Human Geography and Planning is a programme where you learn many different things. Planning is mostly about designing and changing the space around us. It includes topics like sustainability, climate change, and gentrification. Human Geography is more about understanding and explaining places. It looks at things like globalisation, population, and human behaviour.

In the first year, we did a project in a neighbourhood in Almere. We studied things like transport, housing, and public spaces. We created a plan for the neighbourhood because many new homes were going to be built. Where should we build? What will it look like? Should we keep green areas or build houses there? Will everyone agree? There are many things to think about.

Each group represented a different stakeholder and actually worked as that stakeholder. For example, the municipality, developers, residents, companies, entrepreneurs, and travellers were all part of the project. It was a really fun project because everyone got to present their own ideas!

The best part of this programme is that the theory from lectures is used in practice. The topics are often very current, and they help you look at everyday things from a ‘geographical perspective’. For example, many examples come from Amsterdam, and you can see them in real life on the same day.

The student association Sarphati is very active and helps students make friends. They organise fun events like a weekly drink, trips, and educational activities. First-year and older students get to know each other because the course is small, which makes it very friendly and sociable!