Start Up Campus Haarlem.
Client
Inholland University
Country
The Netherlands
Work
Human-Centered Design
Product Design
Educational Design
Community Development
We created an entrepreneurial culture in Inholland Haarlem by co-creating a start-up space with a leadership program.
The Start-Up Campus was the last big project before we moved our design activities to Spain. Inholland University of Applied Sciences in Haarlem asked Jeroen to design a space where entrepreneurial students could develop their skills and start a business during their studies.
This human-centered design project went beyond design thinking and graphic design. We created a physical space with purposefully designed furniture. We designed the furniture to move around easily to adapt the area for different uses, like workshops, informal talks with small groups, or formal keynotes for a bigger audience.
We started a cultural shift in the way teachers and staff think about entrepreneurship within the university. We created a big co-design project between students, teachers, staff, and local entrepreneurs in Haarlem. Being present and involved in the building and listening to people's needs was a game-changer in the project.
Explore
In June 2016, Jeroen received the question from Frank 't Hart, head of the Inholland Business programs to create a space where his business students and all other students of the University could start and work on their business.
Jeroen decided to design this space and vision about entrepreneurship together with students, teachers, staff, and entrepreneurs from the city. Therefore we organised several co-design sessions. These co-design sessions were used to create the space and functioned to research and explore the needs of the stakeholders.
“Lead by example!
We decided to use as little e-mail as possible, and instead meet people mostly face to face. Entrepreneurship is about people meeting people whenever possible and with that creating awareness among teachers and staff.”
Design
Space
The physical space had to welcome everyone in the University who wanted to explore their possibilities as entrepreneurs. Different colours represented each educational department, the flexible cabinets and sitting blocks reflect those tones.
The open space divided into three areas, a creative area with OSB boards for workshops and group meetings. In the middle were two beautiful long wooden tables for personal meetings and co-working, and the last area was the office desks for focused working.
The OSB boards in the space were all on wheels and could be used to divide the space physically, and each board was either a brainstorm board or a communication board.
Bold guerrilla poster campaign in the University.
Mindset & Program
Not each student will become an entrepreneur, but you can create the circumstances to get as many students, teachers & managers interested in entrepreneurship. In this case, it works both bottom-up and top-down. Suppose a manager or a teacher doesn’t see the added value in entrepreneurship. In that case, they either won’t support an entrepreneurial student, or a student never comes in contact with entrepreneurs in their field of work.
We created a start-up and a personal leadership program to get students interested. We drank many coffees with teachers and managers to get them interested, and we made them ambassadors that would spread the word.
Visualize
When you are working for a university, you have to obey the general branding guidelines. Which we did, but we made sure we did it in a creative way to make the Start-Up Campus stand out. We used black and white in big, bold letters, using the university fonts (The University brand identity is a rainbow of colours with magenta as the primary colour).
We created a lot of design freedom for ourselves by constantly keeping in contact with the communications department.
Launch
After the opening of the campus in late 2016, we kept involved until we left for Spain. We supported the new manager of the Start-Up campus by facilitating the two programs; we made changes in the design when needed.
We organised more co-design sessions around several topics such as circular economy, e-health, creative entrepreneurship. Each with different stakeholders involved in these sessions. Students, teachers, local entrepreneurs, and even the mayor of Haarlem with his council all designed together.
Grow
When moving to Spain, it was time to let the Start-Up Campus go. It still thrives five years later, and it created a life of its own in a different location, still with the same furniture but with other people involved, which add their flavor to it. The Start-Up Campus is designed as a flexible space and with a flexible mindset.
Discover more about the Start-Up Campus here: