Projects

Each of Waag's Research Labs works on one or multiple projects at a time. They are executed in collaboration with partners on the local, national and international level.

Current projects

All labs

BioHack Academy

Apply for BioHack Academy 2025, and extract your own biomaterials using only Open-Source hardware you fabricate yourself.

Digit-Able

Digit-Able aims to strengthen the digital capabilities and skills of social enterprises

Future Internet Lab

Trust Based Banking

Examining how and under what conditions undocumented residents of the Netherlands can access banking services

Urban Ecology Lab

Stem van het water

In Stem van het water, Waag designs a method to make perspectives of both humans and animals, plants and micro-organisms on the IJ visible to each other. How can visibility and interventions help to be more considerate of each other?

Smart Citizens Lab

New plan for work

What does the future of work look like? In the project New plan for work, Waag Futurelab and Michiel Zonneveld explore how to design a new perspective on the future of work.

Smart Citizens Lab

Kenniscloud 2.0

In the project KennisCloud 2.0, Waag, Bibliotheek Midden-Brabant and VPRO are updating the platform KennisCloud by making it open source and based on public values.

Future Internet Lab

Balanced Choices

Waag develops a recommender application for libraries and other cultural institutions where values such as privacy and autonomy are central and the data is managed by the end-user themselves

Urban Ecology Lab

Voedselpark Amsterdam

Waag Futurelab, Stichting Voedselpark Amsterdam and artist Esra Sakir, investigate the relationship between het Voedselpark and the Nieuw-West neighbourhood. What role does food and local food production play for the neighbourhood?

Smart Citizens Lab

The Energy Transition in the Amsterdam Metropolis

How can the position of social initiative be strengthened so that they can produce 33% of electricity and heat demand in the Amsterdam metropolitan region by 2050?

Open Design Lab

S+T+ARTS4WaterII

S+T+ARTS4WaterII focuses on clean water as a basic right for all people and the preservation of life in our oceans, seas and marine life.

Smart Citizens Lab

Spotting Toxic Clouds

In the project Spotting Toxic Clouds Waag Futurelab, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and citizens work together on the development of an AI tool that can automatically detect toxic clouds from Tata Steel.

Future Internet Lab

Social research agenda for AI

Making researchers in the field of AI more aware of the questions and concerns surrounding AI that exist in society.

Urban Ecology Lab

Designing regenerative technologies

In the project Designing Regenerative Technologies Waag investigates the impact of digital technology on our planet and develops ways of designing regenerative technologies.

Code of Conduct for the social economy

Working closely with the European Commission (Directorate General GROW), Waag Futurelab and the Commons Network are joining forces to develop a Code of Conduct together with individuals, organizations and agencies in the social economy. All with a shared goal to share, collect and build data management capacity within the ecosystem.

Smart Citizens Lab

Pilot measuring wood smoke

In this pilot, Waag, citizens, TNO and Omgevingsdienst IJmond investigate whether we can measure wood burning with sensors.

Bridging the digital divide

In Amsterdam, about 20% of residents cannot manage digitally. This creates tension with the fact that public services are increasingly digitising. In this project, we investigate the issue of how and why digital inequality exists in Amsterdam

Glimpses of green energy

Glimpses of green energy looks into the energy transition, on places we normally can't see. Artwork explains the challenges and gives a unique behind the scenes experiences of the energy transition in Amsterdam-Noord.

Future Internet Lab

Mobifree

Mobifree aims to bring about change in the development and use of mobile software in Europe by citizens, businesses, non-profit organisations and governments.

Future Internet Lab

Grip on Own Data

Waag Futurelab investigates how citizens can get 'grip on their own data'. We will analyse existing tools that the government currently makes available to give citizens insight into data that the government processes about them.

Smart Citizens Lab

Science in the Cloud

The project Science in the Cloud researches how online platform KennisCloud should be designed for scientists, citizen scientists and knowledge institutions to collaborate on social and scientific issues.

Maker Education Lab

Critical ChangeLabs

Young people are the future of democracy. In our Critical ChangeLabs project, we research how we can build notions of active citizenship amongst young people, 11 to 18 years old.

Local Color

Local Color is a two-year project researching the conditions for a regenerative city that facilitates the growth of local biochromes to be used for closed-loop, local production on a small city scale.

Tracks4Crafts

Tracks4Crafts seeks to personify and define a crafts person 2.0. In this project, we seek a future-proof heritage approach that enriches crafts and makes them more resilient where possible, without losing the characteristic features of craft heritage.

Maker Education Lab

Technological Citizenship

An investigation into the role of creative making processes in developing citizenship skills among young people in a digital society.