short RASL) is a unique constellation. It bridges the visual and performative arts, ánd sciences. This opens new and challenging questions and opportunities. RASL strives to be an innovative catalyst in the field of higher transdisciplinary education by rethinking and reimaging the way we educate today and in the future. As our world is changing rapidly society rightfully demands educators who are able to transcend the (real and unreal) boundaries of education as we know this today. Migration, changing economic models, blockchain, the rise of the commons, equity, and a shifting political landscape are complex societal issues that demand adaptability and future thinking. The talents we educate need to be able to navigate amidst uncertainties on the labour market. RASL aspires to design transdisciplinary learning spaces in which the imaginative and the transferrable, the sensory and the non-sensory, co- inhabit, collaborate and compose new perspectives and futures by using scientific knowledge, as well as visual and embodied experiences. We call this learning spaces and its accompanying philosophy the RASL Compositions School. RASL Compositions will research paradigms, develop pedagogy for transdiscplinary education and teach students of all participating Art and Sciences fields with the aim of a transferrable societal impact. Within this proposal we develop a Transdisciplinary Teacher Programme and a RASL Compositions Module for students. By setting up an accompanying research and evaluation line we want to ensure dissemination of our insights and lessons learned.

Farmers are automating care of animals and their habitats, for instance, by predicting and automating feeding. But how does workplace automation influence agrifood workers’ experienced responsibilities for animals and their environment (‘environmental care practices’). Qualitative research at two high-tech fish farms will answer this question, with the aim of establishing an innovative, interdisciplinary research line in work organisation research. The ground-breaking aspect is that fish farms potentially make visible the effects of automation on relations between workers, animals and habitats, instead of focusing on human autonomy. The results can support technology design and contribute to policy debates about farming reforms.

Youths’ involvement in organized crime is worrisome, as it not only disrupts a healthy development, but also aggravates youths’ criminal behavior, and makes it harder to return to living a crime-free life. Social ties play an import role in the way youths get and stay involved in organized crime, that is why interventions are needed that target the youth, but also the youth’s social environment. We examine hotspots and mechanisms underlying organized crime involvement and use the knowledge gained to improve and implement intervention strategies. This way, the proposed project directly contributes to effectively decreasing youths’ involvement in organized crime.

We know that when students collaborate offline on complex tasks, they perform better together than when working alone. Strikingly, however, a recent pilot (N=86) suggested this effect was completely reversed in an online environment. This raises serious doubts whether collaborative learning theories apply to digital education. Understanding the impact and dynamics of online versus offline collaboration is essential for designing effective learning environments. This project investigates how social settings (individually or together) and environment (online or offline) affect student performance and engagement across tasks of varying complexity. Its outcomes are expected to fundamentally change our understanding of collaborative learning.

Lifestyles influence (mental) health and contribute to health quality and opportunities in life. These behaviours are closely linked to our living environment, determined by personal, socioeconomic, work, housing and other living circumstances. Despite considerable technological advancements, sustainable adoption of healthy lifestyles is challenging for vulnerable people, often showing poor health literacy and an accumulation of lifestyle and environmental risk factors. This leads to unacceptable and unethical health and socioeconomic inequalities. Our solution is to improve the adoption and sustainable adherence of healthy lifestyles by young vulnerable families in deprived neighbourhoods through “Our Smart Family Buddy” intervention. This Interactive Digital Buddy platform called ID-Buddy operates by an App and robot (Avatar) for human and environmental interactions and fosters health literacy, healthy lifestyles and reduces the impact of environmental risks. By operating as user-friendly eHealth solution, ID-Buddy is easily accessible to its target group. We will develop ID-Buddy by first mapping existing eHealth functionalities and implementation strategies for their applicability. Through field lab methodology, including co-creation and co-design in societal learning communities, functionalities fitting best with user-needs will be selected and implemented into ID-Buddy. The prototype will be further optimized and personalized using Artificial Intelligence strategies. Finally, we will test ID-Buddy for its usability, (cost-)effectiveness and (inter)operability. By the delivery of the evidence-based digital preventive ID-Buddy intervention, we will contribute to the structural and sustainable improvement of health equality for vulnerable citizens and their families. This will have a positive impact on overall well-being and promotes their societal opportunities.