The five-part course at uu77 brought Public Administration alumna Lieke Potten back to campus. Reflecting on the experience, she describes it as enriching, mainly due to the insights she gained from her fellow participants. “My background in government was complemented by various other experiences, from the healthcare sector, regional safety organizations, consultancy firms, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.” She found it encouraging to learn how far others had progressed with their sustainability plans. “Someone from a major health insurance company in our course group mentioned that their industry still had a long way to go in terms of raising awareness. In our case, we’re fortunate to already have that awareness about sustainability. For us, it's now about execution and bringing our partners along in that next step.”
Change through dialogue
She took many insights home from the course. For instance, she learned how to engage in conversations with others and how crucial your message can be to taking the right step, along with the tools that can help. “The combination of the theoretical framework and discussions with fellow participants made me realize how important it is to approach various partners with a compelling story and that this requires a tailored approach. A good narrative can eventually make sustainability the norm.” The instructors provided the eye-opener that sustainability is mainly about building connections. “You can't make all your progress by staying in your own domain; you have to form a broader coalition. You need to try to understand the interests of other domains, like the economy, by viewing sustainability as an economic incentive.” She explains that stepping into other playing fields is crucial: only then can you truly make progress in sustainability. “And this mostly means actively listening to others and seeking dialogue.”
From theory to reality
What Lieke appreciated most about the program was the combination of theory (including learning skills) and practice: she was consistently able to apply what she learned, in small groups, to her own situation. This was particularly useful because she is in the midst of an organizational change at work, which involves elevating sustainability to interregional partnerships. A concrete example of this collaboration: our region started, over three-quarters of a year ago, to formalize our energy region further. The goal of this collaboration is to share knowledge and accelerate the energy transition by working together smartly on the content. As program manager of the Regional Energy Strategy, I play an important role in the further development of this realization. If we are to make this step, it is crucial to collaborate even more with various other parties in the region, because they possess expertise that we, as governments, do not have within our own organizations. “There is a limited number of hands in the municipality. The regional organization exists to take some of the load off the municipalities. By pooling resources, you can make significant progress in sustainability.”
Lieke often thought, "It's just not moving fast enough" when it came to sustainability plans. But her optimism has since been reinforced, thanks to the new regional network on the horizon and the knowledge she gained. “Sustainability can be a struggle, but now you know that you can help each other move forward. And the great thing is that I now also have a network outside the scope of my professional field, namely my fellow students from this training, as we are still in contact.”