To honour the legacy of Nico van Oudenhoven, not only by remembering him but by living according to his values and vision, ICDI, together with our Palestinian partner Trust, is launching a new initiative in Palestine.
One of Nico’s most powerful principles was “go where the pain is most severe.” With that in mind, we created N.I.C.O spaces, Nico’s Intergenerational Connection Outposts. These are warm, welcoming places where older adults who often live alone, can regularly connect with children from local schools in Palestine. This project embodies healing[1], dignity, and intergenerational solidarity.
While the world is watching the continuous genocidal atrocities in Gaza, the Palestinian population in West Bank and in and around Jerusalem is suffering in silence. Away from the glare of the international media, a parallel crisis of displacement, violence, and systemic oppression is intensifying. It is a crisis marked by escalating settler violence, increased military raids, and a stranglehold on movement and economy that is pushing Palestinian communities to the brink.
Our N.I.C.O spaces will not be able to respond to this crisis but hope to offer at least an opportunity for children and communities to harvest the healing power of agency, shared culture and connection.
N.I.C.O spaces will be established in four sites, one in Shufat Refugee Camp, and in three of the villages northwest Jerusalem: Biddo, Al-Jeeb, and Beit Surik.
We see N.I.C.O as a place where agency flourishes, where children are not passive recipients of knowledge, but leaders, game-makers, and curious partners in discovering tradition and human stories. Where older adults are not “cared for” but co-creators of a shared experience.
N.I.C.O spaces offer:
- Games: A revival of traditional and modern children’s street games, facilitated and led by children and older adults, fostering laughter, movement, and mutual learning[2]
- Story & Song Circles: Storytelling and folk songs where both children and older adults contribute — building bridges across generations
- Food & Memory: Shared meals with local dishes, cooked with the input of the older adults, invoking sensory memory and belonging
- Creative Documentation: Children might create illustrated “memory books” or digital stories inspired by the people they meet[3].
Read more about our project here.
This project is made possible thanks to the support of Trust and ICDI. If you’d like to honour Nico’s memory with us, you can contribute here. Every euro you give goes directly to what matters most: sharing meals together in N.I.C.O Spaces.
[1] Giulia Cortellesi, Jessica Harpley and Margaret Kernan (2018) ‘Intergenerational learning for building and transforming cultural heritage between young and old’, in Neil Asher Silberman and Angela Labrador (Eds) Oxford Handbook of Public Heritage, Theory and Practice, Oxford University Press.
[2] Nico van Oudenhoven, (1979) Common Afghan Street Games, Swets and Zeitlinger
[3] For more examples of bridging activities between generations from around the world see Together Old and Young blog series: https://www.toyproject.net/blog/, see also position paper: https://www.toyproject.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/TOY-Position-Paper_19October2016_FINAL_Digital-version.pdf
