Search
Log in
The cherry on top of a model doctoral program
Starting this September, fifteen candidates of the Wetsus doctoral program will be following an Action Learning MBA with a Major in Water Technology. The already one-of-a-kind PhD training, devoted to the connection between university and industry, will become more relevant to careers outside of academia thanks to the most recent MSCA (Marie Curie Skłodowska Action) COFUND under the project EMPOWER, thanks to the collaboration with Business School Netherlands (BSN).
BSN will dedicate tailor-made water tech lessons using the action learning approach, with real-life cases, challenges, and assignments. Dr M. Cristina Gagliano, EMPOWER coordinator: “The MBA will enable PhD students to grow. To be ready for the market. To allow them to speak the same language as industry professionals.” It will entail further skill enhancement that extends the young doctors’ personal development and career opportunities. With this extension, Wetsus hopes to be an example to other research institutes worldwide.
Global Impact
World-leading action learning institute BSN is happy to bring along her expertise. “We train management professionals by putting knowledge into practice in a safe environment,” says BSN Dean Toine van den Heuvel. “It is a form of learning with real-life cases that can make a change from the beginning on. And it really connects at a human level.”
“We are extremely excited to cooperate with our unique MBA degree to achieve these sustainable development goals, specifically SDG 6. We can have a huge impact on the world as a whole, together. We can channel our students to be great leaders, who are responsible, change-orientated, decision-makers and results-driven that can operate at the level of policy, process, strategy, and management like no other institute does,” BSN international director Juanita Bouwer adds. “By cooperating with relevant companies, our students not only learn themselves, but more than return their investment. For example, as part of the MBA program, one student was tasked to improve the occupation rate of a great hotel in the area. It had an average occupancy of 35% at the start, but once being overviewed by our student, it rapidly rose to 95.”
Setting an example
For the PhD candidates, the MBA courses will be stretched over three years, giving them in total 4.5 years to complete their whole path, including the PhD degree. Leaving the first year to get them to start with the research and not make the addition a burden. Lessons will be conducted in Leeuwarden with BSN teachers. Juanita Bouwer: “The students will work together in relevant teams, each learning the different roles one can pursue in industry. They will develop their own cases based on their research to show what they can do. It will be exciting to see what contribution they will bring to the sustainable development goals in their local area and globally.”
And the inclusion of an MBA within the PhD training itself could well be viewed as an experimental study of its own. Dr. Gagliano: “To our knowledge, this is the first time such an MBA is implemented into a PhD degree in Europe. That makes it a bit of a lab on its own. We need to see whether this is feasible on a personal level. Though we are convinced that this will become a model to follow.” And together with the already exceptional PhD program, it should be shared.
Abstract
The realisation of a circular economy has thus far unfolded under the assumption that it would fit within existing economic arrangements. In practice, we witness many circular initiatives struggling to give shape to their ambitions, let alone develop to maturity. These past months, various material recycling organisations terminated their activities, seeing virgin alternatives from other parts of the world flooding the market at prices against they cannot compete. If the transition towards a circular economy (i.e. an economy of value preservation) is to be taken seriously, a new perspective on value in our economic system seems unavoidable, as the rewriting of the rules of the economic game. At this moment, current perceptions of value stand in the way of this transition both at micro as well as macro levels. Several contours for a collective exploration of new directions of value and economic configuration that foster circular transition will be addressed.
Abstract
In his key note he will conclude after a life of innovations that it is impossible that humanity will stay within the save planetary boundaries with innovation only. We should be more critical about the behaviour of the rich population in the world and more critical about new innovations that prove to be dangerous, like the PFAS crisis shows at this moment. In his keynote he will investigate how to look at the world that can stay within the save planetary boundaries, how should we change ourselves? It is clear if we only talk about the words of science and systems we miss the essential words of how we should cooperate and change ourselves. And his search for coherent save innovations. Which innovations will be save and will lead to a fair and sustainable world? And will lead to a world we want to live in.
Abstract
There is a growing number of new sustainable, inclusive, cohesive, participatory, just and humane economic models. A possible next step in the discourse about them is the comparative analysis in order to find out key commonalities, potential synergies, and “requirements” for a future-fit economic model. The author and initiator of the Economy for the Common Good provides an overview of these „new sustainable economic models“ and compares them according to underlying values, principles, and practical ways of implementation. The keynote addresses the cooperative spirit of the conference and prepares the ground for its public highlight on the eve of June 3rd, the round table with representatives of diverse future-fit economic models.
Abstract
The scientific debate on whether economies should always continue to grow increasingly becomes a political and societal debate. On the one hand further growth for the most affluent countries seems neither possible nor valuable, but on the other hand there is still lack of understanding and knowledge what a non-growing economy should look like and could best be governed. In this lecture we discuss various policy measures that can be realistically implemented, take into account government finances and aim at a higher quality of life despite a non-growing economy.
Abstract
Democracy is under pressure, and less and less able to stir the economy into a sustainable direction. Therefore, to stabilize democracy and to make possible the socio-ecological transformation of the economy, democratic principles need to be implemented directly in the economy. This is not only a matter of morality, but also has practical advantages. Democratizing the economy can increase legitimacy and take advantage of the “knowledge of the many” to accelerate the transformation. Democratic practices, especially deliberation, allow bringing together different forms of knowledge, which is crucial for the local implementation of principles of social and ecological sustainability. This talk explores what this idea means in more concrete terms, from democratic participation in the workplace to the democratization of time.
Abstract
Over the past decades, markets have conventionally been seen as the best instrument to stimulate economic growth and enhance prosperity and well-being. The automatic link between markets and economic growth is increasingly questioned, however, as well as the automatic link between economic growth and enhancement of well-being. This has led to attempts to capture well-being development more directly than through GDP per capita figures and has produced a more variegated picture of well-being growth. Also, this has led to a shift of focus to other coordination systems than the market, as primarily the state but increasingly also the association. Analyses of the historical record suggest that especially the latter could be a vital component in future well-being.
