Mission
Everyone has the right to participate in imagining and co-creating their environment.
Through user-centered research and co-creation we connect citizens, local governments, and designers in making our environment future proof.
To accelerate this transition we initiate impact ventures and campaigns, share knowledge, and engage in scientific research, teaching, publishing, and offer training courses.
Cooperative
Endeavour is a worker cooperative. After a running-in period, workers become cooperative partners; co-owners and managers.
Building on international cooperative principles, we shape an engaged and fair vision and practice.
Team
Bert Timmermans
Read moreBert Timmermans is a historian and artist and holds a PhD in art science. The focus of his PhD research was on the interactions between elite networks and spatial and artistic transitions in seventeenth-century Antwerp. In search of a conceptual framework for his research, he came across social geography, sociology of art and assemblage theory. At Endeavour, his interests include urban transition, behavioural research, urban development and built heritage. His artistic research starts from the pioneers of media archaeology such as Warburg and Benjamin and experimental, modernist montage.
Caroline Thaler
Read moreCaroline graduated in architecture and expanded her knowledge and horizon with a master’s degree in Human Settlements. She likes to work on a variety of themes, but tries to find possibilities, partnerships and methods within each of these themes to involve a broad spectrum of people and target groups. To her, a city is the sum of all these voices, that need to be amplified.
Griet Juwet
Read moreGriet is urban designer, planner and researcher. She completed a PhD on the spatial and social dimensions of a transition towards more sustainable energy systems in Flanders. It was based on a dialogue with diverse stakeholders on the scale of the neighbourhood, city and region, that aimed to understand how this transition can support spatial quality and justice. At Endeavour, she uses this experience to develop participatory action research and co-creation processes focused on climate and energy, citizen initiatives and just transition.
Hanne Van Gils
Read moreHanne studied architecture and then obtained a master's degree in Human Settlements. At OSAR, she gained experience as a designer at building and city scale. She got to grips with the Flemish context as an area development officer at Department of the Environment. The communications agency DIFT, in turn, was an introduction to words like USPs, automation, and customer journeys. At UGent, she worked on the European project Open Heritage where her experience in city-making, regional development, architecture and civic initiatives came together. Besides her work as a researcher, she works as an illustrator on various projects that have the ambition to make complexity more understandable. Layered, clear and approachable, that is the ambition. Within Endeavour, she often works on repurposing, research projects, neighbourhood development plans and play visions. |
Jakob Vandevoorde
Read moreJakob is an urban and spatial planner. Thanks to his extensive experience and the variety of projects he has worked on, he can today vouch for Endeavour's methodical knowledge base. Jakob enjoys advising on projects and processes, giving his outside view to enable dialogue between the most diverse parties. His substantive expertise lies mainly in the use of public space and the link with play nature and movement.
Jan Denoo
Read moreJan is an urbanist. He holds a master's degree in Social Agogical Sciences and Urban Studies. He develops models and guides processes for realising, collectivising and democratising contemporary social infrastructure and housing. Moreover, he evaluates and advises on social and spatial policies, strategies and instruments - from neighbourhood and city to regional scale. Finally, Jan is co-founder and curator of Stadsform, Endeavour's centre for dialogue on urban issues and Locay, our platform for cooperative development of social infrastructure.
Jiska Gysels
Read moreJiska is an engineer-architect. She supervises projects at different scales, from buildings over village and city centres to regional visions. At every stage, she strives for purposeful and clear processes, together with involved stakeholders. She translates complex themes into recognisable concepts and tailors them to each target group. This is where her experience as a design researcher comes in handy. Her interests include economy and activity and what position they occupy in the built and lived environment.
Jonas De Maeyer
Read moreJonas studied architecture and urban planning and likes to focus on the social aspects of the city. For instance, he is author of 'over de rand', a research project on the urban fringe. Jonas also started Heim, an initiative focusing on arrival architecture and housing of refugees and migrants. The focus on housing and meeting space for vulnerable target groups will remain a key focus when he joins Endeavour in 2017. Jonas coordinates acquisition within Endeavour and also focuses on research, innovation and organising series for Stadsform.
Jorik De Wilde
Read moreJorik is a construction engineer, an urbanist and a spatial planner. He addresses themes such as affordable housing and innovative housing models and has experience in stakeholder management in spatial processes of various scales. In addition, he is involved in various socio-artistic projects in which he focuses, among other things, on public space and looks for new perspectives to introduce into urban planning.
Karolien Bogaerts
Read moreKarolien is a graphic designer, photographer and art educator. Whimsical movements in space, strange human habits and sensory perceptions are sources of inspiration for typographic play and spontaneous photography. Within Endeavour, this leads to the depiction and clear visualisation of processes and research results. She uses her (art) educational background to develop creative methodologies. She likes to test these out on young and old, (differently) abled and professionals.
Klara Vanstraelen
Read moreKlara is an engineer-architect. She has a keen interest in the multitude of social challenges and always tries to approach them from a people-oriented and social approach. She investigates public space using various methods, in particular 'counter-mapping', which reveals hidden knowledge of residents. Daring to dream, without losing touch with reality, is her most important asset.
Laura Meulemans
Read moreLaura is trained as an architect and holds a master's degree in Human Settlements. Within Endeavour, she guides public clients with complex spatial issues at building and neighbourhood scale in formulating concrete project definitions and programmes. The main methods she applies to this are dialogue and perception at eye level. For this, she can draw on her experience as a social-spatial researcher. Besides supervising projects at Endeavour, she introduces architecture students to the concept of spatial qualities within the design studio 'Initiation Design' at the University of Antwerp.
Sophie Leroy
Read moreSophie is urban and spatial planner with an additional training in interior architecture and furniture design. This ensures that she can work on a very wide range of projects within Endeavour. Sophie excels in her people-oriented approach and her feel for stories. Her expertise lies in qualitative research methods for behavioral research.
Tim Devos
Read moreTim Devos is an engineer-architect, urban planner and holds a PhD in social geography. Starting as a researcher at 'Steunpunt Ruimte & Wonen', he completed his PhD at the Department of Social Geography of KU Leuven, focusing on participation and co-production in urban planning processes. He is co-founder and business manager of Endeavour and was project manager of several complex spatial projects over the past 5 years, such as the concept phase of Over de Ring for the East segment.