Thirza Bolhuis is a PhD candidate with a transdisciplinary project: How can we support collective learning for citizen initiatives? To support learning about best practices in a systematic manner, she combines knowledge and data-driven AI methods.

More information about Thirza Bolhuis

As different types of knowledge are combined and become more accessible, citizens can gain more autonomy in their own transition projects (e.g. organising energy communities or implementing healthcare interventions locally). Codesign with citizens allows to address the actual problems encountered in practice, and helps to outline what is required to build a trustworthy and explainable application, with respect for the lived experience of the communities whose data is analysed.

With her diverse educational background (BSc. Applied Mathematics, MSc. Engineering and Policy Analysis, MSc. Communication Design for Innovation) Thirza develops herself as a transdisciplinary researcher, interested in collaborating across domains. She looks to address societal problems by addressing uncertainty in decision-making: critically reflecting on the roles of (data) science in society, how decision-makers consider different types of 'evidence' or 'knowledge' in relation to their values, and considering the social, environmental, and technical aspects of complex problems.