INTRODUCTION
Young refugees in the Netherlands face unique challenges—from disrupted education to navigating a new language and culture. While motivated to build their future, they often lack access to practical, hands-on training that connects them to real job opportunities. Unlike their Dutch peers, they need more tailored support to thrive. By offering inclusive, technical vocational education with extra guidance, we help unlock their potential—and create pathways to meaningful work and belonging.
The Humanitarian Engineering Research Group collaborates with NewDutchConnections ToekomstAcademie Tilburg and Ruud's Rugzak. New Dutch Connections empowers young refugees by helping them build a future through mentorship, talent development, and networking. Their flagship program, the ToekomstAcademie, offers training, coaching, and practical workshops that connect refugee youth with professionals and companies in various sectors. The focus is on personal growth, social inclusion, and creating real pathways to employment and education in the Netherlands. Ruud’s Rugzak offers individualized, small-scale vocational training and work placements—including in technical fields—specifically tailored for youth facing various challenges, including refugees
Project Overview
This research study investigates the use of Participatory Video (PV) as a tool to inform the design of educational interventions for youth refugees in the Netherlands. Youth refugees face multiple challenges in accessing vocational education, particularly in technical fields such as automotive training, where language and cultural barriers hinder their participation.
In collaboration with the Humanitarian Engineering research group of the University of Texas - Austin, the Humanitarian Engineering research groups at the University of Twente aims to explore whether PV can serve as a medium to bridge the experiential gap between target users and external designers. One group of design students (University of Twente) engages directly with refugee youth to co-create participatory videos that capture their learning environments, challenges, and lived realities, and ultimately co-create an educational intervention to improve their automotive trainings at Ruud's Rugzak. A second group (University of Texas) does not interact with the refugees directly but instead designs educational interventions solely based on the video material.
The core research question is whether this indirect engagement, through participatory video alone, can still lead to the development of just, inclusive, and empathetic design solutions. The study further aims to assess whether PV can enable designers to meaningfully understand and incorporate the voices and experiences of marginalized groups without physical proximity or direct interaction, a relevant question in increasingly global and remote design collaborations.
TIMELINE
January - September 2025 – Initial set-up of the research study; October - December 2025 – Context study and collection of participatory videos; January - March 2026 - Development of the educational interventions of both student teams; March - July 2026 – Testing of interventions; July - October 2026 – Dissemination Phase.
PROJECT MEMBERS
The project is part of the BSc thesis in Industrial Design Engineering of Louise Kho.
INFORMATION
For more information: Dr. Nina Trauernicht (n.trauernicht@utwente.nl)