Community Grant

Whether it is organising a feminist zine making workshop or an inclusivity peer support group, a decolonial book club or a collective storytelling event - the micro-grant scheme encourages current students to consider our school as a laboratory, a think tank, a testing ground for alternative modes of thinking and doing through small scale extra-curricular initiatives.

Interested students or student groups can apply for the micro-grant through submitting an application package, see links on the right of this page, detailing their proposal, intended impact, timeline and budget. Each grant application has an upper limit of 300 euros and is meant to reimburse material costs, production costs, or other relevant expenses. The micro-grant scheme operates on a rolling deadline throughout the academic year and the application process will remain open until all funds are dispersed.

Completed applications can be handed in digitally by emailing community@designacademy.nl. The Community Organiser (CO), Pete Fung will evaluate the application and within two weeks of submission you will receive a response. If your project is not (yet) approved, you can adjust your plans and apply again using the input from the Community Organiser. If needed the CO will also guide successful applicants in realising their community projects.

If you have questions, please see the frequently asked questions below or contact community@designacademy.nl.

The Community Experimental Grant is initiated and run by our Community Organiser, Pete Fung, with support from the Executive Board and the Communications Presentations and Public Relations department. During Pete’s sabbatical the grant is overseen by Diversity and Inclusion Officer Leigh Tukker.

FAQ

→ What are the evaluation criteria? The applications will be reviewed based on their intended community impact, relevance, feasibility and reach.

The selection process includes consideration of groups and topics that are structurally or historically underrepresented and favours proposals aimed at these subjects and groups.

Applicants are welcome to reach out to the CO if they want to discuss their application before submissions. Should you require extra help with writing/typing due to injury or other reasons, you are also welcome to request a meeting for a spoken application.

→ How many times can I apply? One successful application will be granted per academic year to each student or student group.

→ Does the proposed project need to happen within DAE? While it is not encouraged, we understand that not everything is possible within the building of the Academy. Should your application involve doing something somewhere else, we would like to recommend taking accessibility into consideration when choosing your alternative location(s).

→ Do you have to use the whole 300 euros? No, your application could also propose for less than that amount.

→ What if I need more money for my project? You can consider this micro-grant scheme as a seeding grant for further ambitious projects - as support for your proof of concept and then apply for additional funding elsewhere. If your project is a group project with several meetings organized with a group of students, you are welcome to reach out to discuss. Additionally, if you wish to do a follow up project with a different group, or in the next academic year, you are more than welcome to apply.

→ Can I apply with a project that I've worked on within my class? Yes. That being said, the project should be community oriented.

→ Can I invite external partners? Yes, bringing in speakers, workshop facilitators, etc from outside of DAE is permitted, under the condition that the project is aimed at least partly at the internal community. In the case of inviting an external speaker at DAE, we recommend you contact the DAE Lecture Series as they are always looking for speakers that are of interest to the DAE community! Email them at lectureseries@designacademy.nl.

→ Can I use the grant for an external community project? No, completely external community projects are not supported by the grant. The main aim of the grant is internal community building Projects bringing external parties together with DAE community members (beyond the organizer) can be considered.

→ Can I collaborate with an external party on a community project? Yes, collaborating on something that you started at DAE with an outside party or organisation is permitted. Please indicate your collaborator(s) in your application. Do keep in mind that your project must at least partially be aimed at the DAE community.

→ Can I further develop my project, publish about it, exhibit it? Yes, you are free to further develop your project for a class, research project, collaborate on it further with external parties, publish about it and exhibit it. However, costs associated with these activities will likely not be reimbursed by the community experimental grant.

→ Can I use the grant for publishing? Potentially you can, it depends on the project. The grant can be used to publish for instance a zine for the DAE community created with input from several students. It cannot be used to publish your thesis.

→ Can I use the grant for showcasing my work? The community experimental grant cannot be used for materials or travel expenses for students presenting their projects. However, you are allowed to showcase a project you developed with the support of the community experimental grant.

→ Can I use the grant for travel expenses? No, the community grant cannot be used for travel expenses, including travel to showcase a project or to conduct research.

→ Do I have to do anything after I have completed the proposed project? A brief report and some photo documentation is required from applicants upon the completion of their projects. If you are doing a publication, we would love to receive a copy as well. We also reserve the right to ask for additional material for promotional/documentation purposes.

→ What happens when my application is not approved? You will receive an email within two weeks with the decision regardless of the outcome. If you don’t hear back within two weeks, please reach out again. Feedback will be available upon request and you are more than welcome to re-apply with a modified application.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND READINGS

→ Design As Participation, MIT Press, Kevin Slavin, 2016

→ Does Design Care?, Futures, Cherry-Ann Davis and Nina Paim, 2021

→ From Design Culture to Design Activism, Guy Julier, Design and Culture, 2015

→ Critical Design Ethnography: Designing for Change, Sasha A. Barab, Michael K. Thomas, Thomas Tyler Dodge, Kurt Squire, Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 2004

→ Dick & Rick: A Visual Primer for Social Impact Design, Equity Collective, 2016

→ Studying Through the Undercommons: Stefano Harney & Fred Moten, Class War University, 2012