Bowen Ran receives Grant for “Memory as Care” inclusion project in Rotterdam

Ran has been awarded the grant in collaboration with Prof. Dr Robbert-Jan Adriaanse, also from ESHCC. In collaboration with researchers from Erasmus MC and TU/e, and in partnership with Verhalenhuis Belvédère and the Perspectief Chinezen in Nederland Foundation, the project will investigate how participatory storytelling can promote the wellbeing, social inclusion and inclusion in collective memory of older Chinese immigrants in Rotterdam.

Migration, Ageing, and Marginalization

Rotterdam, often portrayed and self-identified as a superdiverse city, has been shaped by people who arrived as strangers. Yet (super)diversity does not necessarily translate into inclusivity. This project addresses the vulnerability of first-generation older immigrants, particularly Chinese seniors, who are often perceived as silent, tight-knit, and self-sustaining. Despite having contributed to Rotterdam’s social and economic life for decades, many continue to experience loneliness and marginalization. Language barriers, cultural divides, and limited access to information in Dutch can make existing healthcare and municipal services difficult to reach or insufficiently responsive to their specific needs. Moreover, their experiences and stories are largely absent from Rotterdam’s city image and public space. Therefore, they remain marginalized within Rotterdam’s care system, as well as its collective memory.

Participatory Storytelling as Caring Practice 

The project aims to develop a participatory storytelling prototype with three components that employs memory-sharing as a form of care and a means of fostering inclusion. The prototype will comprise (1) structured memory-sharing cafés within the older Chinese community, (2) follow-up oral history and photo-elicitation interviews with voluntary participants, and (3) a public-facing exhibition and media publications.

By encouraging older immigrants to share and reflect on their life stories, the project seeks to give meaning and historical significance to their experiences of migration, cross-cultural encounter, work, family, and ageing. Through regular gatherings and cultural, educational, and recreational activities, the memory-sharing cafés will create opportunities for participants to share memories within their community, helping to alleviate loneliness and social isolation while fostering a sense of dignity, recognition, and belonging. With the support of the project team, selected stories will then be brought into the wider public sphere through an exhibition and media publications, enabling the broader Rotterdam community to encounter the lived experiences and contributions of its Chinese residents and thereby contributing to a more inclusive urban mnemonic landscape.

Convergence and Longterm Collaboration

The project will be developed in collaboration with Tingting Zhu (Erasmus MC), and Yongjian Groenendijk-Li (TU/e), as well as local cultural and elderly care organizations, including Verhalenhuis Belvédère and Stichting Perspectief Chinezen in Nederland. It will also lay the groundwork for longer-term collaboration with these partners, exploring how participatory storytelling can be iteratively adapted and sustained as a form of community-based care and cultural practice. It will also provide an initial basis for assessing the transferability of the prototype to other older minority communities in Rotterdam.