About
📅 Sunday, 18th May 2025
📍 Instituto Cervantes, Domplein 3, 3512 JC Utrecht
Join us for the SIB Annual Symposium 2025, a day dedicated to exploring how we can bring people together and foster understanding across divides. This year’s theme, “Building Bridges Between Communities,” tackles the questions that shape our connections:
- How do communities form?
- What causes conflicts between them?
- And most importantly, how can we build stronger, more inclusive connections?
Why Attend?
This symposium is a unique opportunity to:
✔️ Hear from inspiring speakers.
✔️ Engage in meaningful discussions about connection and collaboration.
✔️ Network with individuals passionate about creating positive change.
Tickets:
🎟️ Regular: €8.00
🎟️ Student: €5.50
🎟️ SIB Member: €4.50
Organized by members of our student association, this event promises to be a day filled with fresh ideas, thought-provoking insights, and the chance to be part of the conversation that builds a better future.
Let’s build bridges, not walls. See you on the 18th of May!
Program
- 12:45 – 13:00: Walk-In
- 13:00 – 14:00: Opening by Linda Voortman (Municipality of Utrecht) & Opening Talk by Margo Trappenburg: Margo will start the symposium with a talk on social cohesion in Dutch society. She will explore how weak ties shape communities, the impact of political contradiction, and key developments that influence social bonds
- 14:15 – 15:15: During our workshop round, you can pick one of three options:
- Serve the City (volunteering in Utrecht): Serve the City Utrecht will share inspiring stories of community service and meaningful connections that unite people.
- Introductions to Dialogue (Dutch): join this workshop for a sneak peek into having a ‘good conversation’. You will gain some insights into a dialogue technique, and into made assumptions within conversations and (group) interaction.
- Historical view: Dr Richard Calis will give us more historical insights on what connects us and what divides.
- 15:30 – 16:15: Closing Talk by Marlou Schrover: Discover the complexities of migration and diversity with Professor Marlou Schrover, a leading expert in Economic and Social History.
- Drinks afterwards in Badabing
Speakers
Linda Voortman has been a councillor in the city of Utrecht since 2018. She is committed to creating a more social and sustainable city. She is responsible for the portfolios of Employment and Income, Social Support and Welfare (WMO), Diversity and Inclusion, Land Affairs, Green Spaces, Animal Welfare, and Public Services. She also serves as the district alderwoman for Utrecht West.
Margo Trappenburg is a senior lecturer in Public Administration and Organizational Science at Utrecht University and holds a special chair in Foundations of Social Work (on behalf of the Marie Kamphuis Foundation) at the University of Humanistic Studies. Her work focuses on developments in the Dutch welfare state, professional ethics, the relationship between managers and professionals, and ethical issues in healthcare, such as euthanasia, abortion, prenatal diagnostics, resource allocation, and patients’ rights.
Serve the City Utrecht (StCU) aims to reduce loneliness and counteract growing individualism. They do this by inspiring and motivating young people aged 16 to 30 to make a difference in the city through volunteer work for fellow Utrechters in need of support. These are often people without the financial means or social network to solve their challenges on their own. In an accessible and approachable way, Serve the City facilitates connection and encounters between individuals and groups who might not otherwise meet.
Richard Calis is an Assistant Professor in Cultural History at Utrecht University, who specializes in the history of science and intellectual history. Most of his research revolves around questions of cultural exchange and the forms of globalization that connected different corners of the globe in the early modern period.
Marlou Schrover is Professor of Economic and Social History, with a special interest in migration and diversity. She has written over 180 publications, mostly about migration, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, class, and how these topics intersect. She also researches how media and policy influence each other.
Partners
