A new initiative to remember and celebrate the legacy of ICDI’s founder, Nico van Oudenhoven, who passed away in the Spring 2025.
N.I.C.O spaces – Nico’s Intergenerational Connection Outposts are warm, welcoming places where older adults who often live in social isolation, can regularly connect with children from local schools in Palestine.
Through this initiative, co-designed by ICDI and our partner organisation in Palestine, Trust, we keep living Nico’s values and vision and ensure to go where the pain is most severe.
This project co-funded by Trust and ICDI. If you want to join us in supporting Nico’s memory this way, you can contribute to the project here. 100% of your donations will pay for shared meals in N.I.C.O Spaces.
Description
Starting September 2025, we are establishing N.I.C.O spaces – Nico’s Intergenerational Connection Outposts – in remote or underserved communities. These would be warm, welcoming places where older adults who often alone without contact with family, can regularly connect with children from local schools. These encounters would be built around human capital; the healing power of shared culture and connection[1].
At the heart of the idea is a simple truth echoed by Janusz Korczak: children are not people in the making — they are people already. And so are the elderly — not only memory keepers, but active, feeling, thinking individuals with something still to give and receive.
Goals
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.
Location
Four sites, in the Trust’s Community Education Centres (CECs):
These areas are: Shufat Refugee Camp, and in three of the villages northwest Jerusalem: Biddo, Al-Jeeb, and Beit Surik. Our partner Trust of Programs for Early Childhood, Family and Community Education has well established presence in those locations.
- The Shufat Refugee camp, established in 1964, located in east Jerusalem. It is the only refugee camp that lies within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem but was later separated by the Wall and checkpoints.
- The villages in northwest Jerusalem (16 villages). Located about 10 km northwest Jerusalem, surrounded by seven Israeli settlements and separated from Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank by the Wall.
Activities
- 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 (with consent)[3].
Expected results
The NICO spaces will reach approximately 100 older adults and around 300 children with regular interactions
[1] Nico van Oudenhoven, Rona Jualla van Oudenhoven (2014) Culturised Early Childhood Development, Garat
[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
