The RISERS project brings together various action research initiatives, led by dr Mieke Lopes Cardozo in collaboration with a range of academic and non-academic knowledge partners and co-creators. Initiated in 2023, and building on prior action research projects in former years, this research project aims to explore the regenerative potential existing and emerging within the broader (“higher”) education system. Ongoing action research is conducted in the context of a number of academic courses, in which Mieke stewards regenerative education design in combination with an action research methodology, including:
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BA course Education and Inclusive Development (2020 – 2026) - see this article
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Research Master IDS course Re-imagining/Collaborative (Un)Learning in International Development Studies (2023 – ongoing)
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MA course Education, Development and Social Justice (2019-2022) - upcoming article
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Honours course Regenerative Education Design (2026)
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Collaborative auto-ethnography project on the impact of Pro-Palestine protests in our IDS community - see this article
Action research at institutional and wider systemic levels
Within RISERS, in addition to the ongoing action research connected to academic courses, we also study various case studies situated at institutional, or broader systems level. These case studies are similarly designed from a participatory, co-creative and action-oriented methodology, informed by regenerative development and design methodologies. Case studies include:
DEGASTEN x UvA
Researching the in-between space: co-creative learning and the arts
Since 2023, Amsterdam-based theatre group DEGASTEN collaborate with Mieke Lopes Cardozo (+ colleagues and students) in co-creating tailor-made series of in-class and on-site workshops within the context of the BA course Education and Inclusive Development, and the Research Master course Re-imagining IDS.
Since June 2025, this collaboration extends into a collaborative transdisciplinary research project. Together with respective co-creators and stakeholders in the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and in theatre group DEGASTEN, we retrospectively analyse and explore the potential added value of bringing together a theatre-based methodology of DEGASTEN In Between Lab and regenerative education design at UvA to enhance learning and play in in-between spaces – aiming to foster creative, reflective and conscious learning spaces in the context of the contemporary and future societal challenges.
The Special Interest Group (SIG) FRIS is a network of educational innovators at the University of Asmterdam who want to contribute to the development of more Fair, Resilient & Inclusive Societies (FRIS). In 2022, the SIG FRIS launched as UvA’s second thematic educational innovation grant from TLC-Central and the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies. In the context of an overheated and fast-paced academic learning and working environment, this SIG constitutes a growing collective learning space that strives to ‘refresh’ the academic world.
Between 2022-2026, the FRIS community organised four rounds of teaching innovation and action research scholarships. With over 50 members, we co-created regular gatherings, and a FRIS Festival. For more info on FRIS funded projects and events, see the webpage below.
For the outcomes of our action research, and to read more about our regenerative approach to co-creating this community, see the FRIS Guide below.
