As an ECIU University student, you will work on challenges. And you don't do that alone. Together with so-called stakeholders from the field, you get to work. But, who are you going to meet and work with? UT lecturer Tim Jongman takes the participants of the Autumn Challenge this week into his skills lab on stakeholder management.
Why this workshop...?
‘I want to make students aware of the force field in which they work. Just mentioning 'the municipality' as a relevant stakeholder is not enough. Which person do you knock on the door? Who are you dealing with? Think in terms of people. In addition, I'm going to tell something about citizens' collectives and about reciprocity.’
Tell a bit more about that….
‘Citizens' collectives are initiatives that originated bottom-up, from citizens. They operate alongside the government and the market and form a third, important player in the field. They focus on the local and regional environment and act on the basis of strong norms and values. Think of trust, equality and justice. If you look at the Netherlands, there are more than eight hundred citizens' collectives in the field of healthcare. And this number is growing. They are formed around all kinds of themes such as energy and housing, and they have influence. The playing field for solving challenges has changed and we have to acknowledge that'.
And what about reciprocity?
‘I think it is important that students think about establishing a partnership on the basis of reciprocity. Not just take it away and pick it up, but also do something in return.’
What do you want the students to take home?
‘Good stakeholder management. That they know how to build a good network to solve their challenge. They know which party needs to be involved and how to get it, for example through reciprocity. A pitfall is often thinking on organizational level and not on human level, while people are the key to connecting.’
About Tim Jongman
Tim Jongman is a Social Engineer. He owns T-Projects and is involved in project and process management, transition management, research and social business case development. He also works at Novel-T as a research consultant and is a lecturer at NIKOS. He is also treasurer of Nederland Zorgt Voor Elkaar and member of the board of the regional initiative Twentse Noabers.
Autumn challenge
The ''smart resilient and happy communities Autumn Challenge Experience Programme is a unique, alternative international experience organized by the University of Twente and powered by ECIU University. It is a flexible, international short term program. Students got the opportunity to come together in an international, collaborative and digital environment to work on a real-life challenge and co-develop solutions, while at the same time access various lectures, workshops, masterclasses and other fun activities.
