de Zeeuwse Huiskamer

De Zeeuwse Huiskamer supports organisations and people from Zeeland in finding joint answers to questions regarding welfare, living and care. It is both a project and a process/method and forms part of the basis for de Minor ‘Fit for the Future’.

De Zeeuwse Huiskamer is a project in which various groups get together in a place where welfare, living and care increasingly meet: the living room. This can be a physical place, but entire villages can function as a living room as well. The aim of each living room is to bring together inhabitants and experience experts as well as welfare, care and knowledge institutions, companies and authorities. Together they can identify (future) needs and develop joint solutions for them.

In the process/method peoples’ stories are key. These stories are gathered through conversations and form the basis for each project. The stories are used to make connections on three levels: individual, organisational, and societal (local, regional and national). De Zeeuwse Huiskamer takes people’s practices and experiences as a starting point. It is therefore essential to join in with current developments. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports gave De Zeeuwse Huiskamer the honorary title of ‘Koploper’ (frontrunner) in their action programme regarding care work.

After several successful years, de Zeeuwse Huiskamer stopped as a physical project in 2018. But its method is still regularly employed by the Solidarity University. Furthermore, it is one of the models for the EMPOWERCARE project and forms part of the basis for the Minor ‘Fit for the Future’. Although its presence is no longer quite as prominent as it used to be, De Zeeuwse Huiskamer is still very much current in the way we work.