Leiden University College The Hague
LUC and The Netherlands
Student and staff societal engagement at Leiden University College (LUC) extends beyond The Hague, with projects addressing pressing issues such as climate change, fake news, and social inequality through field courses, partnerships, and advisory roles.
For example, the global citizenship courses take our mixed Dutch and international student population to various locations across the Netherlands. These range from field courses on the island of Terschelling, in partnership with the Oerol Arts Festival, to fieldwork in the sourthern provinces of Limburg and Brabant, focusing on the evolution of river systems. LUC’s engagement projects tackle urgent societal issues such as fake news, raising climate change awareness in Dutch schools, and developing 'serious games' to highlight social inequality. Additionally, LUC staff actively contribute to advisory boards for ministries and think tanks.
Explore the initiatives on this page for a glimpse of the Dutch projects we're involved in.
Climate Casino: A serious game for senior secondary vocational education
This project engages secondary vocational education (MBO) students with climate and sustainability topics in a playful and thought-provoking way. In collaboration with Dutch MBO institutions and the Climate Helpdesk, this NWO-funded science communication research project uses game-based learning to address young people's pressing questions about the societal impacts of climate change. In the Climate Casino, students not only answer a quiz on climate change but also place bets with chips. The more chips they wager with the Climate Croupier, the more confident they are—but if their answers are incorrect, they lose their chips!
The Climate Casino has been successfully played at various fairs, schools – including Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and MBO Albeda – and festivals such as the Betweter Festival, the Top van Onderop, and Kiesmannen events. In 2025, the game will also be used during the National Climate Summit, an initiative by the Dutch government. Additionally, an online version will be made available specifically for MBO schools.
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ArtWorks4SustainableLivelihoods: Artivism in The Hague and at Oerol Terschelling
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Performance of The Beatzers at Café 't Zwaantje, West-Terschelling. Painting by Emma Krick @emmaquarel. -
Students researching mosaic benches created by Buurtcanvas Foundation. Painting by Emma Krick @emmaquarel.
ArtWorks for Sustainable Livelihoods is both a project and a course that examines how art and artistic methods offer insights into sustainable living while advocating for it.
As part of the semester-long Global Citizenship course, students explore human-environment interactions through innovative, participatory, playful, and self-reflective approaches. They investigate questions such as: How do people engage with, interpret, and adapt to their environment? How do they use art and artistic expression to advocate for changes in these relationships?
Students study art installations by local artists in The Hague in collaboration with the Thesis Hub The Hague South-West. Additionally, they participate in a 10-day field course on sustainable livelihoods during the Oerol Festival on Terschelling. This course employs “Festival Fieldwork,” a specially developed method designed to support first-time fieldwork and encourage knowledge co-creation through engaging, interactive techniques. The course outcomes are creatively documented in two magazines.
Downloads
- ArtWorks for Sustainable Livelihoods Magazine: Oerol edition
- ArtWorks for Sustainable Livelihoods Magazine: The Hague edition
International students design nature education for Dutch secondary school students
Through the Ecology Project, a service-learning course, students explore the history and politics of nature education in the Netherlands. In collaboration with IVN Leiden, the Dutch nature education organisation, students receive training to become nature guides. Guided by IVN’s expertise, LUC students design nature excursions tailored to young people of various age groups in The Hague.
'The students joined me and IVN volunteers outdoors to learn about ecology and biodiversity. We looked at the tiniest organisms in the soil and at which plants manage to grow even in heavily urbanised environments. We also examined how to connect people with nature initiatives, and how, by guiding children through nature, you can inspire them to fall in love with it. In doing so, they realised they could make a difference themselves. It’s not a lost cause.'
— Sanne van Gammeren, project lead for Opgroeien en Ontwikkelen at IVN Natuureducatie, and biologist and nature guide at MDT-kort (Kort Maatschappelijk Diensttijd) Natuureducatie voor studenten
Particular focus is given to the international 'schakelklas' at the Johan de Witt school in The Hague, which comprises newcomers to the Netherlands aged 12–18 who are still learning Dutch—similar to many LUC students. Much of the teaching is centred on improving Dutch language skills, using IVN’s educational materials, which are entirely in Dutch.
'We wanted students to notice and recognise small things in the nature around them. For example, they had to identify lichens. We also examined compost together, and they got to hold a worm. Many children found that idea disgusting at first. But once they tried it, they said: 'Actually, it's kind of cute!''
— Elisa van Dijk, LUC student
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Mapping the Fake Republic (1550-1800): Fake news is nothing new
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From left to right: LUC students Luka Chincharadze, Rita Cruz Santos Araújo, and Vera Cox. -
Jacqueline Hylkema shows the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus to Charley Bohlmeijer (left) and Sabine Waasdorp (right).
With her project Mapping the Fake Republic (1550-1800), Jacqueline Hylkema, assistant professor at LUC, is conducting the first systematic study of various forms of forgery – including fake news – in the Dutch Republic. The research is being carried out at the Special Collections of Leiden University Libraries. In December 2025, the project's key outcome will be presented there: the first national collection of forgeries.
'We aim to map out how much deception was published in the Republic, but also in which genres and by which groups. Particularly in the latter two areas, we are already identifying patterns that are highly relevant to the forms of deception our society faces today.'
— Jacqueline Hylkema, assistant professor at LUC
Each semester, LUC students contribute to the research through Research Clinics. This offers them the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with academic research while enabling the team to gather a significant amount of data in a short period. The interdisciplinary approach and international background of the students add considerable value. Many forgeries have a cross-border dimension – such as the Eighty Years’ War or the activities of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) – and thanks to their language skills, the Spanish, French, or Indonesian context and reception of these forgeries can also be explored.
