The Possibilities For Regenerative Tourism event(s) in Amsterdam bring together European partners, students, researchers, citizens, and professionals to rethink the role of tourism in our cities. Through lab visit, collaborative hackathons, and a public panel discussion, participants will explore regenerative approaches to tourism to move beyond damage control towards creating positive impact for communities and disadvantaged groups. Together, we will decode key concepts, share best practices, and build pathways for just and regenerative futures in tourism.
ConnAct is funded by EU CERV Networks of Towns.
We’ll spend the morning inside Inholland’s Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab, a living lab in Northern part of Amsterdam (Amsterdam Noord) where researchers, students, and local partners prototype small-scale interventions to improve quality of life through leisure and tourism. After a short primer on regenerative tourism, we’ll take a guided walk in the neighborhood to see student-installed cases and hear from the people behind them—grounding the big ideas in real streets, shops, and community spaces. Expect a hands-on feel for how the lab connects residents, visitors, and the city.
De Ceuvel is a city playground for innovation, experimentation and creativity where they aim to make sustainability tangible, accessible and fun. They share knowledge and hope that it will grow, spread and multiply. De Ceuvel is an award-winning, sustainable planned workplace for creative and social enterprises on a former shipyard on the Johan van Hasselt canal off the river IJ in Amsterdam North. In 2012, the land was secured for a 10-year lease from the Municipality of Amsterdam after a group of architects won a tender to turn the site into a regenerative urban oasis.
We’ll close with an open-to-public conversation (panel talk) at Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam’s go-to forum for design, policy, and societal change. Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners will unpack what regenerative tourism means in urban contexts, share lessons from living-lab practices, and invite the audience into a Q&A on trade-offs, governance, and next steps. It’s an opportunity to connect the hackathon ideas with a wider city network that regularly hosts programs on regeneration and future-minded design.
In Conversation With
Zac Woolfitt is the Learning Director of the Creative Business Living Labs at Inholland University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. His mission is to support and encourage individual learners to develop the tools, techniques, and sense of self-belief they need to succeed and contribute positively to society and the long-term health of the planet. He is co-author of the book “Learning in a Living Lab” (2004) and specially enjoyes working at the interface of techonolgical and pedagogical innovation.
Esther Bouw is a dedicated learning coach and researcher at the Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab in Amsterdam-Noord, affiliated with Inholland University of Applied Sciences. With a background in Television and Leisure & Events Management, she specializes in visual storytelling, design thinking and placemaking. Esther is recognized for her innovative approach to higher education, guiding students and professionals in co-creating vibrant, inclusive, and future-proof urban environments. Esther has played a key role in developing the “Place Exploration & Sense Making” tool, used across Europe to better understand and activate urban spaces for the benefit of residents and visitors alike. Passionate about collaboration, Esther brings together diverse stakeholders—from local communities to policymakers with students from the lab—to shape cities that are not just sustainable but aims for regeneration and socially cohesive.
Roos Gerritsma is an urban sociologist who works as an Associate professor New Urban Tourism at Inholland University of Applied Science. Since 2000 she has carried out (international) research on various topics, such as: residents and their attitude towards tourism, tourism policymaking, inclusive leisure design and co-designing (wellbeing) leisure and tourism concepts. She is the founder (2015) and lab lead of the Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab in Amsterdam. Whitin this place-based lab setting, she and the lab team apply regenerative development and participative design methods and principles. The quest of how to co-design regenerative urban tourism in Amsterdam is part of her Professional Doctorate and runs from 2023-2028. She publishes and presents her insights via academic peer reviewed journals and via leisure and tourism work field related channels.
Anouschka Trauschke is a social entrepreneur who works as a transition manager Regenerative Tourism at Inholland University of Applied Sciences. With a background in development studies and tourism, she worked over a decade in the tourism industry of Amsterdam. In 2019 she co-founded Tours That Matter, a social tour company reshaping urban experiences to be centered around local communities. Anouschka’s work is rooted in a belief that stories can transform how we relate to each other and to the places we live in. Whether through guiding, pioneering projects, or cross- sector collaborations, she is committed use tourism as a tool for positive change. Anouschka is known as a natural connector, with endless energy and a drive to get things done.
Jimena Diamint is an urban tourism researcher at Inholland University of Applied Sciences, exploring how tourism can transform through systemic, post-growth and regenerative approaches. Her work also connects with the Inner Development Goals, focusing on how inner change can enable and sustain transformation in organisations and society. With a professional background in the aviation industry, Jimena is deeply engaged with the complex intersection between tourism, flying and climate change. She has researched aviation discourse about climate issues, uncovering the tensions between industry and personal narratives. This interest led her to co-initiate Call Aviation to Action, a movement of current and former aviation professionals calling for a climate-aligned transformation of the industry.
Luca von Prittwitz works as Project & Communications Coordinator at the Expertise Network Sustainable Urban Tourism (ENSUT), where she supports research and innovation projects and facilitates collaboration between academia, municipalities, and industry partners. In her role, she communicates key insights, organises public events and workshops, and strengthens dialogue around regenerative approaches to tourism in urban contexts. Her earlier research in Societal Impact Design focused on developing co-design tools to help students make more conscious decisions when creating regenerative tourism and leisure concepts.
Drawing on her background in journalism, she remains fascinated by the power of storytelling – particularly how the spaces we inhabit shape our emotions, behaviours, and sense of connection.
Read more about the partner organisations
Urban Leisure & Tourism Lab (ULT) , founded by Inholland University of Applied Sciences, is located in Amsterdam-North, where they perform small-scale testing to determine what might be feasible on a much larger scale. Their research and education projects are all about connecting people with their living environment and with each other. The research results and projects show how the tourism and leisure industry can become a solution for complex issues within the city. The results are interesting for everyone who is involved or interested in the tourism and leisure industry of a city.
Amsterdam’s Vision on Tourism 2035 shifts from volume growth to a sustainable visitor economy that protects residents’ quality of life. The city aims to control overall visitors and overnight stays, restore the historic center as a place to live and work, and restrict new tourist accommodations while prioritizing housing. It distinguishes responsible, locally valuable entrepreneurship from “cheap tourist entertainment” that erodes liveability. Policy shifts disperse activity across a polycentric city.
Amsterdam will promote respectful, culture-minded visitors and realign its global image with its identity, leveraging milestones like the 750-year anniversary to tell a new story about freedom, creativity, and shared urban space.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
