Linus Bohlsen (28) is an employee of the SSE Academy of WesselinkVanZijst. He does that alongside his Sustainable Development studies. On top of that, he does volunteer work as a neighborhood mediator. And besides all that, he makes language videos for people who want to learn Dutch.

Hi Linus, your first year at WesselinkVanZijst is behind you. How is it going?

‘Good. I am having a great time. It is a bit of organized chaos, because I am also still studying. I am doing the two-year Master's in Sustainable Development in Utrecht and work 16 hours a week for the SSE Academy. It takes a bit of puzzling, but I do like a challenge.’

How did you end up at WesselinkVanZijst?

‘I am community mediator. That is a voluntary position to mediate in neighbor disputes. During the basic training that everyone has to take for that, I learned about the SOM advisor Robin Schram know. A while later I ran into him again at a party. He told me a bit more about his work then. That seemed very fascinating to me, so when a position opened up at the SOM Academy not long after, I decided to apply and I was hired.’

Neighborhood mediation, that sounds like the world of WesselinkVanZijst in miniature.

‘Yes, we can be called upon for tensions between neighbors or local residents, so it indeed also involves conflict and interests. And about facilitating the path to a solution. We try to encourage neighbors to have a reasonable conversation again in order to reach reasonable agreements together and prevent a potential legal battle.’

And what does your work for the SOM Academy entail?

‘Together with my colleague Flower I ensure that the training sessions are successfully organized and run smoothly. The trainers handle the acquisition, we double-check the quotes before they go out, and send a follow-up if necessary. We check the availability of trainers and participants and schedule the training sessions. We add participants to the online learning environment and set up new learning environments for new training sessions. In the meantime, there are always some other tasks to do: sending out course books, answering practical questions from participants, conducting evaluations after a training session. And on very rare occasions, something in the learning environment glitches. I'm not exceptionally technical, but I enjoy figuring out what's going on and how we can solve or improve it.’

Will you also be present at the training sessions?

‘I once participated in the three-day SOM basic training. I really enjoyed and learned a lot from that. Another way I get to experience more of the trainings is by helping translate training modules into German—more and more parties across the border are interested in SOM. I was born and raised in Germany, but translating concepts like stakeholder management or stakeholder-oriented working still requires some thought. SOM consultant and trainer Eric van Vliet can participants in the Basic Course in Strategic Environment Management explain in fluent German in precise detail what that entails.’

You do even more with language, right?

‘Yes, together with a team of five I YouTube videos and a podcast for people who want to learn Dutch – this project is called EasyDutch. We make street interviews in which we ask people everyday questions: what is your favorite season, what sport do you play, what did you have for lunch? We subtitle those videos in Dutch and English. The better people master the language, the less they need the subtitles. Language is an important tool. If you speak one or more other languages, you might be able to better understand people's different perspectives. By the way, my video experience also came in handy recently at WesselinkVanZijst. I edited the new introductory videos that Amber and I have recorded for the online learning environment.’

Ha, you are making yourself indispensable. Would you like to stay on at WesselinkVanZijst after your studies?

‘That sounds like a lot of fun to me! There are a few topics that I am very interested in and that align well with the field of work at WesselinkVanZijst. European mining, for example. In the Czech Republic, not so long ago a huge lithium reserve discovered in the soil. That presents opportunities, because Europe wants to accelerate the energy transition and become less dependent on other powers. But mining also brings environmental risks. What if we apply SOM to that conflict situation? What results can stakeholders achieve together? An important issue that I would love to dive into for my thesis research.”

How are you enjoying office life in Zeist?

‘I find it very cozy. During the week, most colleagues work out of the office, but there are always a few people to chat with and have lunch together. On Fridays almost everyone comes to the office, which is a fun, busy day. As colleagues we know quite a lot about each other, the atmosphere is casual and everyone is ready to help each other out. Very pleasant.’

What do colleagues not know about you yet?

‘I don't think everyone knows that I am good at chess. And that I once hitchhiked from Iran to Germany all by myself. That was after my volunteer work in India. A few people I had met there motivated me to do it. I was 20 and thought: why not? But because I preferred not to hitchhike through Pakistan and Afghanistan, I set off from Iran. On the first day, I was allowed to ride along with various people. A long day with many short trips. After that, I met a truck driver who took me all through Turkey, and from Istanbul another driver took me straight to Prague in one go. It all went pretty smoothly. It was a fantastic experience.’

What an adventure! And completely different from chess. Are you very passionate about that? 

‘I used to. Back then, I also played a lot of matches. Nowadays, I only play chess for fun. A small tournament once a year, without really training for it. People often think that good chess players know exactly which moves will follow a certain opening. But I almost never think ten moves ahead. It is much more important to carefully consider your opponent's very next move. If you overlook something there, there is a good chance you will lose—and not ten moves from now, but much sooner. In that sense, you can view chess as a metaphor for strategic stakeholder management. You achieve the best results when you weigh everything in time.’

SSE Academy Employee

Linus Bohlsen