NWA Route Smart Liveable Cities

Waag organises collaborations and discussion surrounding the theme of smart, liveable cities, with the goal of establishing deeper connections between science and society. She does this as the so-called 'drawer' of the Route Smart Liveable Cities within the Nationale Wetenschapsagenda (National Science Agenda) connecting relevant organisations, policymakers, citizens and scientists to each other.

Waag started working on this route in 2017. Currently, she is focused on the following:

Connecting science and society


As part of the route, Waag organises the programme Stadskenners. Stadskenners brings together citizen scientists, scientists, policymakers, social initiatives and other interested parties around social issues in the field of smart, liveable cities. Stadskenners offers the opportunity to present research around the theme of Smart Liveable Cities, gather information from society and thus make steps together towards more mission-driven research.

Last year, two Stadskenners took place on investigative journalism and (data) storytelling. How do you, as a (citizen) scientist, communicate your research in a way that is understandable for a broad audience? And how do you achieve impact with this? Read about Stadskenners 2023, organised in collaboration with Harmen van Zijp of Meet je Stad Amersfoort. A new edition will be organised this year.

Explore funding opportunities 

In 2023,Waag collaborated with the NWO, the Smart Liveable Cities network, and the society, to develop a theme for the NWA-ORC (Research on Routes by Consortia) round 2024. This call was published and opened for applications at the end of 2023. This year, Waag will explore funding opportunities to develop a thematic programme in line with the research agenda of the route. A call for small projects is also being developed. Opportunities will be shared with Smart Liveable Cities network.

Strengthen network

Waag aims to strengthen the Smart Liveable Cities network and further develop the route. With a newsletter, we share relevant information, calls, events, and provide space for sharing project results within the route. Are you interested in the newsletter? Then contact Emma Schep via Emmas [at] waag [dot] org.

Nationale Wetenschapsagenda 

As drawer of the National Science Agenda (NWA) Route Smart Liveable Cities, Waag actively connects people and organisations concerned with smart cities, and also searches for connections with other Routes on the scientific agenda. Waag is concerned with coordination between applicants for plans, bringing together relevant partners, and knowlegde sharing - both within the network as for NWO.

The Route Smart Liveable Cities is one out of 25 routes the NWA has drafted. These routes are meant for researching and putting important scientific, societal and economic questions in society on the agenda. NWA, the scientific agenda, is part of NWO, the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Dutch organisation for scientific research).