Research projects

There is a high unemployment rate among young people in Uganda (83%, UBOS 2018). This is due to a significant skills gap and school dropouts. Many graduates (bachelors and masters) also struggle to find jobs due to limited skills.                                                  

For the manufacturing sector in the plastics industry, bridging the gap between prototypes and production is a challenge. Howest aims to provide guidance to companies in building end-product-oriented prototypes, enabling them to make better design decisions.                      

"The best is YET to come" builds on the research project YET (Youth Environment & engagement Tool) that was commissioned by the Flemish Community, Department of the Environment and fitted into the grant call "Together we imagine space."                                            

In PoST-IT, three areas of expertise within Howest are innovatively connected: (1) politicizing social work, (2) evaluation and impact of social interventions, and (3) data sciences.                                                                                                  

This practice-based research challenges how designers can explore new concepts related to the sustainable development of ecosystems from more-than-human perspectives.                                                                                                                  

Southwest Flanders is renowned as Belgium's production hub, hosting one out of every three manufacturing companies in the country. Many of these organizations are under pressure to transform into industries that handle available materials and resources in a more sustainable manne