What is MapLab?

What does a neighbourhood look like through children's eyes? In MapLab, a series of four design sessions, kids in the last four grades of primary school use digital tools to visualise their environment, from the scariest alleyway to the best hiding place. This mapmaking provides insight into how they experience the neighbourhood. The project enables kids to literally and figuratively put themselves on the map and gives them a voice in a discussion they’re not usually involved in.

Who built MapLab?

The designer Anab Jain (founder of Superflux in London) and the Eindhoven educational designers Beam It Up developed MapLab for the DATAstudio, a three-year joint project of Het Nieuwe Instituut and the city of Eindhoven. MapLab launched in Eindhoven in 2016 and was refined through work with a number of schools. The pilot phase concludes in October 2017 with a celebration at Dutch Design Week. After that, MapLab will be available to every school in the Netherlands!

How can you run MapLab workshops?

Any school can run the workshops on its own using the supporting documents – the teacher's handbook, the week-by-week plan of action, and worksheets for the kids – and the online tool (available in Dutch: www.maplabkids.nl / and available in English: www.maplabkids.com).

The documents are available [here] for immediate download. The free online tool will enable you to map your neighbourhood and add photos. To gain access, email MapLab (info@maplabkids.nl) and we’ll set up an account for you.

You can also hire a local MapLab team to lead the workshops for a fee. For more information, contact us.