Billy Nash

Photo exhibition by photographer Ahmet Polat about the assimilation of refugees shows the other side of the refugee situation.
The exhibition shows how refugees are being assimilated into Dutch society through their studies and work. Refugees are not just refugees. They are also students, friends and people with their own identities. After their arrival in the Netherlands, they make a tremendous effort to build up a new life in their new home country.

‘My New Future’ (in Dutch ‘ Weer Toekomst’ ) is a traveling photo exhibition by the Foundation for Refugee Students (UAF) and photographer Ahmet Polat. The exhibition will be opened on 14 July and can be visited until the end of august at The Playground and other spots in A Lab.

More information about the exhibition:

Polat regards the exhibition as a valuable addition to the way in which refugees are currently being portrayed. ‘By photographing people seated in a corner of a room with a thin mattress on the floor, completely alone, in black and white, you create distance. Another way to go about it is to show them being part of a family, celebrating a birthday, meeting up with friends, studying for a degree, or doing an internship. Take, for example, Aissata, from Ivory Coast, who seeks to become a French teacher and is now teaching. Or take Victor from Rwanda, who is a nurse working in a hospital. They’ve found the normal life they’ve been looking for for years.’

About Ahmet Polat

Documentary and fashion photographer Ahmet Polat (born in Roosendaal, the Netherlands, in 1978) served as the ‘Photographer Laureate’ past year, and so was the face of Dutch photography in 2015-2016. His work has been published by The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Paris Match, Vogue and Vice, and has been exhibited in museums such as the Rijksmuseum, FOAM, Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum and Brussels Palais des Bozar. He recently had a solo exhibition at PhotoLondon. In 2004 he was the runner-up in the Documentary category at the Zilveren Camera Awards. In 2006 he won the prestigious ICP Infinity Award, and in 2009 he was nominated for the Prix Pictet.

About UAF

The Foundation for Refugee Students (UAF), founded in 1948, is the oldest refugee aid organisation in the Netherlands. It helps refugees complete higher education degrees and find jobs which match their capabilities. Many refugees were students or held jobs before leaving their home country. Generally speaking, their diplomas are not recognised in the Netherlands. Going back to university is the only way in which they can further develop their skills and use their talents, which will allow them to build a new life in the Netherlands and make a useful contribution to society.

More information:

https://www.uaf.nl/home/english http://www.uaf.nl/wat_doet_het_uaf/projecten/foto-expositie_amif-project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7BuOCprvv4&feature=youtu.be http://www.nporadio1.nl/cultuur-media/350-je-klikt-hier-vast-niet-op-nu-eens-geen-schrijnende-beelden-van-vluchtelingen

The Obelt swimming pool in the Overhoeks area created a yearly A Lab tradition of a swimming contest in the water next to our building. We celebrate A Lab's anniversary with a yearly Overhoeks Swimming Contest! We start off at 5 PM with the swimming contest - you can signup with your own team - do it now by emailing info@a-lab.nl - followed by The Coffee Virus' amazing BBQ experience. The event is organized together with last year's winner Hyperion. Why a swim competition and what's the deal with the bbq experience? We’ll share more information soon on our website regularly to answer all the questions but for now it's very important to SAVE THE DATE!

More info on the program coming soon.

See you the 19th July #inalab!

Regular A Lab visitors will have noticed some activity in the front hall, next to The Coffee Virus, over the last few weeks. A Vertical Farm Lab will soon open in a previously underused space, right next to The Coffee Virus' seating area. Vertical Farms use indoor farming techniques and controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) technology, where all environmental factors can be controlled. This means that we will soon grow many of our own herbs and vegetables within A Lab.

We are coordinating the launch of this new project with our Monthly Indoor Lab Crawl Event.

The A Lab - Vertical Farm will:

- Grow and produce vegetables inside a vertical farm, using the latest technologies.

- Research growing conditions, crops and technologies (together with University of Amsterdam)

- Educate schoolchildren on urban farming (verticale schooltuinen) and health food (thanks to a subsidy from City of Amsterdam/MaakJeStad)

Its harvests will be used by The Coffee Virus for producing even fresher and healthier dishes.

The Vertical Farm will be run and maintained by the community that hosts it.

The Vertical Farm in A Lab is an initiative by the A Lab community. Originally formulated by A Lab member Goncalo Neves, it was funded by the community, sponsors and partners.

The Vertical Farm implementation was done by OneFarm, an urban farming strategy and implementation company.

Friday 30 June | Vertical Farm | 5pm - Late

Calling Robonoids,

ING and the Social Robotics Lab partnered up to present you the Pepper robot on May 25. What can Pepper do? And what can you do with the Pepper robot? You might find out yourself during this event. Signup for the Meetup if you would like to know more about the world of Pepper.

Want to know more about the Social Robotics Lab in A Lab or how to become a Member? The Social Robotics Lab is a place where you can come and work with robots, whether you are a student, artist or established neuroscientist or robotics professor. Learn more on a-lab.nl/robotics.

A Lab is Amsterdam's ultimate living lab, combining the strength of Amsterdam's creative scene, technological prowess and free thinking spirit into a 5000m2 hothouse for bleeding edge experimentation.

Agenda:
18:00 Welcome, humans chat with each other
18:30 Introduction
18:40 Pepper robot demo by ING
19:30 Conclusion and discussion for future

Friday 09 June | The Playground | 18:00 - 20:00
+RSVP via: https://www.meetup.com/Amsterdam-Robotics-Meetup/events/239636191/

Come to A Lab to learn more about Blockchain Technology and how it can be used for social causes!

ATTENTION: THIS MEETUP STARTS EARLIER THAN OUR REGULAR PROGRAM!

Blockchain technology offers a lot of possibilities and opportunities, but a lot of the applications being developed seems very arcane and only useful to a very limited group of people.

In this meetup, we are going to take a close view at a very specific use case for blockchain technology: reuniting refugee children with their parents who already are living in EU member states.

An estimated 3.500 unaccompanied minors are waiting in Greece to get reunited with their family in EU member states. According to EU legislation these children have the right to reunification. Unfortunately the process to actually get the children to their parents is not working well and sometimes takes up to 2 years. We want to speed this process up, and found a solution to do so.

After 1,5 years of researching the current process, talking to the different stakeholders and understanding where the bottlenecks are, we believe that with the smart use of Blockchain technology children can be reunited with their families in max. 3 months.

With an app based on blockchain technology, the process will be more efficient, resistant to tampering and can have built in performance indicators. By leveraging these specific characteristics of blockchain technology, we can revolutionise the way we handle complex procedures into safe and efficient processes.

Program

15:00 Blockchain essentials -- what is this technology, and how can it be a solution to the problem of child reunification?

15:30 Exploring the journey of the unaccompanied minor: an interactive search through the eyes of different stakeholders provides technical experts with the specific “problems” their technology can solve.

16:30 Bringing it together: let’s discuss how we can use our combined expertise to brainstorm an effective technical solution.

16:50 Innovating Justice! HiiL challenges you to improve access to justice for all.

17:00 Drinks!

Thurs 15 June | The K Space | 3-6pm
+RSVP via the Meetup page: https://www.meetup.com/Permissionless-Society/events/239999034/

Do you want to come to our next Blockchain Meetup?

A Lab co-organizes a monthly Blockchain technology event with one of our members, Blockchain Workspace. Each month focuses on a new aspect of the industry, with guest speakers, and some drinks and bites.

The next Blockchain Meetup will take place on Thursday 18/05, with specific focus on certification and managing professional credentials. Guest speakers include Nicole van Ham, Jeroen Mol (from OKComply), as well as a special Skype question session with Masha McConaghy, who is based in Berlin. Our monthly Blockchain events have been very popular so far, and so we are looking forward to seeing a large group of interested attendees on the 18th!

For more on Blockchain Workspace: http://www.blockchain-workspace.com/wp/

Thursday 18/05 | 17.00 – 20.00 | The K Space

+RSVP via the Meetup Page:
https://www.meetup.com/Permissionless-Soc…/events/239108548/