"The times they are a-changin' " The industrial era is at its peak and a new era is coming into being. This has implications for our way of organizing ourselves in our communities and organizations. The very things that have brought us welfare and quality of life during the last decades are exactly what pose a sustainability challenge to us now. We need to reconsider how we organize ourselves - it is the only way to sustain and improve our prosperity and quality of life. My way of contributing to this is through building capacity in the Netherlands in The Natural Step Framework for strategic sustainable development.

M. +31 6 53 20 73 96

freek.vanderpluijm@flexibleplatform.org 

linkedin.com/in/freekvanderpluijm

In order for our society to become truly sustainable we need more than a common understanding that sustainability is our way forward. We need to ask ourselves this question: What needs do we fulfill as an organization or individual in a truly sustainable society?

When asking this question we soon discover that we need a common language and a common vision of success that will act as a beacon, creates mutual understanding and drives our efforts towards that light.

After years of involvement with Cradle to Cradle, Biomimicry, ISO26000 and other tools and concepts, I discovered the compelling force of a unifying open source approach that puts all these tools and concept at service of moving towards success. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD). Today we show that the funnel paradigm is our current reality; tomorrow we co-create a sustainable revolution!

M. +31 6 43 46 93 81 

berend.aanraad@flexibleplatform.org

linkedin.com/in/berendaanraad

Sustainability means to me: a better world.
A world which many generations after me can enjoy. Sustainability concerns for me not only developing products but also in human relationships themselves. I like working with The Flexible Platform for its great colleagues but also because it is nice to work at a company that promotes a better future.

retty.dewater@flexibleplatform.org
linkedin.com/in/rettydewater

The sustainability challenge can be addressed if we focus on engaging in strategic sustainable development for the entire planet, knowing that effective impact can and should be made at every level. What questions can we ask to spark this movement towards sustainability? How do we unlock the intrinsic motivation and leadership that is in all of us? How can we build up knowledge and engagement through systems thinking? How do we create and maintain a positive and balanced relationship with everything around us? There are still windows of opportunity through which to foster long-term, integral cooperation and commitment. We must strive, at all levels, for equilibrium between the social, economic and environmental facets of life.

M. +31 6 33 02 56 47

 christina.boldero@flexibleplatform.org

The transition that society is currently going through is essentially an inner transformation of ourselves. We are seeing and experiencing, ever increasingly, the effects of our (old) ways of thinking and behaving. They have brought us prosperity, but coupled with the sustainability challenge we now face. Acknowledging this challenge allows us to draw connections between our role as human beings and our interdependence with our natural surroundings. New ways of thinking and shared visioning can guide us through this wonderful process from which we will emerge wiser and stronger than ever before. The result will be a resilient society with organisational systems that support a sustainable, high quality of life.

M. +31 6 41 21 98 05

sebastiaan.vanzaanen@flexibleplatform.org

We don't live in an era of change, but in a change of era. That is my firm conviction.

The management models from the industrial age no longer work. Economies of scale, efficiency, standard procedures, monocultures ... They have led to large yields, but also to great vulnerability, anonymity and over-exploitation. That this situation is unsustainable,  emerges  from the great problems of our time; the economic crisis, banking crisis, euro crisis, housing crisis, commodity crisis, climate crisis, environmental crisis.

We call these problems yet crises. As if we have to go through a difficult time and then move on to ' business as usual '. As if we only need to improve the existing model  a little. It is understandable that many people and organizations want to hold on to this belief, because there is a great deal at stake.
But more is at stake if we do not change. Because what use is, for example, of a thriving housing market on a planet where you no longer can live well? So we really need a new model.

The Natural Step helps organizations, which recognize that the transition train makes speed and that they can better hop on now then boarding at the back later. It gives them a decisive lead, for once on board it will turn out that the sustainable business case is at least as worthwhile as business as usual. This is shown by the many examples of businesses, governments and institutions around the world that already have based their strategy on The Natural Step.

Like my colleagues above , I am ready to help your organization on your way to a strategy based on achieving 100% sustainability. It can, and it pays off.

What are you waiting for? I'm always reachable via email, and usually by phone:

M. +31 6 25 29 97 00
hilda.feenstra@flexibleplatform.org