Ergens rond de eeuwwisseling is mijn persoonlijke omslag naar duurzaamheid begonnen. Ik werkte toen bij een organisatie aan de uitvoering van de duurzame ontwikkelingsverdragen met Benin, Bhutan en Costa Rica. De bedoeling was om gezamenlijk tot nieuwe vormen van internationale samenwerking te komen. Gelijkwaardigheid en wederkerigheid waren hierbij essentieel. En duurzaamheid uiteraard. Kort na een werkbezoek aan Bhutan – het Himalaya Koninkrijk waar het Bruto Nationaal Product ondergeschikt is aan het Bruto Nationaal Geluk – heb ik echter afgehaakt. De lange mars door de instituten koerste naar mijn idee te zeer af op een doodlopende straat. Mijn belangstelling voor duurzaamheid heb ik toen verlegd van institutionele verandering naar gedragsverandering.
Ik ben een geëngageerde pleitbezorger geworden van duurzaam leven: eerst als hoofdredacteur van magazine Genoeg en lid van het Amerikaanse SimplicityForum. Daarna als onderzoeker bij de Universiteit Maastricht en Kyoto University en als lid van het wereldnetwerk PERL. Ik heb stichting LIFT opgericht, de sociale onderneming die het succesvolle Liftjeleven actieprogramma realiseert. Overigens ben ik zelf ook een enthousiaste downshifter en hosselaar, autoloos, dol op tuinieren en wars van verspilling.
Inmiddels ben ik een ervaren trainer en enthousiaste lezinggever over duurzaam leven, downshiften en hosselen. Mijn workshops zijn korte, intensieve trainingen, praktisch, persoonlijk en vooral probleem oplossend!
Somewhere around the turn of the century, my personal turn towards sustainability has started. At that time, I was a staff member of a semi-governmental organization which was in charge with the implementation of the Sustainable Development Agreements. These contracts were meant to innovate the international cooperation between the Netherlands and Benin, Bhutan and Costa Rica. Since this goal was far too ambitious within the Dutch political context, my public relations task basically was a mission impossible. Soon after a working visit to Bhutan – the Himalayan kingdom where the Gross National Happiness is put before the Gross National Product – I quitted the long march through the institutions while apparently it was just heading for the dead end street. Since I have transferred my professional and personal interest from institutional change for sustainability to behavioral change. I have become a dedicated sustainable living advocate; first as editor-in chief of the Dutch magazine Genoeg (= Enough) and member of the Simplicity Forum; and later also as an academic researcher, with a position as research fellow at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and at Kyoto University in Japan. At the end of 2010 I defended my PhD study on Living with Less: Prospects for Sustainability. Then I have initiated a successful innovation in sustainable living: the Lift your Life action-program and founded the LIFT Foundation, a social enterprise for projects and research on sustainable living. Besides, I am an enthusiastic downshifter myself: carless, fond of gardening, abhorrent of wasteful consumption.
I have become an experienced trainer and lecturer and I like it very much. My favourite topics are sustainable living, downshifting and “hosselen”. My workshops are short, intensive trainings. The approach is practical, personal and particularly problem solving.
Results of my researches have inspired me to develop the Lift your Life action program. The program helps people dealing more effectively with their finances, the environment and their health & well-being. The action program provides concrete tools for behavioral change. The fact that participants choose topics that are valuable for their own life, is an important plus. Therefore the LiftyourLife program is not a prefab course, but a personal lifestyle change process coached by certified supervisors.
In 2012 Lift your Life has been recognized as an important social innovation by the Oranje Fonds, the largest endowed foundation in the field of social cohesion and wellbeing in the Netherlands. The Oranje Fonds financially supported its startup during 3 1/2 years. The method is also recognized as a European Good Practice for Poverty Alleviation.
Foundation LIFT is the implementer of this program and provides as well the training of the supervisors. More info www.stichtinglift.nl
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Professional profile
