Why do people love to talk about their past? The older we get, the more important the past with all its memories becomes. Who doesn’t have a grandpa, grandma, father or mother full of tales about the old days; the war, local characters, the adventures?

Reliving memories can be very important to people. Some keep going back to unresolved experiences. But many have mainly happy memories, that make the narrator glow with joy as he or she re-experiences those cherished feelings of yesteryear. These latter memories are used in reminiscence methods in nursing homes. Because telling stories makes people more active and alert.

Councillor Kamsteeg (Dordrecht) and a resident of Wielwijk planting the apple tree that the municipality received from Ms Verburg, the Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.

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In InnovationNetwork’s youth memories project, part of the concept 'Destination New Netherlands', we search for the underlying values of the stories that people tell about nature and being outdoors. People are creatures of nature; our hypothesis is that all people – regardless of culture, upbringing, age and gender – value nature and the outdoors for all sorts of reasons. We are looking for “universal values” that people of all cultures and ages share with each other. We want to draw on these universal values as a source of inspiration for enhancing the quality of the outdoor space. If we design the public space with these universal values in mind, will the resulting public space be more suited to the residents’ needs and wants? Will residents use the public space in a different way? Will that space or garden become more a part of them?

Can we uncover these universal values by tapping into people’s memories?

That is the experiment we are currently conducting in Wielwijk, a residential area in Dordrecht. A group of 23 residents comes together in changing compositions to tell each other stories about their memories of nature, being outside, playing outdoors, the public space close to home. Subsequently, workshops will be held with the participants and designers to finally create a garden reflecting these universal images.

As I have seen various times during the try-out sessions with the professionals, the stories bring people closer together. These professionals are leading the three groups. Hilarious and moving stories reach my ears. Like the one about the two marbles maestros from Brabant and Morocco who found one another - in the pleasure of playing and winning. The competition was started on the spot. Everyone enjoys sharing. People identify with the stories they hear and respond with their own tales. Telling stories is definitely a great way to build mutual respect!

Residents listening to a neighbour’s youth memories.

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On 14 April I had the honour, as project leader, to attend a festive occasion for the participants. Together with councillor Kamsteeg the participants in the project planted the apple tree that the municipality had received from Minister Verburg on the site allotted for the new garden. But the most special part was hearing the stories that some of the participants told – stories oozing with community pride and engagement, but also with the timeless fun of playing outside and getting up to mischief.

The trickiest step comes when we start transforming the universal values into universal images with the participants. How can you translate “mischief” into an image that evokes the same feeling in everyone (regardless of culture, upbringing, age and gender)? And thus create a public space where everyone feels at home.

I am curious to see what happens!