Speakers
The programme will be updated weekly. Check back to see who we have programmed for the festival.
Introducing…
Münise Yavuz
Chairman Society 5.0 Festival
Münise Yavuz (1989) studied International Relations and Philosophy at the University of Groningen. Currently, she is working as a researcher at the research group Creative Media for Social Change (HvA). Münise writes about pop culture for weekly news magazine De Groene Amsterdammer and is working on her first book at publishing house De Bezige Bij. Her writing has been awarded the Jan Hanlo Essay prize (Klein) and the Anil Ramdas Essay prize.
Alice Rawsthorn
Author and public speaker
Alice Rawsthorn is an award-winning design critic and the author of critically acclaimed books on design, including Hello World: Where Design Meets Life, Design as an Attitude and, most recently, Design Emergency: Building a Better Future. She is a co-founder with Paola Antonelli of the Design Emergency project to investigate design’s role as a force for positive change. In all her work, Alice champions design’s potential to address complex social, political and ecological challenges.
An influential public speaker and social media commentator on design, Alice has participated in important global events including TED and the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Her TED talk has been viewed by over a million people worldwide. Based in London, she is chair of trustees at Chisenhale Gallery in London and was awarded an OBE for services to design and the arts.
Shula Rijxman
Alderman the City of Amsterdam
Shula Rijxman is alderman for the city of Amsterdam overseeing Public Health, Prevention and Societal development, ICT and Digital City, Local Media and Participations. Shula has ample experience as director at the NPO (National Public Broadcaster) and has a strong family history with Amsterdam. Rijxman: “I am thrilled to return to sparkling and diverse Amsterdam and am fully committed to address the concerns of our Amsterdam residents. I am looking forward to helping bridge differences and collaborate with all stakeholders to create the most optimal opportunities for all.”
Ruurd Priester
Systems thinker/doer, a social entrepreneur and researcher
Ruurd is a systems thinker/doer, a social entrepreneur and researcher, with many years in digital design, marketing, innovation and strategy. He then became co-founder and strategist of a series of purpose-driven networks and organisations, such as Gebiedonline, 02025, Groundforce Studio, Climate Cleanup, Sumowala and the Amsterdam Donut Coalition. Ruurd also works as a designer for the Doughnut Economics Action Lab and De Groene Afslag. At this event, Ruurd will launch his book ‘Designing for Life’, marking the conclusion of his period as Research Fellow at the HvA.
J. Bob Alotta
Vice President Global Programs Mozilla Foundation
J. Bob Alotta is a veteran movement builder and nonprofit executive working at the intersection of technology and communities, and currently serving as Vice President, Global Programs at Mozilla Foundation. At Mozilla, Bob leads several ambitious initiatives to make the internet and artificial intelligence more trustworthy and equitable. These include the Mozilla Festival (MozFest), which convenes tens of thousands of technologists and activists each year. The Data Futures Lab, which reimagines new, better ways for data to be governed. The Responsible Computer Science Challenge, which is training a new generation of ethics-minded technologists. And more. Prior to Mozilla, Bob led the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, a foundation based in New York City that provides critical resources to LGBTQI+ organizations and individuals around the world.
Justin Timmer
Researcher and creative generalist
Justin loves to draw, write, think, experiment, and play. He uses many media to express himself and to find connections towards a better future. He imagines utopian worlds where nature and technology co-evolve through drawings and writing. He facilitates workshops to reach systems innovations. He loves to talk about complexity theory, patterns, and feedback loops. While he also does (self) research to improve (work)life, develops games, objects and many other things for fun and for a better world. Just take a stroll across his website: www.justintimmer.com
In short, Justin can’t really be categorized but rather sees himself as an adaptive fluid, playing with energy, dynamics, feedback loops, fractals, balance, synchrony, and ecosystems. He’s aware those are fuzzy words but loves to explain what they mean to him because he believes these are essential for creating a new paradigm of doing things, and being able to thrive and sustain ourselves in this universe.
This is the reason why Justin is the co-representative of the Amsterdam hub of the Systems Innovation Network, and provides talks and workshops on his personal title (www.natuurlijksysteemdenken.nl). Also, with a background in research, blogging, project management, product management, and a Master’s degree in Human movement sciences, Justin has many branches he is able to evolve further and connect together.
Now, Justin is hoping to apply his thoughts and visions to innovative projects that actually improve the flow of energy leading to a regenerative world. If you feel like we can mean something to each other and connect our branches, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Pauline van Dongen
Designer and researcher
Pauline van Dongen (1986) is a designer and researcher. She explores human-garment relationships and alternative fashion (design) practices through the development of smart textiles and clothing. Her design studio received international recognition with projects such as the Solar Shirt, Phototrope and Issho. By integrating interactive materials such as solar cells, light, sensors and haptic actuators, these garments enhance the sensory and emotional experience of clothing and reveal the nurturing potential of textiles. In 2019 she received her doctoral degree at Eindhoven University of Technology.
Pauline has been a pioneer in creating solar garments and textiles since 2013. Her studio is currently developing Suntex, an architectural textile with woven flexible solar cells. Pauline is co-founder of The Solar Movement and The Solar Biennale.
Geert Lovink
Media theorist and internet critic
Geert Lovink is a Dutch media theorist, internet critic and author of Uncanny Networks (2002), Dark Fiber (2002), My First Recession (2003), Zero Comments (2007), Networks Without a Cause (2012), Social Media Abyss (2016), Organization after Social Media (with Ned Rossiter, 2018), Sad by Design (2019) and Stuck on the Platform (2022). He studied political science at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and received his PhD from the University of Melbourne. In 2004 he founded the Institute of Network Cultures (www.networkcultures.org) at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA). His centre organizes conferences, publications and research networks such as Video Vortex (online video), The Future of Art Criticism and MoneyLab (internet-based revenue models in the arts).
Recent projects deal with digital publishing experiments, critical meme research, participatory hybrid events and precarity in the arts. From 2007-2018 He was media theory professor at the European Graduate School. In December 2021 he was appointed Professor of Art and Network Cultures at the UvA Art History Department. The Chair (one day a week) is supported by the HvA.
Philippa Collin
Lecturer and researcher
She works as a lecturer & researcher at the Hogeschool Inholland and has a background in inclusive design and anthropology. She’s very interested in arts-based & embodied methods and integrates these into her teaching in the Creative Industries and research with the Authentic Leadership group. By doing this she hopes to support the development of an educational community that nurtures the intuition and imagination of both students & staff.
She is also engaged in an international Erasmus project designing educational materials for the SDGs and the IDGs (Inner Development Goals) and at Inholland she works on the development of a global mindset throughout the (hidden) curriculum of the Creative Business Domain.
She is fascinated by non-cognitive ways of knowing and is currently following a Master of Education in Arts at the Amsterdam University of the Arts, exploring how the arts can contribute to unpacking our contemporary wicked problems and developing a relationship of mutual reciprocity with the ‘more than human’ world.
This is an extract from an article she contributed to that expresses her interests:
If there is no sensory connection to our environment, how can we ever know in our bones we are part of an interdependent ecosystem? If we don’t deeply feel and live with this knowledge, how can we genuinely care what happens to the delicate and finely-tuned natural system that supports us? My plea is to fall in love with the natural world.
Vertual Vertigo NXS World Publication – 5th Issue – Winter 2020
Pieter van Boheemen
Researcher
Pieter’s research focuses on the societal aspects of digital and biological technologies. His most recent work sits at the intersection of digitalisation, media, security and democracy. Currently, he conducts research on digital infrastructures in space and digital dependence. He is frequently asked to comment on issues related to mis- and disinformation.
Since 2022 the Rathenau Instituut collaborates with the Digital Society School of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Pieter coordinates the track “Hybrid Democracy”, that focuses on (technology driven) changes in democracy.
In his research, Pieter benefits from his hands-on experience with technology. By combining co-creation methods and experience design he conducts interactive workshops and gives engaging presentations across the world. His understanding of the value of artistic and design research has led to the initiation of an Artist in Residence position in the Rathenau Instituut. Pieter obtained a master’s degree in Life Science & Technology at the TU Delft and Leiden University with a thesis on the corona virus. During his studies he started two companies: one in software and another in e-commerce. Afterwards he worked at Accenture and co-founded award-winning biotech startup Amplino. He then turned to social innovation, covering citizen involvement in smart cities and biotech. As programme manager at Waag Society he led the teams of the Open Wetlab, Open Design Lab, TextileLab and FabLab Amsterdam. He also founded the international Biohack Academy, teaching hundreds of students from the Netherlands, Brazil, USA, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Iran, China, South-Korea, Japan and Australia how to build, use and share biolabs. In 2017 he initiated a citizen science bustour that ran across nine European countries.
www.rathenau.nl/en/about-us/who-we-are/our-staff/pieter-van-boheemen-msc
Edwin Gardner & Christiaan Fruneaux
Co-Founders, Studio Monnik
Edwin Gardner is trained as an architect. Christiaan Fruneaux is trained as an historian and anthropologist. Together they founded Studio Monnik. Studio Monnik researches societal and technological trends, develop new think frames to interpret these trends, so that these trends can be translated into credible future imaginaries. Studio Monnik works for both the public and the private sector.
Chris Speed
Chair of Design Informatics and Director for the Edinburgh Futures Institute at the University of Edinburgh
Chris Speed FRSE, is Chair of Design Informatics and Director for the Edinburgh Futures Institute at the University of Edinburgh. Chris’ research base is the Institute for Design Informatics that is home to a combination of researchers working across the fields of design, social science, and data science, as well as the PhD, MA/MFA and MSc and Advanced MSc programmes. Chris’ own research favours transgressive design interventions, to help identify the role of data in rethinking everyday practices including coffee machines that order their own ethical supplies, hairdryers that ask you to wait for the right time to blow dry your hair, and laundering money/data. Chris is currently Director of the £7.4m Creative Informatics R&D Partnership, Co-I to the Next Stage Digital Economy Centre DECaDE on decentralised digital economies, and a Co-I to the DCODE European design research network and PhD program for training the next generation of researchers and designers to guide society’s digital transformation towards inclusive, sustainable futures.
John Vines
Chair of Design Informatics in the School of Informatics at the University of EdinburghChair of Design Informatics and Director for the Edinburgh Futures Institute at the University of Edinburgh
John Vines is Chair of Design Informatics in the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. His research is in the intersecting fields of human-computer interaction, interaction design, and participatory design and innovation. He has a specific interest in the role of data and data-driven, data-rich, and data-enabled systems in society. He works on projects across a wide-range of subjects, but has specific expertise in technology design in relation to: ageing and the lifecourse; personal and community health and wellbeing; personal finance and socially inclusive economies; and civic engagement and civil society. He is currently working on a number of projects related to data, money and finance, including the future of sustainable investment, how alternative local currencies can stimulate caring neighbourhoods, and how we involve citizens and users of financial services in the ethical oversight and governance processes of new fintech enabled services.
Esther Hammelburg
Researcher and lecturer
Esther Hammelburg is an expert in the area of life experiences in hybrid events. She claims that every event is in fact hybrid: after all, we always reside in physical and media-environments at the same time. But we often do not take advantage of that situation. Esther thinks it is time to acknowledge that without media, there is no live experience.
In 2021, Esther finished her dissertation ‘Being there live: How liveness is realized through media use at contemporary cultural events’. Esther helps organisations in the cultural sector with the design of hybrid events, and a more optimal application of media. Based on her research and conversations in the cultural sector, she developed a canvas to design hybrid events.
With regard to her research, Esther focuses on the effects of mediatisition. She teaches at the AUAC and works in the design research track ‘Hybrid Democracy’ of the Digital Society School and Rathenau Institute.
Martijn de Waal
Professor
Martijn de Waal is AUAS Professor of the research group Civic Interaction Design. He has a background in journalism, media studies and practical philosophy. His research focus is on the relation between digital media and public space, with specific interest in civic media and digital placemaking. His PhD thesis The City as Interface. How Digital Media Are Changing the City was published by NAi010 publishers in 2014. He is a co-founder of The Mobile City, a non-profit that since 2007 has organized numerous workshops and events on digital media and urban culture, and also co-founded DeNieuweReporter in 2005, a leading Dutch blog on the future of journalism. Before working at the AUAS he was an assistant professor in media studies at the University of Amsterdam. In 2009 he was a visiting scholar at the MIT Centre for Civic Media. Around the change of the century, he worked as a journalist working for a diverse range of Dutch media (de Volkskrant, VPRO Radio, Emerce) covering technology & society. He was appointed professor of the Play and Civic Media research group in February 2020.
An Kramer
Researcher
At InHolland University, An is a researcher in the faculty of creative business. She promotes inclusive public involvement by using artistic and anthropological methodologies. Her area of expertise is ethnofiction. We may be able to envision a new future by working on a fictional movie together. Pre-enactment paves the way for new partnerships and ways of living together.
Her business is called “The Organization Activist.” With a mixture of the government, people, and organizations, she works on societal concerns. She mentors and instructs consultants.
To her, inclusion is crucial. She is worried about folks who are left out by flawed systems.
She is concerned about nature, which is voiceless.
She is motivated by those who just start something, keep going, and show that things can be done differently.
Noortje van Eekelen
Founder of ACED
Noortje van Eekelen is founder of ACED, an interdisciplinary platform for design, art and journalism. ACED initiates and offers diverse activities for knowledge development, experimental production and public programs. ACED Foundation was established in 2018 and has a cultural ANBI status.
In 2022, van Eekelen initiated the program Designalism Newsroom i.c.w Pointer (KRO-NRCV), de Volkskrant and NOS. In this ‘newsroom of the future’, a mix of designers, artists and developers and journalists joined forces to develop experimental narratives aiming to involve (new) audiences.
Van Eekelen has (inter)national experience as a designer as well as a background in the journalistic field, at FD and NRC. From 2012 – 2020 as a MA and BA lecturer, she was affiliated with the Design Academy Eindhoven and AKV St. Joost. Van Eekelen has an MA Design from Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam.
Rudy van Belkom
Director of The Netherlands Study Centre for Technology Trends (STT), speaker, and writer
Rudy van Belkom is the director of The Netherlands Study Centre for Technology Trends (STT) and speaks and writes about the impact of technology on our society. According to him, the question is not what future we will get, but what future we want. “No futuristic storyline with visuals about drones and robots, but a scientifically based talk that makes you think”, according to one of his clients. He is currently conducting research on behalf of STT into the impact of technology on the future of democracy. For the past parliamentary elections, he developed the ‘Technology Kieswijzer’, an innovative election compass on tech-related topics such as privacy, fake news and the power of Big Tech. More than 30.000 people made use of this voting tool. These insights formed the basis for his new book about hope for democracy: ‘Alive and Clicking’. He previously researched the future of artificial intelligence (AI) on behalf of STT. Within this research, he published three publications (including ‘AI no longer has a plug’) and developed an Ethical Design Game for AI (‘Ethics Inc.’).
Keywords: Technology, Future, Society, Artificial Intelligence, Privacy, Fake News,
Polarization, Democracy, Digital Activism, Democratic Internet, Regulation, Innovation
Sam Smits
Project Manager Responsible Sensing Lab at the City of Amsterdam
With a background in Industrial Design Engineering he has been active on all four sides of the quadruple helix. After working on innovation and design projects in the commercial, cultural and governmental sector he currently works for the Responsible Sensing Lab (RSL). He is driven to make public technology more transparent and fair.
Mark Bünger
Co-founder of Futurity Systems
He is a cofounder of Futurity Systems, along with his partner Cecilia MoSze Tham. At Futurity they provide research and advisory in deep tech, the term for science-driven technologies that will have disruptive impacts on the global economy, such as synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, private spaceflight, or quantum computing. Corporate venture capitalists, product developers, and R&D teams at Adidas, BASF, BMW, IBM, Telefonica, and more than 150 other Fortune 500 global companies have been his clients. He also teaches sustainability, innovation, and entrepreneurship to business and engineering students. Before starting Futurity, he worked at Lux Research, Forrester Research, Accenture, the University of California San Francisco, and three successfully-exited startups.
Erik Peters
Interdisciplinary artist and designer
Erik Peters (he/they) is an interdisciplinary artist and designer engaging with the worldbuilding potentialities seeded in the act of storytelling, uncovering how speculative fiction can germinate new universes of being. Their research-based and collaborative practice is situated in an interdependent web of ecologies and technologies, human and non-human beings. Within their work, queer methodologies and mythologies are evoked to create multidisciplinary scenarios about possible futures; imaginative worlds staged as spatial and interactive installations, workshops, publications and audiovisual works. They frequently work with materials and techniques such as generative artificial intelligence, ceramics, 3d printing and photogrammetry methods. Erik holds a BA in Crossmedia Design from AKI ArtEZ in Enschede, as well as having studied Design for Art Direction at the London College of Communication.
Abdelrahman (Abdo) Hassan
Data science practitioner, activist and poet
Abdo is a Data science practitioner, activist and poet. His practice is multifaceted and revolves around decolonial computing and bridging critical theory with the critical practice of data. He’s a Co-founder of the Landing Space Project, the Atlas of Algorithmic (In)equality and Everyday Data (H)activism Project. He engages with questions related to internet geographies, socio-technical utopias/dystopias as well as exploring play-as-resistance.
Kwan Suppaiboonsuk
Software Engineer and Educator
A software engineer with a multidisciplinary background, Kwan Suppaiboonsuk tinkers with emerging technology and develops various digital tools. As an educator, she designs courses and workshops at the intersection of design, data, and tech. She enjoys questioning the roles in which technology plays in our society and how they can be used as an artistic intervention in order to provoke reflection and imagination.
Mathilde Nakken
Designer and Educator
Quote: ‘Learn from everyone; from your neighbor to your house plant’
Mathilde combines her design and teaching background as an educator within the Next Nature Academy. In addition to her PABO bachelor, she designs and facilitates inspiring learning programs at the Academy.
Mathilde graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven. During her studies in Food/ Non Food she discovered her drive: to create projects that focus on science and technology, landscapes and food. Mathilde was active in areas such as food design, landscape architecture, design research and concept development.
Her talks and workshops at Path Festival and the Museum of Tomorrow in Brazil, Pakhuis de Zwijger and FOAM, among others, show her diversity and great love for her profession.
Grace Turtle
PhD researcher, designer and applied foresight specialist
Grace is an Australian-Colombian designer, educator and artist working at the intersection of critical design, research and applied foresight. Currently, Grace is completing a PhD through the DCODE Network, a European Union, Horizon 2020 funded initiative. Her research engages with design/ing for co-predictive relations and management of complex systems, where she explores notions of (queer) encoded AI, queer logic, and ethics. A proposition for how AI might be understood, designed, and used; otherwise, that is, in fair, responsible and imaginative ways.
Rich Holland
Creative director, architectural designer, innovator
Rich has been working within the creative industries for the last 25 years, with his work spanning the vast array of physical and digital media, his more artistic, architectural works have been considered a new paradigm in architecture, the idea of a skate landscape. Often his work plays as the antagonist to challenge an idea of definition or use, but the most consistent aspect to his creations is that they are push boundaries to make the users reconsider a future that embraces the new.
Initially, for 12 years Rich was one of the founders/creative director of an award winning multidisciplinary creative agency based out of London. He and Marije de Haas then created Floda31, a Swedish based international agency/design research & learning centre, embracing sustainable theory and practices at its core, and ran this for 10 years. Now he is a based in the Netherlands with a new company F31.
He has worked and collaborated with organisations/people such as – Adidas, Banksy, Converse CONS, DinoLab, HyperIsland, Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Nike, WDO, IDEO, The Bartlett school of Architecture, Umeå School of Design, UMA Architecture school, The Guggenheim, Region Västerbotten, RI.SE, Random Dance, Super-collider, The Southbank Centre, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma and Kanye West.
Marije Kanis
Interaction designer & associate professor HvA
Dr Marije Kanis’ research is about people and their needs, crafting and evaluating interactive systems, realizing futuristic scenarios, and challenging how we understand and experience interactivity for positive impact. Dr Kanis’ expertise lies at the intersection where human-computer interaction meets the physical world. She explores creative and participatory methods for transparent, people-centred ways to engage with data, technology, and societal matters.
Kanis is now based at the ‘Creative media for social change’ research group at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. In line with their mission, she currently leads the ‘Zichtbaar duurzaam’ project which focuses on finding creative, visible and physical ways for participation and sustainable transition.
She graduated in Interaction Design at the HKU, holds a master’s in computer science (media tech) from Leiden University, and a PhD from Brunel University on ‘Positive expressive systems for mental wellness’.
She worked for and with renowned partners such as MIT, Media Lab Europe, Electronic Arts, Dutch National Police and Efteling. She has published and exhibited worldwide, such as the e-culture fair, the international film festival, CHI, JMIR Mental Health and the journal of Personal and Ubiquitous computing.
Esther Aminata Kamara
Creative writer and lecturer-researcher
Esther Aminata Kamara is creative writer and a lecturer-researcher at the HvA research group Creative Media for Social Change. Her writings include ‘write back’ pieces that challenge colonial archival materials, neighborhood newspapers, Sierra Leonean travel logs, and creative non-fiction. As a researcher, Esther is interested in the virtual as a space of potentiality, developing and testing inclusive research methodologies, postcolonial and postphenomenological theory, and creative methods.
Marco van Hout
Co-Founder of the Digital Society School
Marco is an experienced creative lead and design/digital professional, currently on a mission to educate young talent and seasoned professionals in transformation design: using the power of design, diversity and re-adaptive learning for the benefit of a world in transition.
In line with this mission, Marco co-founded the Digital Society School (part of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) and kickstarted the growing community of the Global Goals Jam (in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme). In this yearly event, over 100 cities and 5000+ design activists use their creative skills for the benefit of the SDG’s and society.
He is co-host of the podcast “Dear Future, I’m Ready” and Community Liaison for the World Design Organization, where he is responsible for advocating life-long learning and promoting design for the SDG’s.
In the past Marco co-founded and headed a digital agency and a strategic design consultancy and took seat in the board of the international Design & Emotion Society for over 10 years. Marco has worked with companies such as Unilever, P&G, Bic, Decathlon, KLM, Philips, Mars, ING, Pepsico and has given crash courses, guest lectures and keynotes at many universities/ organisations and events around the world.
Guido Stompff
Lector Design Thinking, Inholland University of Applied Sciences
Dr. Guido Stompff is part of the Inholland Creative Business knowledge center. At Inholland, Stompff wants to improve the methodological foundation of Design Thinking and introduce it widely in education. This gives students from various disciplines the mindset and tools to develop creative solutions for the social issues that urban areas have to deal with.
Mark Jacobs
Project leader Show & Share Collection Imaginations and Prototypes
Mark Jacobs (MEd) is specialized in designing (Project Based) meaningful learning experiences in Higher Education. Next to working at Inholland University of applied sciences as a coach and curriculum developer, Mark is also project developer at the Centre of Expertise for Creative Innovation. This is where the Design thinking Open Resources Platform (DORP) was born.
Tamara Witschge
Scientific Director Centre of expertise Creative Innovation
Dr. Tamara Witschge is a lecturer at the researchgroup Creative Media for Social Change at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. She investigates how media can be used to facilitate imagination and connection and thus stimulate social change in society. With a strong focus on the areas of sustainability, diversity and inclusion. Tamara has a PhD in Communication Studies (2007, Amsterdam) and has worked at Goldsmiths (University of London) and Cardiff University (2007-2012). At the University of Groningen she developed her chair Media and Cultural Industries studies. Cross-disciplinary themes in her research are the role of information in the public domain, inclusion and creativity. Her NWO VIDI project Entrepreneurship at Work (2015-2021) examined the changing journalistic practice and the role of news media in society.
Pascal Wiggers
Associate Lector Responsible AI at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
His research focusses on the design and development of AI grounded in public values, taking the individual, social and ethical consequences of AI in to account. He studies the technology – by developing AI – as well as the the development process, to help designers and developers incorporate abstract concepts such as values and ethics in their day-to-day practice.
Pascal is a principal investigator in the AI, Media and Democracy ELSA Lab and member of the management team of Amsterdam Data Science. Pascal obtained his PhD from Delft University of Technology on the topic of ‘Modelling Context in Automatic Speech Recognition’.
He co-founded the Master Applied AI at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
Amber Westerborg
Director of Sustainability and Impact
As a purpose-driven thought leader in impact and sustainability, Amber Westerborg is the relentless driving force behind The Student Hotel’s ambitious green and social change agenda as Director of Sustainability and Impact.
With unwavering optimism, infectious energy and a naturally engaging manner, Amber has taken big strides in the world of corporate social responsibility (CSR) over a career packed with thoughtful strategies, altruistic agendas and life-changing initiatives. From her role at GoodUp as Customer Success Manager, where she co-set up the Cheetah Fund to support young African entrepreneurs, to her work with innovative tech startups at ING, she has never been one to shy away from holding the moral compass. Today, she lends her credentials and expertise to The Student Hotel (TSH), overseeing the group’s ambitious agenda on positive social impact and sustainability in the built environment.
Future Frictions
They are a group of researchers from University of Enschede and Utrecht University working on creative forms of civic engagement in smart cities. Future Frictions is a result of our collaboration with Creative Coding Utrecht, which was made possible by the NWO project, “Designing for Controversies in Responsible Smart Cities”. More information at www.responsiblecities.nl.
Astrid van Roij-Lubsen
Sustainability coordinator FDMCI & Teacher CMD
Astrid Lubsen is an experienced design researcher and educator. She works as a student coach at the Communication and Multimedia Design programme, and as sustainability coordinator at the faculty of Digital Media and Creative Industries. Over the past 15 years she has been working at amongst others Waag and STBY on projects and programmes around social and ecological sustainability. In the Zichtbaar Duurzaam project she focuses on creative techniques that trigger dialogue to facilitate the transition towards a more sustainable society.
Roland van der Vorst
Head of Innovation Wholesale & Rural for Rabobank
Roland has always worked at the crossroads of strategic thinking and creative thinking. He started his career in marketing, resulting in a position as chairman of BBDO Netherlands. After that, he started his own company on innovation and branding, with branches in Amsterdam and Delhi. After a brief stay in Singapore working as an innovation consultant and entrepreneur, he returned to the Netherlands to become the managing director of Freedomlab, a think tank and innovation company and a part time professor at TU Delft at the Faculty Industrial Design Engineering of Delft University of Technology. Roland wrote 5 books on various subjects, ranging from ‘curiosity’, ‘hope’ to branding and innovation.
He is a weekly columnist of the Dutch Financial Times on technology and innovation and is considered one of the 200 most influential people in the Netherlands according to the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant.
Núria Arbonés Aran
Programme leader at Cities & Visitors at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
Dr. Núria Arbonés Aran, PhD, is a programme leader at research group Cities & Visitors hosted at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences AUAS/HvA, AMSIB and CoE. Born and raised in Barcelona, she has lived and worked in several places before settling in The Netherlands. Núria has a Master in Catalan Philology from the University of Barcelona, a Master of Arts and a PhD on Urban Studies from the University of Amsterdam (UvA).
Her position as a lector Catalan Affairs at the UvA at a younger stage in her carrier in the Netherlands has been key. A diversity of mixing departments at the UvA provided an inspiring environment to share and discuss the importance of developing broad(er) insights when it comes to cultural perspectivism, nationalism and history making.
At the AUAS/HvA she found a context to initiate and develop longstanding programmes on international and intercity research and education. The ‘International Virtual Consulting Firm (IVCF)’ based on cooperation with and within cities in Europe -and beyond- illuminated a research for the sake of knowledge together with all kind of students and partners. Since 2015 she has been particularly focused on working and doing research from Amsterdam Zuidoost. With projects such as Moving Amsterdam Zuidoost’ and ‘ Researching the Cities: Mapping imaginaries’ she works on a more subtle and broader co-authored research on places images, identities and reputations.
Hossein Derakhshan
Writer and researcher
Hossein Derakhshan is an Iranian-Canadian writer and researcher, and a pioneer of blogging, podcasts and tech journalism in Iran. He is a research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center and a research associate at the MIT Media Lab. He co-authored the report Information Disorder, commissioned by the Council of Europe, on the theory and practice of what is known as ‘fake news’ with Claire Wardle.
He spent six years in prison in Iran from 2008, which inspired an essay on the demise of blogs and “The Web We Have to Save” (Matter, 2015). His current research is focused on the future of journalism and also on the theory and socio-political implications of digital and social media. His writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Wired, Libération, Die Zeit, and Corriere Della Sera.
He writes at medium.com/h0d3r, blogs at hoder.com, and tweets at @h0d3r.
Nicole Sanches
Cultural anthropologist and lecturer-researcher
Nicole Sanches is a lecturer-researcher at the Centre of Expertise Urban Education and a PhD candidate at Utrecht University. Her work centers on the scholarship of teaching and learning, with particular attention to inclusivity and belonging. Her doctoral research focuses on the ways in which education informs notions of belonging and nationness on Sint Eustatius, the Caribbean Netherlands. By working together with youth and playing with video, photography, and arts as a means to think critically, she particularly seeks to learn about multiple perspectives on togetherness and inclusiveness.
Jake Blok
Co-Founder and CEO iYYU.com
From a professional perspective, he considers himself an entrepreneur. From a doing good perspective he believes there is an important role to be played in stimulating the development of a society that is driven by dignity, also online! He is a co-founder and CEO of iYYU.com, a startup privacy-first communication platform that has taken seriously the challenge to provide full control over your own data and the development of tooling to interact with those important to you on your own terms when online. As a founder of the Wish Will Way Foundation, his personal foundation, he stimulates initiatives and research. This has led to the rise of a number of impactful initiatives like ‘You are Your profile’ (stimulating awareness on personal data online), and ‘Digital Rights House’ (stimulating cities and organizations in a city context to speed up the adoption of digital human rights in the city). For life in general, he believes it is important to want to know what you wish for and to have the will to act on that. He believes then there is always a way. It is time to create a more dignity-driven and modern, connected society by raising awareness of digital human rights topics.
Nicole Spit
Speculative designer
Nicole Spit is speculative designer and co-lead of Speculative Futures Amsterdam. Nicole performs trend research with her design studio Dáárheen. She uses the results for her future vision projects. The results from her trend research are also a source of inspiration for her art projects. In her art, the intersection between the biological nature and the synthetically manipulated nature is a recurring theme.
Marjan van Aubel
Founder The Solar Biennale – Solar Designer
Marjan van Aubel (born in 1985) is a Dutch award-winning solar designer who combines sustainability, product design and technology to create environments with a positive future. She is currently writing a book on the Future of Solar Energy and started the Solar Movement with first outcome; a Solar Biennale in 2022. In October 2021 the World Expo in Dubai will showcase her newest Solar Roof for the Netherlands Pavilion. Van Aubel’s most notable works are ‘Current Table’ and ‘Power Plant’; she also recently launched her first solar design product, ‘Sunne’ – a solar light that mimics the sun. Her work is part of permanent collections of museums such as MoMA New York, the V&A London and Boijmans van Beuningen in the Netherlands, to name but a few. She has collaborated with global brands such as Cos, Timberland and Swarovski with the aim of accelerating global energy transition to solar.
Mariana Lanari
PhD Candidate University of Amsterdam
Mariana Lanari is an artist, co-founder of Archival Consciousness, Ph.D. candidate at the Amsterdam School of Heritage and Memory at the University of Amsterdam. She works with performance art and site-specific installation to investigate the mediation between physical and digital collections of libraries and archives. She experiments with digital literacy (starting by her own) using ontologies and semantic technologies to develop methods of translating collections into data, annotation tools for the common reader, linked data in the application layer, mapping and graph visualisations for a new collective reading infrastructure.
She is a member of TARR – Third cycle Artistic Research of the Rietveld Academy, ARIAS – Amsterdam Research Institute of the Arts and Sciences (ARIAS), board member of de Appel Archive, and of DAAP – Digital Archive of Artist Publishing. Her work has been shown at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Van Zijl Langhout Gallery, FLAM – Festival of Live Arts Amsterdam, Arti Amititae, W139, Van Abbemuseum, Transmission Gallery (Glasgow), Casa do Povo (São Paulo), de Appel among others. Archival Consciousness is supported by Creative Industries fund NL, Digital Culture program and MediaFutures. This project has received funding from the European Union’s framework Horizon 2020 for research and innovation programme, and is part of ACKnowledge, Art Routes from the Dutch Research Agenda 2020 (NWA/NWO).
Mirthe van den Hee
Researcher and student coach
Mirthe (she/her) works as a researcher and student coach at Inholland University of Applied Sciences in the Creative Business Research Centre. Her research focuses on the development of the relatively new learning environment of living labs and more specifically on how the sociogical notion of ‘daring spaces’ can take form in the lab-education, in order to stimulate students’ self-efficacy when dealing with self-directive learning and to reduce their anxiety in working with ambiguous wicked problems. Mirthe has applied for a Doctoral Grant for Teachers and is now awaiting its decision.
She is a learning coach for students at SLUISlab, one of the living labs at the domain of Creative Business. In this role she gives classes within the lab on topics such as research, (peer)feedback and presenting. She also coaches individual students on teamwork, personal and professional development.
Maurice Dharampal
(New) media researcher
From conspiracy theorist to hands-on expert in the field of misinformation and online conspiracy cultures; Maurice is invested in these topics ever since he started his research master’s in Media studies at the UvA and found his calling as a researcher. Combining this with his interest in and enthusiasm for postcolonial theory, leads to interesting research projects, such as his thesis about conspiratorial narratives among Black Twitter users. The power struggles and the construction of identity are intertwined with the practice of online conspiracism among non-white demographics, something that makes it stand out from and immutable with existing theory on conspiracism. Since this semester, Maurice arrived at the HvA as part of the research group Creative Media for Social Change of Tamara Witschge and brings critical reflections to the project he works on: Communicity, a European project which questions how technology can provide solutions that meet demands from marginalized communities and how these solutions can be co-created.
Reint Jan Renes
Behavioural scientist and professor
Behavioural scientist Reint Jan Renes is the AUAS’ Professor of Psychology for Sustainable Cities. His professorship conducts research into the social psychology of sustainable behaviour, focusing on concrete issues in society.
People are becoming increasingly concerned about climate change. Yet many of them lack a sense of urgency or perceive too many barriers to actually make eco-friendly changes in their daily lives. What motivates them to spring into action?
Reint Jan has been involved in diverse practice-based research projects during the past 15 years. He has learned that in order to effectively influence behaviour, it’s crucial to intrinsically understand what motivates – and inhibits – people. Furthermore, placing too much emphasis on sustainability and what you think others should do can backfire. In order to encourage people to contribute to a more sustainable world, it’s vital to take interest in their current situation and what drives them.
Reint-Jan is a co-author, alongside researcher Sander Hermsen, of the successful book Draaiboek gedragsverandering: De psychologie van beïnvloeding begrijpen en gebruiken (Road map for behavioural change: the psychology of influencing, understanding and implementing). Magazine Communicatie (Communication) ranked Reint Jan third in a list of the 25 most inspiring communications professionals in the Netherlands in 2015.
Guillaume Straatjes
Teacher and trainer in higher education
With a background in coaching and training Guillaume is currently teaching within the Applied Psychology department at the University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam (HvA). There he developed a course called Climate Psychology where he teaches students about the individual behaviors of citizens surrounding climate change. At the HvA he also discovered ‘Klimaatgesprekken’ (the dutch branch of carbon conversations, originating from the UK) which he would eventually start instructing himself. Through these workshops Guillaume learned to combine his passion for training and the topic of sustainable behavior.
Johanneke van Marle
Teacher
Johanneke van Marle is a teacher of sustainability and society subjects at the faculty Creative Business of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. In her spare time she is a lover of wild bees and food forests.
Bodil Liesdek
Multidisciplinary designer
Bodil Liesdek is a multidisciplinary designer in her final year of Communication and Multimedia Design. She’s qualified in user experience, user interface and service design providing meaningful solutions to enrich people’s experiences. As a student assistent for the research group Creative Media for Social Change she has worked on visualizing multiple insightful research outcomes for the public, and has supported in a research project on the added value of connecting and collaborating between culture and retail to design more future-proof shopping areas. In her current design project she explores solutions to enrich the provision of information for young adults (17-28), about their rights and obligations, by making it more digitally accessible, informative and emotionally supportive. And is trying to find ways to increase the outreach of this innovation among young adults, in order to provide guidance to organizations that are limited in this regard. Bodil is also a professional model represented by The Movement Models and a lover of Afrohouse and Amapiano, among others, which you can see hear her spin at various clubs and events.
Jeroen Junte
Journalist, curator and researcher
Jeroen Junte (1967) is a freelance journalist, curator and researcher in design and architecture. He is editor-in-chief of the on- and offline platform Designdigger.nl. He is also a regular contributor to the Volkskrant and De Architect. For eleven years he organizes his own quarterly program, DesignDigger LIVE, at Pakhuis de Zwijger. He also writes books; his most recent publication is Do It Ourselves. A New Mentality in Dutch Design (nai/010 publishers), the first book to describe a post-crisis generation of designers. Jeroen curated several exhibitions, including Slow Tech about the fusion of craft with high-tech production with 3D printers and robots. His most recent exhibition was Luxe? At designmuseum Cube, which explores new forms of luxury, such as privacy, time and nature. Finally, he teached at institutions such as the Rietveld Academy, the Sandberg Institute and the Design Academy Eindhoven. Jeroen Junte holds a master degree in Contemporary History at Leiden University.
Douwe Schmidt
Project Manager Public Tech at the City of Amsterdam
Douwe Schmidt is Project Manager Public Tech at the City of Amsterdam. Preceding his current role, he was a board member at Bureau Tada, worked as a privacy officer at Fairphone and security trainer at Greenhost. In addition he likes to collaborate regularly with de Waag and attended, among others, their Fabacademy. He is the founder of the Privacy Café for Bits of Freedom, organised several meetings about internet and politics, and researched pro-privacy technologies for de Correspondent.
Douwe Schmidt is Project Manager Public Tech at the City of Amsterdam. Preceding his current role, he was a board member at Bureau Tada, worked as a privacy officer at Fairphone and security trainer at Greenhost. In addition he likes to collaborate regularly with de Waag and attended, among others, their Fabacademy. He is the founder of the Privacy Café for Bits of Freedom, organised several meetings about internet and politics, and researched pro-privacy technologies for de Correspondent.
Lilian Stolk
Director of The Hmm
Lilian Stolk is director of The Hmm, a platform for internet an digital cultures. She cares about understanding the Internet and has a special focus on internet languages and the rise of image-based communication. In 2021, The Hmm was nominated for the Amsterdamprijs voor de Kunst. Alongside, Lilian is emoji-expert. She published Het zonderwoorden-boek (2018) about her research on emoji and launched the app Emoji Voter (2019) to democratise emoji.
Wietse Balster
Product owner 3D Amsterdam the City of Amsterdam
Wietse Balster has a background in geo-information/GIS and Spatial planning, and has worked since 2008 at the Amsterdam municipality. As a project owner he has led the development of 3D Amsterdam as of 2019. The project has since expanded to other cities and provinces. A multi-disciplinary and multi-city team is working on 3D Amsterdam, but also on the expansion of the application into a national platform for Digital Twins.
Carlo de Gaetano
Designer and researcher
Carlo is a designer and researcher at the Visual Methodologies Collective, where he specialises in data visualisation for social research. He is currently working on projects related to climate imaginaries, where he explores audio-visual collections on nature from archives and online spaces. He is interested in how to activate those collections through participatory practices and the use of AI in the design process.
Andy Dockett
Researcher and designer
Andy Dockett is a researcher and designer at the Visual Methodologies Collective. He has a background in design for the cultural and heritage sectors and is currently working on projects related to climate futures, speculative fiction and archived media. He is interested in co-authoring with AI, artistic research within the environmental humanities and engaging with topics through visual, digital and participatory methods.
Willem-Albert Bol
CEO Abovo Maxlead
Willem-Albert Bol (47) is CEO of Abovo Maxlead, the largest marketing and media agency of the Netherlands, based in Hoorn and Oegstgeest. Abovo Maxlead employs 230 people and has a revenue of more than €200 million.
Preceding his current role, Willem-Albert worked on the other sides of the industry. He started at media company VNU/Sanoma, after which he switched to the client side at Vodafone, where he was Media manager. He came full circle at DPG Media, formerly known as the Persgroep. He fulfilled the role of marketing manager advertising, creative director and most recently as director business development.
Willem-Albert is very active in the marketing profession: He takes on several board roles at professional associations, regularly sits in jury’s for industry awards, is a sought after speaker, is a columnist for Adformatie and is an active opinionist on several social media.
Rik van Eijk
Teacher
Teacher at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Teaches students to think critical about our platform society.
Frank Kresin
Dean of the Faculty Digital Media and Creative Industry of the AUAS/HvA
Since February 2019 Drs. Frank Kresin has been dean of the Faculty Digital Media and Creative Industry of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. In 2017 and 2018 he was the managing director of the DesignLab at the Technical University Twente. Preceding that role he worked at Waag Society, 7 years of which as a Research Director. Frank has a background as a filmmaker, received a master’s degree in AI and worked at the University of Amsterdam and The Digital University. He was closely involved with a large number of research programs and projects at the intersection of art, science and technology. Themes like Digital Social Innovation, Citizen Science, Critical Making and Responsible Design lie close to his heart. Frank was a board member of ISOC NL for 6 years, and is currently on the board of The Mobile City and on the supervisory boards of CREA, V2_ and Tetem.
Follow Frank on Twitter via @kresin