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A lighting experiment with citizen participation will begin on the VUB Main Campus in Etterbeek to explore well-being in public space
The Living Campus Walk is an initiative on the VUB Etterbeek campus, in which public spaces are better designed to offer the user more comfort and to inform them about the natural elements around them.
Between the U-Residence and Building L, there will be a new section of the Living Campus Walk – the Health and Environment Revitalisation installation. The installation features a quiet green space with benches, allowing visitors to adjust the lighting according to their mood after sunset.
“The experiment features a survey in which the visitor can adapt the lighting via an app,” says Iris Pissens, who carries out research under the supervision of Prof Valéry Ann Jacobs. She works in the Merlin section of the MOBI research group at VUB’s Faculty of Engineering.
“It’s really a living lab, with visitor participation,” she says. “We’ve noticed that small unused spaces can be used as ‘recovery spaces’ for the public through some simple interventions. In essence, we want to better understand how we can make best use of these spaces.”
The location of the experiment beside Building L (the night entrance of Basic Fit) on Generaal Jacqueslaan is strategically interesting, because it is on the campus but also close to a very busy road. “This provides additional visibility to the public, which invites participation,” says Pissens. The experiment will run from March until May 2024 and is made possible by a collaboration with private partner Schreder and the VUB Department of Infrastructure.
Contact:
Iris Pissens: iris.pissens@vub.be
Koen Stein
