In February, Wiet Verkooijen joined The Economic Board as strategic advisor and portfolio manager. This step is a logical continuation of his career as an economist specialising in organisational change.
After a start in development work and years in business (as a management consultant and as an entrepreneur) and as a teacher, he now finds it a challenge to tackle 'realising complex change processes with impact' in his own beloved home region: Lifeport Regio Arnhem Nijmegen.
'Making the world a little nicer and better every day, a nicer environment, a better living environment,' is how he describes his motivation. 'Actually, that's what my passion is. I just think it's really cool to work on that every day. And why I say every day: making impact just requires a strong focus to work towards it step by step together with many different parties.'
The core: content, process and people
That passion for change runs like a thread through everything Wiet does. One principle is central to this: successful change only occurs when content, process and human behaviour come together.
On the one hand, it is about vision, objectives and concrete results. This is often substantive. On the other hand, it is about the question: How do we organise ourselves for the intended change? Here, the human aspect plays at least as big a role.
'Change brings uncertainty, tension, and sometimes resistance. Daring to be vulnerable and daring to say, 'I don't know this', is essential,' says Wiet. It is precisely in that openness that trust is created, and that trust forms the basis for cooperation. Whether it's an organisational change or a regional ecosystem: without trust, you won't get anywhere.
From organisations to ecosystems
Whereas previously he mainly operated within organisations and collaborations between organisations, he was now looking for an environment where he could contribute to broader social impact, aimed at broad prosperity in his own living environment.
He found that place in the world of ecosystem development: a complex playing field in which governments, companies and knowledge institutions work together on joint social tasks. 'This is a world that is just a bit more complex,' he says, but it is precisely this complexity that makes it interesting.
In his role as strategic advisor, he translates regional ambitions into concrete collaborations and opportunities for joint programmes. He acts as a sparring partner for strategists and network partners and helps ensure that plans do not get stuck in good intentions.
'The risk in ecosystem development is that you talk a lot, but fail to work towards something. A check question that helps with this and that I often ask is: 'And now?' Providing focus and direction is an important part of his work.
As portfolio manager, he also monitors the coherence between programmes. In an organisation like The Economic Board, with more and more initiatives, coordination is essential.
Broad prosperity: and/and, not either/or
Weed strongly believes in the principle of and/and instead of either/or. Economic growth, sustainability and social development need not be mutually exclusive, quite the contrary.
'You need business activity for employment. From employment, income is earned that you have to share fairly with each other. You need to organise that employment sustainably, so it does not come at the expense of the living environment. People's first reaction is: yes, but that's contradictory, that's not possible at all. I come from the school of critical optimism, I choose to believe that and/and is possible, only it brings tensions. It requires us to step over our own (and often short-term) interests and work towards long-term goals and changes. It is not so much that it is not possible in terms of content.'
Therefore, broad prosperity requires vision, patience and cooperation. Trust again plays a key role in this, for instance when companies share talent or invest jointly in development. The government also has a responsibility here: policy must be stable and remove market failures or unwanted risks, so that entrepreneurs have a better idea of where they stand.
Regional strength in a global context
Why is the region so important for economic development? As an economist, Wiet sees that robust economic growth almost always takes place at the regional level, where companies, knowledge institutions and talent are close together. That physical proximity makes knowledge exchange and cooperation much easier.
At the same time, regions do not stand alone. Strong international chains often consist of connections between regional clusters. For example, the Lifeport region in which The Economic Board operates is part of larger networks in the fields of semiconductors, energy and health.
The challenge lies in positioning this regional strength well and connecting it to national and international developments. Not as a separate region, but as part of a larger whole. This requires strategic thinking and making choices: not everything can and needs to go together.
Rooted in the region
Although Wiet is originally from Breda, he feels a strong connection with Nijmegen and the region. For love, he moved to this city, where he now lives and lives with his family. He loves nature and space, but also the social cohesion he experiences here and the special international atmosphere a border region has.
There is still some work to be done: according to him, the region could be more proud of what is happening. And enter into new developments, for instance in interregional and international collaborations. Especially for a border region, this is where opportunities for economic and social development lie.
Only together ...
What drives Wiet ultimately comes down to one core principle: cooperation. Change is not an individual achievement, but a collective process that requires discipline, trust and perseverance. 'Only together do we lead the way,' for him is more than a slogan, it is a daily reality.
