Sustainable Change Makers: Recent Episodes
Nynke Visser
Sustainability is very diverse. What does sustainability mean to you? My name is Nynke Visser. A long time ago, I started my own sustainability journey. In this podcast, I will share my experiences and lessons learned. Together we explore new ways to embedding sustainability into our lives and our organisations. A podcast full of inspiration and information.
For more information and inspiration visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nynke-visser-innivity/ and connect via LinkedIn.
Jeroen Botter was working for years in the fashion industry and was commercially very successful. Until one day, he decided this was not the way to go forward and drastically change directions. He started working for an NGO called Sea Shepherd, where he began coordinating and initiating many spectacular campaigns.
Sea Shepherds, who are they and why do they matter in building a meaningful and sustainable society? In today’s podcast, our fellow change maker will explain it all.
Click here for more information on Jeroen Botter and Sea Shepherd.
Nadine Maarhuis is a journalist and writer who has interviewed many sustainable change makers. Lucky for us, Nadine has now bundled all the knowledge, insights and experience she acquired into a Green Action Guide.
In today’s podcast Nadine will:
- Explain what an ecological society exactly is
- Share key insights and practical examples from sustainable change makers and herself
- Explain how everyone can make a difference. Just start with the topic of your preference and take it from there.
- Share exciting challenges which enable you to have fun, meet inspiring people and learn along the way
And as a bonus, Nadine also teaches us how we - change makers and leaders - can improve the communication of our initiative, project and/or idea in such a way that the world around us becomes excited to join us on the ride.
For more information on Nadine Maarhuis, her book or initiatives click here.
What do you think the city of the future will look like? Are the buildings similar to Bosco Verticale in Milan? A beautiful building where people and nature both can flourish?
In today’s episode Fred Booy (DS) will talk about the cities of the future. About nature inclusive and biodiverse cities, by which the inner city is deeply connected with the nature outside of the cities.
- For more information about Fred Booy, DS Landscape Architects and the projects they work on click here
- For the NL version of the First Guide to Nature Inclusive Design click here
- For Amsterdam Vertical click here
Listen to the story of Hans Lodders and Sunamita Borges Da Costa (QXote) how they bring back prosperity to Santa Cruz in Portugal. Their secret? Build partnerships by which they collaborate with local and international organizations, municipalities and, above all, students and knowledge institutions.
This episode is especially interesting for leaders and change makers from business organizations, municipalities and knowledge institutions who are: a) interested in setting up multidisciplinary challenges themselves, b) who want to experience being part of such a challenge themselves or c) who want to sponsor impactful initiatives.
For more information on Hans, Sunamita, their company or challenges click here:
- QXote the company website
- Qxote Instagram
- SDG Challenge Portugal website
- SDG Challenge movie 2023
- Small Change, Big impact documentary
When we are watching the news or reading the newspapers we can really become depressed. Because we are facing an existential crisis such as climate change and biodiversity loss. But we can do something to slow down these effects and turn the tides. In this podcast we will learn from fellow Change Makers. People who are pioneering and brave to make things happens.
What sustainable topics would you like to learn about? Submit your request to Nynke Visser.
Looking for more inspiration?
For more inspiring episodes and articles visit the Innivitity Academy. To learn more about Sustainable Change Maker Nynke Visser and her work go to Linkedin, visit Innivity.nl or send her a message.
What do Patagonia, YouBeDo and Squarewise have in common? Nature is part of the DNA of their organizations. Not only in their mission, vision and the way the act. Their entire organization is structured in innovative ways where nature (and employees) have a significant seat at the table. Why is this important? What can our organizations learn from them? How does this work? And what are thefirst steps to take?
Vincent Deinum is working with organisations who are doing exactly this. In today’s podcast, he will share his insights and teach us what we can do ourselves to bring nature into our organizations.
For more information on:
- The voice of the earth program you can contact Vincent via e-mail or LinkedIn.
- Restorative principles and practices: www.regeneratie.org
- Shaman practices and work: www.uturn.world
Stories are much more effective than ideas to drive change, they are easier to remember and also more fun to listen to or to read. To fundamentally bring changes into this world, stories are a great instrument.
Today, I will use storytelling to deep dive into several impactful business events that happened to me in the recent years and I connect them with some real powerful stories and books. One book in particular that really makes people shift their mindsets.
Is it hard for you to make your organization ready for the future? Is progress going slow, is it difficult to bring everyone on board and do wonder if you are ever reaching real sustainable impact?
You’re not the only one. Many people are struggling.
But what if I tell you that there is a huge database available out there with over 3.8 bio years of knowledge owned by 30 million different types of experts; who know how to deal with complex problems? And what if I tell you that each organization, including yours, could tap into this massive R&D lab to speed things up? That you no longer have to (re)invent the wheel?
Would you believe me?
Years ago, Bas Adib and Christiaan Uittenbosch from Fired Up both had a ‘holy moly’ moment where they were confronted with the direct effects of climate change. Christiaan in Australia and Bas in Cape Town, South-Africa. They also experienced firsthand how to deal with these complex issues; and learned about the resilience that we as human have, by nature. They researched this phenomena. Now they help professionals and organizations to flourish and shape a sustainable future.
Do you want to know what their secret is? It is biomimicry.
Last Saturday, more than 25 000 people joined the climate protests in The Hague, The Netherlands. It was a big call to action to the Dutch government and politics to stop subsidizing fossil fuels (currently more than 37,5 bio euros).
This protest was initiated by Extinction Rebellion (XR). A group of ordinary people from all over The Netherlands and of all ages who are really worried about the climate and ecological crisis. About 4 years ago Extinction Rebellion was very small. And now they have a very large reach. What’s behind this? Who are these rebellions? How do they work? And what can we learn from them?
In today’s podcast we will zoom into the life of an Extinction Rebellion and learn from Lynn VanHeule about importance of activism in the past and still today, the dilemmas she is facing and her upcoming projects.
Do you know what ecological intelligence (EcQ) is and how it can serve you and your organization? It’s the intelligence level that is enables you to create your futureproof life or organization.
I reckon that you are aware of IQ (intelligence quotient), EQ (emotional quotient) and perhaps even SQ (spiritual quotient) and FQ (physical quotient).To bring about long term sustainable change, Daan explains that we need another level of intelligence: EcQ.
Today Daan will explains what EcQ is and why it is essential in building a sustainable society. He explains how it works and gives examples of companies or persons that are already doing. He also provides the tools for you to make it happen. Click here to learn more about Daan Fousert and his work.
Is diversity and inclusion also a hot theme in your organization? And how are you dealing with this? Are you having discussions about more females at the top? Or how you can make toilets accessible for all? For females, males, disabled people, trans people and other persons? Or does diversity and inclusion mean more to you?
Did you know that inclusion can bring a lot of advantages to your organization? Done well, your organization becomes more successful, a better employer, and more resilient towards the future.
Today, I speak with Thessa Bos. We both work for the same networking organization called Empact. Diversity and inclusion is really in her veins. In her childhood she lived in the multicultural part of Haarlem, where she learned about the true value of diversity. Also she spend over a decade in South Africa, where she grasped the importance of inclusion. As a professional change maker she now teaches organizations how they can embrace diversity and to become fully inclusive companies.
Thessa explains it is not easy; it’s more like a lifelong journey. But an incredibly important journey for change makers and leaders. It is the only way forward, if we really want to become that sustainable society.
Do you know what it takes to set up a successful event?
Successful leaders and change makers continuously stay in sync with their eco-system to share ideas, be inspired and/or to co-create. Often this is done through the organization of so-called sustainability or ESG events. Done well, these events can unleash enormous power and create a huge ripple effect. However not everyone enjoys organizing such events or is very good it. Do you know how to involve your audience, to inspire them, and to have them actively participate at the same time?
In this podcast, I will share three tips on how you can to turn your event into a meaningful and memorable experience for everyone. I will also share a practical example of the Rotterdam Clean Shipping roundtable I did last March. This event was organized by two large NGOs: Seas at Risk from Europe and Pacific Environment from the United States.
Someone asked me: "how do we take everyone along in the transition towards a more sustainable future? Also the ones with a little wallet?"In this podcast, I will share three different initiatives that help to improve the living conditions of people with low income. I will also reflect on how you can use the unique capabilities of your organization to take these people on board, so you can create win-win-win situations in which the entire (eco-) system can benefit.
For more inspiration visit www.innivity.nl or send a direct message to Nynke Visser via Linkedin
- “Sometimes I get skeptical by seeing so slow progress.”
- “Often I feel really lonely.”
- “It feels so good to meet likeminded people.”
- “I didn’t know there were so many people who feel the same sense of urgency to change the world for the better.”
- “I get so much energy from our session, this is exactly what I needed to keep on going.”
…I hear people say sentences like these quite often.
Being a sustainable change maker or leader can be really tough. Especially when you want to turn your sustainable dreams and ambitions into reality. When you believe the time has come to go from pioneering to start making true sustainable impact in your organization or beyond.
Sometimes you feel that you are on your own. Struggling for change. You can get skeptical: if people know what’s right for our planet and people, why aren’t they acting upon this?
Because there is a big gap between intentions and behaviors…
Professor Bolderdijk studied this topic for more than 18 years and knows how we can overcome this gap. It turns out that your role as change maker / leader is crucial to realize long lasting change.
Listen to today’s podcast to learn what you can do to accelerate this change.
Building a sustainable organization, how does that work in practice? As an executive or leader, stakeholders expect from you to take it on and make it happen. But becoming a true sustainable and futureproof organization is easier said than done. Sarah Valkering, partner at the Reputatiegroep acknowledges this and explains how organizations go through similar stages of maturity. In the first stages, they start with compliance & donating to charity, then sustainability becomes a task of the marketing department (here the greenwashing usually starts), after that sustainability becomes more of a strategic asset and, in the final stage, organizations use sustainability to become a transformational leader. This is the moment when true societal impact happens. When traditional systems and sectors change.
As an organization how can you skip the first stages and speed up to become a transformational leader and make true impact? Is that even possible? And what do Sustainable Development Goals and collaboration have to do with this? Listen to this week’s Sustainable Change Makers podcast to find out.
Are you making your organization ready for the future? And have you started with introducing healthier food offerings of your restaurants/coffee corners yet? Do you experience a lot of resistance? You are not the only one. There many executives, leaders and change makers who find it difficult to reduce the amount of meat, fish and traditional dairy products in their organizations. So what can you do about this? Listen to this week’s podcast to find out!
In this podcast I will explain to you why a plant based diet is so valuable. When you are informed well, it is easier to keep on going and to encourage the people in your organizations to join you.
Learn about regenerative farming by watching a beautiful movie of Lenteland or visit Land van Ons.
Do you work for an organization with a large supply chain where raw materials or intermediary products come from abroad? In that case, your business is likely to severely harm biodiversity and indigenous people. Maybe even without you knowing about it.
If the amount of biodiversity and nature is reduced significantly, ultimately, we ruin our access to eco system services like food, water, fresh air, medicines and more. How can we repair the damage that we have caused (and basically are still causing)? Lucky for us, there are people in this world, who know everything about protecting nature and creating a biodiverse world: the indigenous people. The only downside is that also their way of living is severely under pressure. Today, I will be talking to Raki Ap, the New Guinea expert, who will share his insights with us.
In this show, we will talk about how our economies severely impact local communities, what western companies & institutions can learn from indigenous people and how we must work together to protect our economies, the communities involved and nature.
Do you think that being vulnerable can strengthen sustainability? Most of us have learned that showing vulnerability is a weakness. If you want to be a true professional, you put on your picture perfect mask, you work long hours and you definitely do not show your insecurities or weaknesses. But did you know that the most inspiring leaders actually do show their vulnerability? It is what makes them human and it helps them to connect with fellow human beings. Learn more about the strength of vulnerability in my talk with Diane Zandee. She will share real-life examples of how it has helped her, as Director Procurement at Eneco, to make big sustainable changes happening at the company. Under her leadership Eneco became one of the frontrunners in sustainable energy supply in the Netherlands.
Diane is a researcher and teacher at Nyenrode Business University, a consultant and a sustainable CFO. We have met each other at an event that focused on sustainable reporting last October. I was moderating the event and she was one of the key note speakers. Where she spoke about role of procurement and how they can play a huge role in supporting organizations to adopt circular economies. Enjoy this show!
It was a beautiful day in April, when I met Edwin van der Sleen at the Inholland University of Applied Sciences in Diemen. A day I will never forget. We were both part of a workshop called the New Economy. That day we learned to step out of our rational thinking minds and to define the new World by using all our senses.
I remember a fierce discussion between the different generations. Young people, mostly students, who felt frustrated and angry. They felt an incredible pressure of making this world a better place. They thought their generation was supposed to solve it all because adults didn’t take the responsibility. In their perception, the same adults who created all this mess in the first place, but who refused to give them a seat at the table… How could the older generation possibly think they had the ability to solve this themselves? On the contrary, they only made it worse because of their inability to look beyond their limited interests...
This day really opened my eyes on how important inclusion is. How we should put our young people in the driving seat. Now Edwin is a lecturer and turning the tides through his advanced Business Innovations courses.
Today, he will tell us about the purpose economy, different forms of values and how he literally invites society into his classroom. Enjoy!
Back in 2020, I worked for Zero Emission Services (ZES) for more than a year. ZES was born to transform the inland shipping sector: from greenhouse gas polluter to emission free & noise free shipping leader. During this period, I was fortunate to get to know Janneke ‘t Hart, a Sustainability Communication Expert. She taught me about the value of communication to make real system changes happening. Also she introduced me into the world of Green Circles. This is a collaboration methodology where governmental bodies, knowledge institutions, social - and business organizations work together to accelerate sustainable solutions. I became so in love with the concept of sustainable co-creation that, last year, I started my own company to focus on just that.
Now Janneke will share her insights and experiences with you. She will reveal how impactful communication happens at strategic, tactical and operation level. And how important a shared vision is to make big sustainable changes possible. Enjoy!
On today’s show I talk to Jan Wognum. Jan works as a consultant in sustainable innovations and has written many books on this topic. I really enjoyed his book on regenerative organisations called "Natuurlijk! Organiseren" in Dutch. It is about organizations who contribute more to our planet than they do harm. Do these organizations already exist today? And what can we learn from them? Let’s find out.
For more information on Jan Wognum, please visit janwognum.com or natuurlijk organiseren.
On today’s show, I will be talking with Maarten Alberse from NL Greenlabel. We work together on a collaboration initiative called Green Circles – Green & Healthy cities. Here we help the cities in the Dutch province of South Holland like Alphen aan den Rijn, Dordrecht, Rotterdam and more to become healthier and greener. In his daily work, Maarten helps companies, governmental bodies and citizens to make their living environment more green and pleasant. His company’s mission is to double the amount of green spaces by 2030. But how do they do this?
In this podcast Maarten will tell you all about it. We talk about greening up the city of Delft in the Netherlands; how NL Greenlabel uses a science-based approach to measure the effects of green initiatives; and how they support municipalities across the country with their tooling. Maarten also shares what you can do yourself to feel better and do good for nature at the same time.
On today’s show I will be interviewing Elisah Pals, the founder of Zero Waste Netherlands. She is also one of the most influential sustainable change makers in the country according to the Dutch newspaper Trouw. She inspires me as she is not only talking about sustainable lifestyles but also really doing it. Elisah is already waste free for more than 7 years now, and didn’t buy anything new for more than 6 years. What is her recipe for being successfully waste free? Taking small steps she says. Let’s find out more during this episode.
On today’s show, I will be interviewing Bernice Kamphuis. She inspires me as she is the founder of an initiative called Struikroven, Bush Bandits in English. A movement that is growing rapidly in The Netherlands. Bernice is a real thought leader and has many different roles related to climate, e.g. she is also the Mayor of Climate of the Dutch city of Eindhoven. After successfully setting up Struikroven, she is now facing a new challenge related to scaling up sustainable initiatives across the country. Listen to Bernice and get inspired to get into action.
In my work and private life, people often tell me that we are with too many people on this planet. That our climate is ruined because of overpopulation. Some say that there is nothing we can do about it and all our actions are worthless. What do you think?
I agree that we are with a lot people on this planet, but over the years I learned that this is not the real issue we are facing. In this podcast, I will deep dive into the true cause and explain how we can turn the tides by contributing more than doing harm to our planet. This is called eco-positive.
During the podcast, you will also learn to the impact of your lifestyle (with this test) and how you can become a eco-positive global citizen.
Are you interested to learn more, then please send me a message via LinkedIn.
In this episode, I will focus on how you can become your best self in life and business, learning from my personal development journey.
Did you know that our personal well-being and that of others is an important part of sustainability but often overlooked? Discovering your full potential helps you to do the things that you enjoy most and where you are good at. It also enables you to identify the greatness of people around you so we can all become our best selves.
Would you like to read the questions again? Go to: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-powerful-questions-become-best-version-yourself-nynke-visser/?trackingId=lTV2BQLFTrKYHZ%2FYGk8JCg%3D%3D
If you would like to get in touch then please reach me via Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nynke-visser-34402a11/
In this episode, we focus on how financiers can contribute to a sustainable planet. And also how financiers can tap into new markets, uplift their existing portfolios and boost the image of their companies. I will explains what it takes for financiers to create a true sustainable portfolio, learning from Green Circles.
Are you interested to learn more, then please send me a message via LinkedIn
In this episode, I will explain how polluting the shipping sector is and what we can do ourselves to reduce this pollution. I will also share insights on how we can turn the tides for this extremely polluting industry, learning from Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association (ZESTAs). ZESTAs is hosting the Ship ZERO event on June 20th, in the Amsterdam Muziekgebouw. During this event they will share disruptive projects and use the power of collaboration to scale up emission-free goods transport. For more information, please visit: ShipZERO 26.5 - ZESTAs.
You can also send me a message via LinkedIn: Nynke Visser | LinkedIn as I'm helping ZESTAs to organise this event.
In this episode, I will share 3 essential tips to handle wicked problems like sustainability. You will learn how to get the right people on board and to unleash their super powers.
During this episode I also refer to an example workshop set-up. If you are interested in this, then please send me a message through LinkedIn.
In this episode, I will share 5 essential tips to turn your sustainability projects or innovations into a success.
Maybe you are currently involved in a project or a program as the sponsor/executive, manager, member, coach, facilitator or problem owner? Or perhaps you are part of a new type of multidisciplinary project? For example, you work together with people from your supply chain, industry and/or other organizations (such as science, governmental bodies or sports). Either way, this episode is for you.
The full story can also be found online: 5 essential tips to scale up your innovations or projects successfully | LinkedIn
Welcome to the Sustainable Change makers podcast. My name is Nynke Visser and in this episode, I will explain to you how you can unleash your creativity and successfully start your own sustainability initiatives.
In my life, I have been part of many different sustainability projects. When I tell others about these projects, people often want to learn more. They believe the projects I have worked on are very innovative or inspiring. And then they ask: how did I do it? In this episode, I will answer this question. I will also tell you how you can start your own initiatives by using your full potential.