Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
Driven by curiosity and care, I help people find and shape the less-visible kinds of power that make transformative change towards equality and ecological harmony possible. I do this through action research and hands-on work. At action research institute DRIFT, I contribute to a broad range of transitions as researcher, adviser and trainer. My focus is on power and how it can be navigated through informal and community organising. I am also active in citizen collectives for the deep transition from capitalism towards democracy, related to degrowth, cooperatives and citizen's assemblies. At OntgroeiNL, I contribute as organiser for the community of degrowth thinkers and do-ers. Outside work, I love stories, whether in the form of films, podcasts, books, conversations, or through making amateur theatre with friends. When I’m not in a story, you will usually find me among people or trees. And to you reading this: Thanks for your interest and I wish you a nice day! PS: Ik heb ook een Nederlands profiel, die vind je in de knop hierboven
The Dutch Research Institute for Transitions (DRIFT) is an action research institute and social enterprise associated with Erasmus University Rotterdam. We contribute to a more sustainable and fair society through research, advice, education, and societal debate. As an action research institute, we study transformative change by actively helping others to create it. We do this by facilitating collaboration across and beyond disciplines with a big role for the knowledge of citizens and practitioners. I am involved in all areas of DRIFT’s work, with a focus on informal and community organising for the fundamental transformation from capitalism towards democracy. Selection of research projects: - NWO KIN - Studying how to organise transformative art-based interventions together with theatre collective Gouden Haas - JustWind4All – Studying how transformative researchers in this EU project navigate power dynamics in practice when contributing to change. - BIONEXT – Unpacking how justice in nature-positive transitions is perceived in practice and how policy can support this. - EEA Scaling Sustainable Agriculture - Studying how EU policy can support transformative farming models. Selection of consultancy projects: - Dutch Ministry of Agriculture and Nature – Co-creating strategy for transformative learning in area-based collaborations. - NGINFRA – Creating strategies for semi-governmental utility organizations to drive sustainable transformation despite limited direction from governments. - Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure – Developing strategies for EU policymakers from different sustainability agendas to collaborate on transformative change. Selection of education projects: - DRIFT Academy - Coordinating and giving workshops for course on climate justice. - Windesheim and Saxion - training the teachers of master sustainability transitions on reflexive monitoring in action. For societal debate, I work with citizen's assembly, cooperative, and degrowth communities
I work with another organizer to help develop Ontgroei NL, the Dutch branch of the degrowth network. Together, we focus on organizing this community and generating momentum for action by exploring the needs of different individuals aligned with the degrowth community. Our work includes facilitating the formation of working groups, setting up communication channels, and creating plans to onboard new members. Additionally, we established a system for the community to self-organize through assemblies and meetups, using feedback from these gatherings to shape a long-term strategy. I am also the Dutch co-representative in the international degrowth network (IDN).
I believe that hands-on work is incredibly valuable and deserves equal recognition in LinkedIn as the other experiences mentioned here. After graduating my masters, I spent six months working full-time as hospital cleaner at UMC Utrecht. During my schooling, I washed dishes (1.5 years), drove cars (2.5 years), performed manual labour in smaller projects, and worked at festivals in construction and behind the bar (4 years). Aside from these hands-on jobs, I worked for 7 years as a private tutor for secondary school students in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and economics; and I occasionally hosted events as MC.
ArteSumapaz is an art community centre in the Andes with the goal to 'heal the world with art'. For several months, I was an artist in residence here, exploring my interests in writing theater plays, creating personal essays, and giving workshops. I partly paid for this residency with volunteering (mainly maintenance and cleaning).
The Impact Institute aims to incorporate unmeasured sustainable and social impacts into food prices and company financial accounts through research, consulting, and training. As a member of the new Public Entrepreneurship team, my primary focus was to help scale up both the Impact Institute and the Impact Economy Foundation. I developed strategies for lobbying, securing funding for the foundations, and building coalitions. Additionally, I helped set up the Brede Welvaart Conference and coordinate the launching campaign of the Impact Weighted Accounts Framework (IWAF).