News & Events
20/05/2026: Co-researcher Leon and Bettina were a guest on the RUG & Co. podcast: 'On the (in)accessibility of the city and science'. Listen to the episode about the collaboration between the University of Groningen and the care institution ‘s Heeren Loo!
10/06/2026: Save the date! Join us for 'Stories of This Abled City: Experiential Dialogues on Disability in Urban Life'.
From Wednesday 10/06 to Friday 12/06 discover installations, curated displays, workshops, panels, games, and interactive experiences exploring urban accessibility, inclusion, and the everyday experiences of people with disabilities in Groningen. The event is co-organised with Rudolph Agricola School and held at the House of Connections (Grote Markt). It is open to everyone: families, young people, policymakers, students, academics and community members are warmly welcome.
More information
13/04/2026: How can game-based learning and gamification improve learning outcomes?
We warmly invite you to join us on 13 April for a cross-disciplinary event on gamification, serious games, and game-based learning: 'The Future of Game-Based Learning and Gamification'.
Participants can look forward to an inspiring program featuring keynote speaker Dr. Benjamin Hoy (University of Saskatchewan), a panel with perspectives from research, education, and game design, and a marketplace showcasing playable demos and works-in-progress.
23/01/2026: Co-researcher Tessa was part of this article in the Nieuwe Revu about actors with a disability!
Tessa also participated in the UCG Year 3 project that led to the creation of Grocerace. This project inspired her to apply to WILD LAM, a foundation that supports and professionalises talented artists with disabilities, helping them develop as actors and theatre, film, and TV makers.
27/08/2025: Building on their research internship within the This Abled City project, Research Master students Kate Lehane and Sabine Kliss presented their work at the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference on Geographies of Creativity/Creative Geographies at the University of Birmingham! They discussed their experiences using GoPro cameras to record travel routes from our wheelchair-researchers residence to various locations in the city, and how the insights from this research can be translated into public exhibitions.
14/07/2025: We are proud to share a new article in the Journal of Geography in Higher Education: ‘Break Out’ - Learning about Disability and the Inclusive City through Emotion and Affect. This piece reflects on a powerful, interdisciplinary collaboration between university students, art students, and people with disabilities - using arts-based and experiential methods to explore inclusion, discomfort, and co-creation in the city.
More information
28/03/2025: UCG welcomed a student group and their supervisors Franziska Kutzick and Sophie Witt from the Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Hamburg. These students work together with UCG students on a project exploring accessibility and inclusion of people with disabilities in the city.
More information
17/03/2025: This Abled City team nominated for ENLIGHT Impact Awards!
More information
17/02/2025: JTS Grassroots Grant to continue mapping the accessibility of amenities in Groningen. This involves analysing, visualising and sharing geospatial data from our smartphone based data collection app RolMaps, co-created with students and societal stakeholders.
More information
29/01/2025: Public Engagement Seed Fund for Let’s Roll - visual stories about living with a wheelchair. In this project, in collaboration with UG student Jesse Tamminga, we create a prototype documentary about everyday experiences of wheelchair-users. We use different approaches to visual storytelling and ways in which to engage audiences. The project connects first-hand, lived experiences with scientific concepts and cinematic approaches to storytelling.
More information
13/12/2024: Wethouder Manouska Molema visits 's Heeren Loo and receives 'This Abled City' book from co-researchers.
Link to news article
09/12/2024: Co-researcher Tessa Meijer in local newspaper about 'This Abled City' book!
24/11/2024: Team wins UG Open Research Award 2024 for their open research practices!
14/11/2024: In this article on the UG website, Bettina van Hoven and her research team, including co-researcher Leon Lodder, delve into the world of participatory research.
Link to article
08/10/2024: Being and Becoming Disabled: New podcast episode UG 'Open Science Bites' with Bettina van Hoven.
03/05/2024: Co-researcher Tessa and Julia Munuera Garcia pick up the newly printed book 'This Abled City: Samen werken aan een toegankelijke en inclusive stad met mensen met een handicap'.
More information
02/05/2024: Co-researchers present their research at 's Heeren Loo to recruit participants for RolMaps project.
More information
17/04/2024: Students from the Alfa College Groningen present their games to co-researchers. The students worked on creating digital games as part of a toolkit to create awareness for the experiences of people with disabilities.
20/03/2024: Julia Munuera Garcia wins Rudolf Agricola PhD Grants March 2024!
More information
05/03/2024: Dr. Bettina van Hoven presents at the symposium "It is a matter of affect: social theory and geographical thought" at Radboud University, Nijmegen.
More information
29/02/2024: Dr. Bettina van Hoven and PhD researcher Julia Munuera Garcia present at the Cities and Governance seminar series of Lingnan University, Hongkong.
09/02/2024: Co-researchers visit Storyworld exposition at Forum Groningen to learn more about game design.
