End of February: war in Europe and the first ever attack on a nuclear power plant by an army: Russia took control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine after Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in late February. The world has been shaken awake and we are experiencing a reality that nobody suspected. The situation is extremely worrying because the Russian leader talks about ‘a special operation’, in other words: cleansing. Therefore, no one can speak objectively about this war, and it drags opinions about Syria, Israel, and Palestine into discussions. Educational institutions are confronted with needing to address this, it is more or less expected of them. The same applies to questions and issues surrounding gender, diversity, and equality: an answer is expected.

A generation of young people has long since risen who no longer take the world as it currently exists simply as a given fact, for example the division into men and women and their respective roles. As such, they do not simply accept the social order through which jobs are obtained, positions are adopted, and classes exist. The image of the free individual as a role model is also on the dissecting table, as well as the group sentiment that takes up arms against the rest. Pigeonholing seems to have ended as a result, and we increasingly seek out strangers who are not like us, rather than fraternising with other similar people. Director of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam and head of the Critical Inquiry Lab master’s degree programme at the Design Academy, Saskia van Stein, explores the codes of how our 'old, masculine, and white' culture has become what it is, and what she sees as necessary to achieve a more equitable and inclusive future.

The Beginning 2022 welcomes alumna Gladys Zeevaarders as project manager. She states that she has learned to see the future as a treasure chest of infinite possibilities: The best is yet to come.