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Inspiring action before the flood
Watching movies or documentaries about sustainability by yourself can be quite daunting or even depressing. Nyenrode’s Alumni Circle for Sustainability organizes events in the Netherlands to bring people together to share insights and discuss sustainability topics. So on March 21, 2017, a diverse crowd of students, alumni, as well as other sustainability enthusiasts and professionals watched…
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Can the Netherlands lead the way in how the world eats protein?
Dutch food probably doesn’t conjure up images of very healthy eating. Lots of cheese, stroopwafels, chocolate sprinkles on bread, fried meat-based snacks and fries drowned in mayonnaise. And yet, the Netherlands might just be the country to lead the way to new eating patterns that are healthier for both people and the planet. In the…
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Making Dutch trains ride like the wind
Meet Carola Wijdoogen, Corporate Sustainability Officer of the Dutch Railways. Carola and I met each other decades ago when studying business at Nyenrode University. Little did we know that we’d end up working in the field of corporate sustainability. When Carola recently published a book to share her experience and tips with other CSR managers,…
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Psychology for sustainable change
Meet Vincent de Klerk, founder of Comm&Sense, using psychology to support teams and individuals through change. As sustainability always calls for change within organizations and teams, I was very keen to learn more about his vision on sustainable change. Over a fantastic home-made lunch, we talked about psychology and leadership for sustainable change. Striving for…
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Sustainable cities for a positive future
“Cities are increasingly the home of humanity. They are central to climate action, global prosperity, peace and human rights.” — UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon October 31 is World Cities Day. Do we actually need such a day? I think we do need one, as today over half of the world’s population lives in…
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Changing fashion from within for success
Meet Willa Stoutenbeek, founder of W.Green, a branded communication agency focused on sustainable fashion & lifestyle. In 2013, I saw her on stage at TEDxAMSWomen. Her rallying cry to clean up the fashion industry by changing our own shopping behavior really resonated with me.  “Just because we’re not willing to pay more for the clothes we buy, doesn’t mean…
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Normal is Over: movement from a movie
Nyenrode’s Alumni Circle for Sustainability proudly presented its first movie night on September 20, 2016, featuring the award-winning documentary film: Normal is Over. A diverse crowd of students, alumni as well as other sustainability enthusiasts and professionals came to Nyenrode to watch the film together. Having the filmmaker – Renée Scheltema – present at the screening made…
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Cool innovation to improve life in hot countries
Meet Maarten ten Houten, Founder and CEO of Coolfinity, a social enterprise that brings innovative and sustainable cooling solutions to countries with power infrastructure challenges. In 2015, Maarten and I worked together on crafting an ecosystem of many different organizations to ensure Coolfinity’s first product, the Icebank Cooler, can be used for food, beverages and…
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The verdict on the S-word – sustainability
At the 2016 Global Reporting Initiative conference, I much enjoyed moderating a panel on the S-word: sustainability. Prior to this conference session, my blog post Naming, claiming, framing the S-word, generated interesting commentary on social media. This input, great speakers and over 100 sustainability professionals (voluntarily in the room by 7:30 AM), made for an inspiring session. Reclaiming agency Kicking off…
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Climate change: it’s not too late if we act now
Meet Marjan Minnesma, founder and director of Urgenda, an organization aiming for a fast transition towards a sustainable society with a circular economy using only renewable energy. On the day of the interview, the Dutch government announced it would consider closing two additional coal-fired power plants to meet its climate commitments. In between telephone quotes…
