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What do sustainable change and a summer bike trip have in common?
Just back from a long bike trip, I noted many similarities between that trip and sustainable change projects. This post outlines how common goals, planning, building on what’s there, engagement, momentum, and priority setting all contribute.
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Balancing science with art for sustainable change
“Can we make this analysis more scientific?”, a client asked the other day. And of course, there’s always more data and science that could be used for target-setting and analysis. But data and science aren’t always the best ingredients to create impact. Instead, art could be just what you need to drive positive change. Art…
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The chicken and the egg of the food transition
On June 6, I visited Kipster, the most animal, environment and people friendly poultry farm in the world. Inspired farmer and co-founder Ruud Zanders told a diverse group of Nyenrode Business University alumni all about global food production issues and the downs and outs of farmers and chicken. The poultry farmer’s dilemma His story started just after…
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Al Gore’s call: be inconvenient to drive positive change
Just over 10 years after the award-winning documentary film An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore is back with a new film. I am very grateful that Triodos bank invited me to the screening of Al Gore’s new documentary film, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. Welcome to the Al Gore show I much enjoyed watching the…
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Starting small to build trust and to inspire big change
Meet Andrea van der Graaf, managing director of renewable energy company Tegenstroom and of sustainable investment fund Meermaker. Andrea and I used to work together at Greenpeace in the late ‘90’s. After a recent event about climate change, which we co-hosted at Nyenrode Business University, it was high time for an interview with her. Here’s…
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How will you contribute to the energy transition?
In June 2017, I had the honor to co-host an event about the energy transition at Nyenrode Business University. The event drew alumni interested in sustainability and/or market & government matters. The main speaker, Ruud Koornstra, captivated the audience with his call to action about the transition to renewable energy. Here’s what he had to…
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The power of movement to halt climate change: the People’s Climate March
On April 29, 2017, I joined the People’s Climate March. People took to the streets around the world to raise a stronger sense of urgency to act against climate change. The date coincided with Donald Trump’s 100th day in office. Marching for local climate policy I joined the Amsterdam climate march, along with 8000 others.…
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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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Sustainable change is hard work, even at Unilever
Meet Anniek Mauser, Sustainability Director at Unilever Benelux. After working with her on a project in the spring of 2016, we reconnected at the launch of Carola Wijdoogen’s book. As everyone always looks up to Unilever’s ambitions and progress, it was high time for an interview with her about snowballs, politics, and the challenges of…
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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,…
