Boekel's
creativist
CHANGING THE GAME
”A book about the sustainable market transformation strategies
to understand and tackle the biggest sustainability challenges of our generation”
to understand and tackle the biggest sustainability challenges of our generation”
About the book
The idea for the book is created by Lucas Simons and Andre Nijhof, both leaders in sustainable development and part of the Nyenrode University in the Netherlands. By applying the approach from the bestselling book ”Changing the Food Game” to the economy at large, Simons and Nijhof are getting a crucial insight: due to their complexity, sustainability challenges all appear different.
The reality is that they are all very similar as they are all caused by the same underlying market failures. They explain these failures based on four cause-and-effect chains, which are called system loops. And since these loops are the same in all markets, the solutions to the market failures are very similar in every market and sector as well.
The book explains how you can solve these systemic failures by understanding and recognizing the phases of market transformation and how each phase calls for different interventions and actions by different stakeholders. After that, it is simply a matter of getting organized in the right way and understanding your role in this process.
Changing the Game is not just a theory. With the help of 35 co-authors and experts, Simons and Nijhof have applied this approach to eight markets covering the full spectrum of the economy. As a result, you can see how the same patterns and phases occur in all markets.
My participation
During my work as a sustainability manager of Corendon Netherlands, I was asked to be one of the co-authors of the tourism chapter of the book. For this chapter, I collaborated with three companies from the NHTV University in the Netherlands. Our goal was to use the sustainable market transformation model and looping systems to show what makes the tourism industry unsustainable. Due to the complexity of the tourism industry, which has a lot of stakeholders, we had to focus on specific problems in the tourism game, in particular: overtourism, the growth of cheap air travel, and climate change.
Due to the combination of my practical experience at Corendon and the scientific experience of my colleagues, the chapter contains all the information to give a good overview of the big sustainable problems of the tourism industry. Besides that, we provided ideas for change and in the end to change the rules of the tourism game. Learn more?
How the book helps me as a writer
As a child of a tulip farmer family, I grew up in nature. I was already aware of the failing system we live in. We are destroying the planet for the benefit of ourselves and most industries are facing sustainable issues in loops they can’t escape. But why? Why are we having this system and what are the actions we have to take to change the rules of the games (systems) we are currently in?
When Lucas and Andre asked me to be part of the book, I didn’t hesitate for a moment to say YES! To be a co-writer of the book when I was 23 years old was a real pleasure. Writing the book was a whole process and it took more than two years to finish it. But it was worth it! Together with 35 other co-authors of different sectors, we learned a lot during the process. Writing such a big book with so many people was a real challenge.
Besides that, the book helps me to further broaden my network with people working to make industries sustainable. In the end, I’ve learned a lot about the theory behind the failing looping systems and what we can do to change them.
It was an interesting time for me as a writer and I’m sure I want to do it again!
How can I help you?
Are you interested in the book? You can buy it in hardcopy or e-book HERE
Are you looking for a good writer? Or do you need help checking your text on grammar? I can help you Let’s Talk
