dr. R (Renate) Wesselink

As a researcher in the field of learning sciences I am particular interested in learning of individuals and teams, beyond the scope of trainings and courses, and the extent to which their (informal) learning contributes to (business) organizations’ sustainability agenda. As the world faces increasingly challenging and complex societal problems, such as malnutrition, poverty and environmental degradation, (business) organizations have been called upon to address these problems. However, these societal challenges cannot be dealt with by just (top-down) improving or upgrading existing practices within one organization. My main ambition is to show that by embracing individuals’ leadership capacities and teams’ creativity within and across organizations, the capacity to transform as (business) organization, sector or society will increase. And consequently, this will accelerate sustainable development. To mention some examples. At the individual level, I study the role and competencies of CSR managers. At the team level, the role of a team of operators in thinking about and applying new technologies in the process industry or a team of helix representatives to make a national innovation happen (like the upscaling of hydrogen production).

Context of my studies are predominantly (business) organizations that want to improve on their sustainable development, but also educational organizations (e.g. vocational schools, universities) or clusters of organizations representing the four helices (industry, government, academia and society).

In my education I have the ambition to make students aware of their own innovative potential (they are the future leaders and team members) and their role and responsibility to be part of the change. In courses about change management, responsible learning organisations and entrepreneurial learning, I provide students footholds to be part of the change!