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EVENTS

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Curious?
If you’d like to know more, reach out to Tikvah on tikvah@studioblended.com or +31 6 42 47 29 69

^{“Surprising - interesting. Sharpening my mind on the essentials”} Participant, prof. dr., Winner Spinoza prize 2022, lead ERC grant ‘Humanitarian governance: accountability, advocacy, alternatives

^{“Thank you! It was really good! The design studio helped to refine the aim of our MOOC (and even the projects in contribution)”}
Participant, dr. and deputy director The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre (HSC)

^{“For next sessions, I would like to have even more “provocations”, these are good for debate and awareness”}
Participant, PhD candidate

^{“The design studio was useful in foresight thinking about the relevance, longevity and usefulness of a MOOC”} Participant, Community and project manager

^{‘Having worked with Tikvah on a complex multi-stakeholder digital and flexible education project, I can vouch for her organisational qualities, her abilities as a dialogue leader, and her knack for harmonising several ‘voices in the room’ into a usable solution. I would heartily recommend her as Project Lead.’}
Project Manager for the MOOC from within the institute who partnered up with us for the duration of 1 year, Coordinator Humanitarian Studies Centre, International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University The Netherlands





The project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, grant agreement No 884139.

Design Studio

Scoping phase of a curriculum

April 10, 11, July 2 2025

(Design and development of the entire MOOC took place between end February 2025 and end February 2026)

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For this client - The Humanitarian Studies Centre of ISS Erasmus University - we offered impactful Design Studios, spread over multiple subsequent sessions that culminated in a precise output: a 2-5 pager ‘fit for purpose framework’ for their MOOC. This framework forms a firm basis (manifesto)for the technical curriculum design.
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Three (or more as needed) subsequent sessions (morning / afternoon)

*Photo: Follows*

Synopsis
Visualise a spacious attic room, with an architects table in the middle, and the team gathered around it to design, discuss, address provoking questions and create. In your mind’s eye see large white walls, with posters on them, and the team fully engaged in formulating big ideas. This is our Design Studio.

For this client, who embarked on the design and development of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) under a prestigeous European Research Council (ERC) (2.5 million euro grant) we set up three Design Studios. 

The (Re-)Design Studio is a space, in which we (re)imagined with this client regarding a concrete output: a technically resilient ‘fit for purpose framework’ for the curriculum of the envisioned course, degree or programme. The final result is a 2-5 pager. Very easy to apply as a basis for further curriculum development.

*Find the output below [follows soon 2026]*

Time matters. This stage of the curriculum design process should not be rushed. Creativity often works in an organic way - together with some adrenaline of the pressure to perform for a collaboratively agreed deadline. Time and spaces in between studios allow for room to breath in between emotions and thoughts, and the opportunity to look at a design afresh.

There is a socio emotional dimension to making decisions on what remains and what is excluded from the curriculum, and not paying proper attention to this aspect, may harm the process later on. We fully understand the need to allow enough consideration to this dimension, and also recognise the need to harness such conflict to become a constructive and creative force to better aid the appreciating the scope of the content.

It is crucial to maintain a steady pace and to believe in the conclusions.

The way we foster such collaboration and move forward, is through our ability to unite the various voices in the room into a usable solution, repackaged into a concrete output: the fit for purpose framework for technical curriculum design.

As a leader of discussions we make good use of our strong organisational skills and leadership qualities..

This is why our Design Studio was spread over a season (3 months), with three physical gatherings with the key decision makers such as the professor and deputy director. In the meantime, we worked with timely interventions such as informal face-to-face meetings, and collaboration online/remotely concerning concrete proposals for output.

The outcome of the Design Studios and remote collaborations and timely interventions was alignment between all stakeholders on the scope of the content of the MOOC, and its focus.

The output was a concrete curriculum design which is ready to go further into development.
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This is our Design Studio.
Find more about technical curriculum design and the actual output of the Design Studio.
Find out more about big ideas.

Session lead:
Tikvah Breimer (MSc MAEd MSc)
Lead and Founder StudioBlended
Independent senior advisor, Teacher Trainer

Graphics:
Lucas Rampazzo (MA)
Graphic designer
Online learning environments art designer
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Experiment 2.0 Olive tasting

March 28, 2026 (forthcoming)

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An experiment with being offline, vs. digital presence.
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A bespoke event

Photo: Follows 

Synopsis
Follows
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Session lead:
Tikvah Breimer (MSc MAEd MSc)
Lead and Founder StudioBlended
Independent senior advisor, Teacher Trainer
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Big ideas and a time-robust approach to a masters degree/

Kick-off New Academic Year at the Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan Studies (AMS)

August 30, 2024

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A workshop to discover not just big ideas across the team and courses, but also to understand how hype cycles work in order enable a team to clearly set out a masters degree made to last over time.

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13.00-17.00 keynote, workshop and discussions
Amsterdam time zone

Photo: The AmsterdamInstitute for Metropolitan Studies (AMS), and the workshop in the afternoon.

On Friday August 30, 2024 Tikvah Breimer (MSc MAEd MSc) joined the academic teaching team of MSc Metropolitan Analysis Design and Engineering (MADE) at the Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan Studies (AMS) to kick-off the new academic year, and deliver a keynote talk along with a group exercise around strategising and envisioning 'big ideas' in the Master's curriculum - in order to be ready to simplify and innovate.

MSc MADE was founded around 8 years ago. How could it remain relevant and cutting-edge well into the future? This is the genuine request of the programme director.

The result of the workshop:
The teaching team was equipped with knowledge and understanding of what makes a resilient (trans/interdisciplinary) curriculum that stands the test of time. The team became aligned around a shared understanding of the big ideas for the AMS/MADE educational programme - and how these evolve over time. The teaching team was now able to take this design forward for a further time-resilient and innovative educational design and development.

The keynote emphasises STUDIOBLENDED's absolutely most original and technical work and which we are happy to now share it with you too, as an Audio Podcast on all your favourite streaming channels. 

Curious? Listen to the keynote (Apple Spotify) or find it on our Audio Podcast page, including a full transcript and plenty of resources for further exploration.

Or have a look at our open access knowledge products around design angles for curriculum design, including big ideas technical curriculum design, and paradigm shifts.

Find the Metropolitan Analysis Design and Engineering (MADE) programme - a collaboration between Delft University of Technology and Wageningen University & Research - here.

Session lead:
Tikvah Breimer (MSc MAEd MSc)
Lead and Founder StudioBlended
Independent senior advisor, Teacher Trainer

Graphics:
Lucas Rampazzo (MA)
Graphic designer
Online learning environments art designer


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Keywords
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Curriculum design, interdisciplinary, technical, future generations, Japanese Future Design experiment, Design thinking, co-design, imagining, envisioning, paradigm shifts, transition, future literacy, adaptation, exploratory.

Imagination at work session /

UDCW workshop Rotterdam,
UCCRN_edu network

June 6, 2024

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A playground that factors in future generations of students, to imagine a climate curriculum of the future around ‘flood risk’.

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9:30 - 13:00 CEST/GMT+2 session
14:00 - 17:30 CEST/GMT+2 multiplyer event
Amsterdam timezone
20 Master student participants of the Urban Design Climate Workshop (UDCW) Rotterdam.




Slide: the imagination at work session at the UDCW Workshop Rotterdam, UCCRN_edu network

Synopsis
Future generations of students cannot influence the education they will receive on climate change, while it is today’s university researchers and lecturers who decide on what such present curricula tend to be focused. They may design the curriculum based on pressing contemporary global environmental problems and current dominant paradigms in their domains. They may even mainly design courses and degrees that sell well in the market in terms of applications. They may be biased towards knowledge curricula - or skills-based education.

It is essential tough to be strategic with climate curricula in order to be relevant, authentic, and responsive to new generations, and underscore their impact in terms of action in the world. While future generations of students have no influence or representation in the decision-making of today on climate education – their voices may hold important clues regarding innovation.

Understanding how to reconcile this disconnect with future generations is important for resolving inter-generational issues in our world today such as sustainability and growing government debt. We should equip future generations well for the challenges they will be facing – as citizens of the world, and as professionals in their future jobs.  

Japanese future design experiment
What would happen to a climate curriculum if we incorporated the needs of future generations of students? Surely such an experiment would break down today’s dominant paradigms and lead us to recognise what new ways of thinking and being are emerging.

Coping with this important issue, we proposed a Japanese “Future Design experiment”. We set out to engage the viewpoints and interests of “imaginary future student generations” in decision making on what a climate curriculum –consists of and what it does not include.

Today’s experiment was a role-play between two generations: a group who represented current 40+ course and degree coordinators, and a group who represented future students – the teenagers (round 1) and children (round 2) of today who are not yet being heard in present-day decision making about curricula.

Together we imagined an interdisciplinary curriculum design for flood risk in Rotterdam, coming from the fields of 1) architecture/planning, 2) technical water professionals, and 3) whatever discipline or capability the participants deem essential to imagine.

The assignment activated prior knowledge of what was learnt so far in the workshop, and is authentic: at 14:00 the students brought their design into the multiplier event.

Envisioned learning outcomes:
Future literacy, adaptability, exploratory thinking (see Joint Research Centre 2022, the European Sustainability Competence Framework)

Imagination - part of a growth mindset (see Accenture, New Skills Now)

Understanding paradigm shifts – particularly the X curve for transition.

Youth voice.

<sup>The session gave a great insight into long term visions and how to include them in a strategy. Student participant

I learnt to change my perspective. Sometimes it’s necessary to remember that we, as architects, are planning and designing for the entire community (that includes children, teenagers, elderly and 40+) and its fundamental including their point of view. Student participant

I learnt how to produce something quickly, use time as a challenge.
Student participant

I learnt more about how to construct/design a course! Which I did not know at all.</sup>
Student participant

<sup>I enjoyed deconstructing the work done in the previous days. Student participant

I liked the role-play and the relationship between different age groups. I learnt to think not as a researcher.</sup>
Student participant

Session lead:
Tikvah Breimer (MSc MAEd MSc)
Lead and Founder StudioBlended
Independent senior advisor, Teacher Trainer

Graphics:
Lucas Rampazzo (MA)
Graphic designer
Online learning environments art designer
StudioBlended

Dissemination:
Paolo Destilo (BSc)
Host and Podcast Producer
@europematters_ podcast Young European Ambassador BUILDEU2
StudioBlended

Coordinators UCCRN_edu workshop Rotterdam:
Dr. William Veerbeek
Senior Lecturer in Flood Resilience
IHE-Delft Institute for Water Education

Francesca Rizetto (MArc, MSc)Researcher at TU-Delft Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment

Prof. dr. Chris Zevenbergen
Professor of Flood Resilience of Urban Systems
IHE-Delft Institute for Water Education

Supporters:
Erasmus+ Horizon Europe

IHE-Delft Institute for Water Education

Resilient Delta Initiative

UCCRN European Hub

Inspirations: Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Japan

Kochi University of Technology Research Institute for Future Design Japan, founded by Tatsuyoshi Saijo

Kobayashi 2018 ‘How to represent the interests of future generations now’, VOX EU

European democracy hub

Here come the Time Rebels! Japan’s Future Design Movement shows how to factor future generations into our politics

StudioBlended 2022 Japanese Future Design Model going into a Synchronous Pedagogical Audio Playground

Ketonen-Oksi, Sanna & Minna Vigren 2024 Methods to imagine transformative futures. An integrative literature review. Futures 157 (1):103341 DOI:10.1016/j.futures.2024.103341. [open access]
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Keywords
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Face to face time, pedagogy, pedagogical experimentations

^{‘The mere idea of participating in an olive oil tasting experience was innovative to me. Using our senses and observing, learning and experiencing olive oil methodologically as a qualitative product with a story and with its own characteristics was eye opening and even a touching moment for me, that opened a different world. Through this type of face-to-face learning, involving head and body you get the opportunity to instill a deeper, meaningful experience’.}

Sara Steendam, policy officer Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) and writer of thesis ‘When we talk about trees’ 

Olive oil tasting event for a premium organic and fair olive oil company based in Sicily

The new value and meaning of face to face time

December 11, 2022

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An experiment with an olive tasting as a way to amplify the new value and meaning of face-to-face time pedagogically and sensually

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16:00 - 21:30 CEST/GMT+1
Amsterdam / Italy timezone
Invitation in person and with an analogue card, text messages, possibility to come by and tap olive oil in the weeks leading up to the event, and after.



Synopsis
For this sustainable premium oil company, we took on the challenge to innovate using pedagogy in order to achieve a deeper and lasting impact. We based ourselves on the principle notion, that face-to-face time has become absolute premium time in education. And obviously, on the beauty of this product, olive oil: healthy green oil and olive trees that may have been here already for more than 1,000 years.

Facilitated by the company’s founder, we took a long view, and became a distribution point for the olive oil for a semester (3 months), involving a range of people locally along the way, both through remote communication (text messages, email), and on site, where they could tap oil or buy a bottle of oil, and hear more about the brand.

The main experiment involved us co-creating a face-to-face timeless event (e.g. no planning, more organic), in the physically safe space of a courtyard, and around the tangible personal experience and recognition of taste: the intrinsic value of one’s own sensation. And we focussed the experiment also around voice: being able to name and share your taste.

The experience was enhanced by the founder calling in remotely and being projected on the wall: an opportunity for her to tell of her life’s work, fires, resilient olive trees, economics - and answer questions.

We used a pedagogical approach for the learning space - Montessori. Enhanced by a sense of beauty that instils calmness.

Lastly, of course, we followed up with a shared meal, a lively experience of community.

The intended outcome aligned with the founder was threefold:
1. educational: raising awareness for the genuine quality difference of higher priced olive oil (other than cheaper ones available on the market).
2. sustainability: widening the circle of people who feel personally involved with the brand (hence the brand’s name: il circolo)
3. creating lasting memories: something to which one may return.

Event lead / Moderators:
Tikvah Breimer (MSc MAEd MSc)
Lead and Founder StudioBlended
Independent senior advisor, Teacher Trainer
Event lead

Prof. dr. Stephanie Rosenkranz
Founder Il Circolo
Full professor (micro) economics
Event initiator and speaker (remotely)

Supporters:
Il circolo.

https://www.instagram.com/ilcircolo_bio/ 

Curious about the taste yourself? Go to https://ilcircolo.eu/ or buy your premium oil via Bol.com

Would you like to organise a tasting in your own home? Contact prof. dr. Stephanie Rosenkranz directly via info@ilcircolo.eu 

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STUDIOBLENDED. 


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Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece, seen with new eyes - from the sea. By the talented Lucas Rampazzo.

February 25, Friday, 2022 - Our event in the Conference on the Future of Europe. Also featured in the Dutch newspaper NRC, Future Affairs Newsletter on January 1, 2022.

Find the guide for the Japanese Future Design Model going into a synchronous audio playground here.

For a quick access to the dialogue and debate ignition on the topic, find our 4 pager here.

Our report is avaiable here

The scoping paper on envisioning blended higher education in post-lockdown Europe is available open-source here


Keywords
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Higher education, university, lecturers, teacher training, resilience, North/South divide, South/South, capacity development, Europe, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, policy, economics, governance, COVID-19, post lock-down.

#theFutureisYours #CoFoE #EuthPages #Erasmus #ErasmusPlus

Conference on the Future of Europe Event /

Resilience and the (non)sense of teacher training for university teachers in the South of Europe

February 25, 2022

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A dialogue and debate at the intersection of generations,
and northern and southern Europe.

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14:00 - 17:00 CEST/GMT+1
Amsterdam / Italy timezone
Invitation via Email
Confirmation via Eventbride (includes calendar invitation and ZOOM link)

Synopsis
We carefully selected a pool of shortlisted young university teaching staff, as well as experienced university teachers and experts, in northern and southern Europe, and through an exclusive invitation offer them the opportunity to contribute to the largest citizen-consultation ever in Europe - the Conference on the Future of Europe.

We invited them to engage in dialogues and debates with each other, around ‘resilience and the (non)sense of teacher training for university teachers. The outcomes of the dialogues and debates were reported to the European Parliament.

The majority of the time was reserved for actual interactions with the purpose of reaching policy recommendations for younger generations of university teachers in (Southern) Europe over the coming decades.  

Japanese future design analogue model going synchronous
The event we envisioned was not merely a discussion. Find our guide here.

We were creating a synchronous universe of audio playgrounds which is an education in itself.

At the heart of the event was the conversation between young university teachers from the South of Italy - University of Naples Federico II (DiarC / UNINA) - and other universities in Italy and Spain - student assistants, PhD candidates, lecturers on temporary contracts - and the educational experts and lecturers with more established careers (either from the North or South of Europe).

The purpose was to ignite qualitative and lively interactions, dialogues and debates between these groups, across generations and regions of the South of Europe. To take the individual experience and expertise, into the collective, systemise it, making it adaptive.

Thereby we approached the North and South of Europe without compartmentalising the regions, but rather recognising the fluidity of their borders, and exploring each other’s worlds, history, present experiences, needs, ideas and hopes. You can see this clearly reflected in the graphic art created especially for the event, in which we saw the South through new eyes, from the sea, and as a single line without borders.

Envisioned outcomes:
- Policy recommendations for younger generations of teachers for the coming decades in (Southern) Europe, for the European Parliament as part of this deliberate democratic event.

- New professional connections, that intersect generations and north and south - and beyond.

Outputs follow organically after the event:
- Report for GaragErasmus/European Parliament
- Keynote


Prefer to read? Transcript

Spin-off
- A pilot project with our open access Audio podcast teacher training ‘How to design an effective and resilient curriculum’.

Event lead / Moderators:
Tikvah Breimer (MSc MAEd MSc)
Lead and Founder StudioBlended
Independent senior advisor, Teacher Trainer
Event lead, Lead of the experiment with the Japanese Future Design Time-rebels model going synchronous for pedagogical purposes (see below).
Ambassador Erasmus + Generation

Paolo Destilo (BSc)
Host and Podcast Producer

StudioBlended

Coordinator & advisor young teachers
Enza Tersigni (PhD) (Research Fellow)University of Naples Federico II (UNINA)Department of Architecture (DiARC)
Member Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN), Co-proponent Erasmus + UCCRN-EDU project

Senior advisor in the South
Mattia Leone (Associate Professor) University of Naples Federico II (UNINA)
Department of Architecture (DiARC)
Senior Researcher PLINIVS-LUPT Study Centre of UNINA
Co-Director Urban Climate Change Research Network - European Hub (UCCRN)
Secretary Green Building Council Italy Chapter Campania-CalabriaLead Erasmus + UCCRN-EDU project

Opening
Laila Bouallouch (MSc MSc)
Policy Advisor Future of Work
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
The Netherlands

Co-moderators
Geoffrey Payne
Architect, Senior lecturer, Housing and Urban Development senior consultant
Geoffrey Payne and Associates
World Bank advisor London, UK

John Cropper
Co-Founder Pyramid Learning
Greater Oxford Area, UK

Enza Tersigni (see above) &
Francesca Brunner (MSc student) Ambassador Erasmus+ Generation

Paolo Destilo (see above)

Report to the European Platform / Parliament
Tikvah Breimer (MSc MEd MSc)
In co-collaboration with DiARC/UNINA

Jane Longley (MA)
English editor, translator, educator
Consultant online instruction formulation
StudioBlended

Lucas Rampazzo (MA)
Graphic designer
Online learning environments art designer
StudioBlended

Supporters:
European Parliament subsidy via GaragErasmus Foundation for the Erasmus Generation, Milan, Italy

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STUDIOBLENDED aims to support public life, public squares that are so essential for dialogue and debate in our democracies, by supporting cafes and restaurants in these times of lockdown. The moderation of this European event took place in an 1920s bathhouse, built in the style of Amsterdamse School and turned into a restaurant - Badhu in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

STUDIOBLENDED


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