the QOL Tour

Fieldwork · city by city across Europe

Cities are more than statistics, rankings and policies. Quality of life is also found in the streets, neighbourhoods, workplaces, and everyday lives of the people who live and work there.

The QOL Tour explores what makes everyday life work, what makes it difficult, and what people would like to change. Through conversations, observations and experiences, each place becomes part of the wider Quality of Life Study.

why the QOL tour

The QOL Tour started from two observations.

Most quality-of-life data is gathered at a distance. Surveys, indices, policy reports. They measure outcomes, but rarely capture how life is actually experienced.

We have more data about people than ever, yet talking to them has become unusual. We increasingly measure people without actually listening.

So I decided to do something rather simple:

Go there. Talk to people. See what I find.

how I work

I spend time in a place and look at quality of life through four lenses: Living, Health, Work and Social. Together, they give direction to what I observe, ask about and experience.

Observation. I walk the streets, neighbourhoods and public spaces. I look at how a place feels and functions. What is cared for. What isn’t. How people use the spaces around them.

Conversations. Coffeetalks, mostly. With people who live and work there. What makes everyday life work? What gets in the way? What would they change if they could?

Immersion. I try to experience the place from the inside. Joining a workday, attending an event, spending time in a neighbourhood or simply seeing how a normal day unfolds.

what comes out of it

The Tour is the fieldwork. What I see, hear and experience becomes part of the wider Quality of Life Study.

The conversations and observations feed into publications such as the City signal reports.

Others become part of the QOL Atlas, where we build a growing picture on quality of life across Europe.

Some observations become the starting point for concepts, turning a problem into an idea worth exploring.

where I’ve been

The Tour has already taken me to different cities and communities across Europe. Each place brought different conversations, different perspectives and different questions about what makes life good.

Ibiza – September to November 2025

A place built around quality of life can become difficult to live in.

The finding
Ibiza attracts people from around the world looking for a better life. But the same success that makes the island attractive is putting increasing pressure on the people who live and work here. Read the City Signals.

What I did
I started with coffeetalks at Meke, The Monk and Luxalad. Conversations with people around the island. The Coffee Camper and the Ibiza Tech Forum, gave me different views on what living well here actually means.

Lisbon – November to December 2025

What happens to quality of life when a city becomes increasingly attractive to everyone else?

The finding
Lisbon has become a magnet for visitors, talent and investment. That creates opportunity, but also raises questions about affordability, belonging and who can still build a life there. Read the City Signals.

What I did
I spent six weeks in Lisbon, walking, listening and having conversations with people about life in the city. I also visited Web Summit, joined Aethos Social Club and hosted a Quality of Life breakfast at Heden.

Bologna – February to March 2026

What makes a city feel like a community rather than simply a place where people live?

The finding
Bologna has something many cities are trying to rebuild: everyday life happens in public. People meet, eat, work and spend time together. Quality of life lives in the spaces between them. Read the City Signals.

What I did
I walked the city and had conversations with people about how Bologna actually works for those who live there. I looked at everyday life and the tension between a living city and a city increasingly experienced by visitors. And, of course, I shared a great Italian-style family meal.

Rome – May 2026

Innovation and sustainability only matter if they improve everyday life.

The finding
Rome brought the question of innovation back to everyday life. The summit I attended focused on sustainability and the future, while the streets showed the very real pressures of living in and visiting a historic city. See the publications.

What I did
I joined the European Innovation for Sustainability Summit, walked the streets and had coffee conversations with Romans about their city, their lives and what they would like to see change.

Athens – July 2026

A city that gave the world some of its oldest ideas about the good life is still wrestling with the question today.

The finding
Athens gave the world some of its oldest ideas about the good life. Walking the city and talking with people made me wonder how much of that thinking still lives in everyday life today. Read the City Signals.

What I did
I spent three weeks in Athens, walking the city, talking with people and exploring what quality of life means there today. The conversations touched on everyday life, work, community, wellbeing and the relationship between the city and the people who live there.

Eindhoven – October 2026

Steel letters on a concrete wall in Eindhoven: 'In het begin moest ik alles alleen doen' (In the beginning I had to do everything alone), signed Gerard Philips. — “In the beginning I had to do everything alone.” – Gerard Philips, who founded Philips in Eindhoven in 1891

What happens to quality of life in a city built around innovation?

The finding
Eindhoven has grown from an industrial city into a centre for technology and design. But innovation is not only about what a city creates. It is also about the life people experience around it. Read the City Signals.

What I did
I spent Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, walking the city and having coffeetalks with people about work, creativity, technology and everyday life.

future cities to visit

Barcelona · November 2026

Can a smarter city also become a better place to live?

Barcelona has been exploring what a smart city can be for years. But technology is only useful when it improves everyday life.

What I’m doing

I’ll be in Barcelona around Smart City Expo, talking with people working on the future of cities and with people who live there. I want to look beyond the technology and ask: Does all this innovation actually make life better?

Smart City Expo
3–5 November
Explore Smart City Expo

Know Barcelona?
If you live, work or create there, I’d love to hear how you experience the city. At Smart City Expo, over coffee, or simply walking the streets.

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Lisbon · November 2026

What has changed since I was here last year?

Lisbon was one of the first stops of the Quality of Life Tour in 2025. A year later, I’m coming back to see what has changed, what hasn’t, and how the city is experiencing that change.

What I’m doing

I’ll reconnect with people I met during the first visit and have new conversations with people living and working in the city.

During Lisbon Tech Week I’m joining events that each open a different window on quality of life:

Health and the mind – Lisbon Longevity Salon (7 November), Human Performance Under Uncertainty
Society and impact – Social Impact Day
The city – Connect Lisboa, the Mayor’s Reception
Technology – AI Promises
The people building here – open coffee and networking mornings

The question running through all of them: how is technology changing the way we live, work and connect?

Lisbon Tech Week
5–12 November 2026 · Lisbon

Know Lisbon?
If you live, work or create there, I’d love to hear what has changed since my last visit. At the Longevity Salon, at one of the tech week events, over coffee, or simply walking the streets.

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Madrid · November 2026

What does living well look like in a capital that never seems to slow down?

Madrid is a city of long days, late dinners and life in the street. I want to see how that rhythm holds up against work, housing and the pace of a growing capital.

What I’m doing

I’ll be in Madrid for a few days of conversations with people who live and work in the city.

On 27 November I’m at the ONCE Congress on Entrepreneurship and Disability. This year it’s about the emotional side of starting a business: confidence, resilience and wellbeing.

I’ll also spend time at BioCultura, Spain’s biggest fair for organic products and responsible consumption, asking whether living greener actually makes life better.

BioCultura
27–29 November 2026 · Madrid
Explore BioCultura

Know Madrid?
If you live, work or create there, I’d love to hear how you experience the city. At BioCultura, over coffee, or simply walking the streets.

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keep the tour moving

The QOL Tour grows through people, places and conversations.

It is privately initiated and independently run. There is no institution behind it and no large research budget.

You can help in different ways.
Open a door. Host a conversation. Connect me with someone.

If you or your organisation wants to support the Tour in either way, partner with BHC

how it all started

Why I decided to take the question on the road.

video produced by Awake to Create

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