REC Impact at University of Amsterdam’s Roeterseiland Campus
June 21, 2023At Amsterdam’s Roeterseiland Campus (REC) a Hub will arise, dedicated to cultivating a culture of impact learning, research, innovation, and valorisation. REC Impact shall, under the leadership of Erik Boer as Program Director, serve as a vibrant hub where academia, industry, and society converge to address pressing societal and economic challenges. IXA-UvA will appoint three embedded impact developers on the campus and will, amongst other activities, host events at this location. What kind of impact can we expect?
Impact Learning
REC Impact pioneers challenge-based learning, where students actively engage with real-life challenges and develop their own impact-driven ideas. This approach fosters a strong connection between education and society. Notable examples of best practices include the Computational Social Sciences program, the Law Hub, facilitating legal innovation and fostering collaboration between legal professionals and students and the Amsterdam Living Case Lab, providing students with opportunities to tackle complex social issues and develop innovative solutions.
Impact Research
REC Impact collaborations between academia, businesses, and organizations will be fostered to address concrete societal and economic challenges. Through co-creation labs, partnerships will be established that drive impactful research initiatives. Notable examples include Analytics for a Better World, where data-driven research contributes to positive societal outcomes, and the Urban Cycling Institute, which seeks to improve urban mobility and sustainability.
Innovation Hub
REC Impact serves as a physical space where social innovation and entrepreneurship thrive. A new 800m2 innovation & entrepreneurship studio will be realized later this year. 
REC is one of the largest social science clusters in Europe
The REC houses the faculties of Law, Social and Behavioral Sciences and Economics and Business. UvA Ventures Holding, the prominent Law Hub, the renowned SEO for economic research, and the cultural student center CREA are also located at the REC. 25,000 students study on the campus and 2,000 scientists are employed.
Erik Boer as Program Director Impact
The University of Amsterdam (UvA) appointed Erik Boer as Program Director Impact for its Roeterseiland Campus.
Erik fulfills the role of catalyst, connector, and relationship manager. The faculties take initiatives to collaborate in Impact Labs with external partners in education and research around contemporary social issues. Erik Boer has been working in the Amsterdam Entrepreneurship Ecosystem for many years, among other things as ACE director, co-founder of the Startup Village Amsterdam Science Park and Lead Impact & Entrepreneurship at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
To learn more or get involved, reach out to Erik Boer at f.boer@uva.nl.
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