2025 was an interesting year for Risbo. We are proud to have been able to contribute to education and society, through our programmes, trainings, consults and research. Below we have highlighted several highlights from both departments, many of which continue to be important and relevant for our work in 2026.
Education
We have accomplished a lot together with and for (education) professionals, both within Erasmus University Rotterdam and across a range of partner institutions. These projects are closely aligned with our educational manifesto, and we’re excited to highlight a selection of them.
This year Risbo has expanded its support with tailored trajectories for organisations that want to improve the quality of their didactical approach, in a way that really matches their own context. For example, the BKO-BKE track at the Police Academy, the BKO for The Netherlands Institute for Public Safety (NIPV) and the Train-the-trainer-trainings at Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE).
Risbo out and about: several Risbo colleagues traveled abroad to give workshops & presentation, contributing to educational development and improvement in Italy, Germany, United Kingdom and The Netherlands.
We strive to make an impact with our work and love to support others to do so too. For example, the Healthcare Management (HCM) and Dutch part-time Zorgmanagement (ZoMa) master’s programmes underwent a major revision to improve the quality of education. With support from the Community for Learning & Innovation, Risbo thoroughly evaluated the revised programmes across different stakeholders, focusing on both achieving the intended objectives and understanding general experiences with the new curriculum.
In 2025, we have enriched our portfolio of trajectories for personal growth in education. At Erasmus University Rotterdam, lecturers learn and develop through our programs, many of which are funded by the Community for Learning and Innovation. From an early career to senior educational leadership, there is an adequate trajectory: From Start to Teach and UDQ, to UTQ and BEQ, up to SEQ, SUTQ and LEC.
In an inspiring joint effort with the Community for Learning and Innovation and Npuls, we launched the Change Management Track for learning innovators in higher education in November 2025.
Research
Over the past year, Risbo conducted applied scientific research in the Netherlands and abroad. While the themes and projects are diverse, they can be grouped into two main strands: challenges in education and broader social and societal issues.
Below, we are pleased to highlight a selection of projects:
Education research & policy
- This year, Risbo carried out several studies commissioned by the Municipality of Rotterdam. Two of these focused on daytime educational programming: projects in Rotterdam South aimed at promoting equal opportunities and enhancing students’ development.
- In addition, we once again conducted the NPRZ Basic Monitor, a recurring study in which Risbo compares the educational performance of young people in Rotterdam South with that of their peers in the rest of Rotterdam.
- Risbo is proud to contribute educational expertise and quantitative research to DRIFT’s recently started multi-year study on the impact of Npuls, the national collaboration programme between vocational (mbo), higher professional (hbo), and research universities (wo) in the Netherlands, as well as the IT cooperative SURF.
- Risbo’s expertise in impact evaluation was also applied this year in the evaluation of the revised master’s programme at the Erasmus School of Health and Public Management.
In 2025, Risbo conducted research commissioned by the BOOR Foundation into the functioning and impact of the primoraat: a model in which teachers spend one day a week conducting practice-oriented research within their own schools. Primoren connect scientific insights with everyday educational practice and contribute to evidence-informed school development, teachers’ professional growth, a positive school culture, and attractive employment conditions.
Through Risbo’s participation in SIRIUS - a policy network focused on migrant education - we organized several Peer Learning Activities this year. Colleagues from educational institutions and NGOs in Croatia and Germany visited NGOs and schools in Bulgaria and Greece that are widely recognized for their outstanding work in refugee and migrant education.
Social and societal research
- 2025 marks the second year of our multi-year research programme on labour migrants in the Netherlands. This long-term study aims to gain insight into labour migrants’ own experiences regarding their position in Dutch society. For this research, we use our own research panel, consisting entirely of labour migrants who currently work or have previously worked in the Netherlands.
- Risbo further expanded its research on labour migration through the start of research on self-employed labour migrants in the Netherlands.
- Additionally, Risbo and Bureau Beke have started research on violence between labour migrants in the Netherlands, commisioned by WODC (Research and Data Center).
In 2025, Risbo presented the report “Bringing Attention to the Colonial and Slavery Past”, which reports on research into public support among residents of South Holland for addressing the Province of South Holland’s colonial and slavery history. In addition, we launched a study this year into the traces of the slavery past of the Municipality of Zeist.
This year, Risbo conducted research commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment into protection mechanisms that foster social stability. The findings were presented in the report “Resilience and Robustness”, published in April. We are proud of the recent award of the Social Resilience Monitor, which will be carried out in 2026.