Meet the Team Claudia Cuypers

Learning by doing

Claudia fits in perfectly at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences as a research and teaching assistant, despite having no background in research. She studied Language and Cultural Studies and has a master's degree in Arts Policy and Management at Utrecht University and spent years working in arts and cultural education. After reading the book the Hidden Impact, she felt it was time for a career switch.

"I don't want to deal with sustainability only in my personal life and think it's important that I also contribute to a greener world in my professional life."

A career switch is not easy. Claudia connected with the author of the book and volunteered with her time and energy to help her. A win-win situation, as it allowed Claudia to get to the core of sustainability and build a network within the sustainability field.

That network eventually brought her to her current job at the Research Group Entrepreneurship; as a teaching and research assistant, she is involved in the minor Entrepreneurship for Society (EfS) and participates in research that focuses on impact entrepreneurship. As of September, Claudia will be coordinator of the minor.

Minor Entrepreneurship for Society

The minor Entrepreneurship for Society is a transdisciplinary minor program on social entrepreneurship. In this minor, students gain knowledge about entrepreneurship with primarily a social impact. During the minor, students work on their own social enterprise. Underlying goal is to teach them a different way of seeing the economy. Claudia coaches these students and is responsible for the 'practice and partners' strand. Using her knowledge and network, she connects education, research and the social entrepreneurship ecosystem.

For students, she brings theory to life by organizing a weekly guest lecture or working visit in the field of social entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs benefit from this format as well, as students come up with creative solutions to the problems entrepreneurs face in practice.

Regenerative Businesses - new leadership

Claudia has participated in several research projects within the research group. Which research she enjoys most? That would be the research on Regenerative Business Models; research on businesses that not only reduce or prevent damage to nature, but also restore it. Together with the team, Claudia wrote the paper "Towards a Framework for Regenerative Practices". Purpose of the paper: to provide insight for regenerative business and encourage conversations about what regenerative business is about.

Claudia considers it very hopeful that there are entrepreneurs who have such aspirations, and that some are really succeeding.

"A new generation of leaders is rising up, who are working very hard to make the world a better place and are not driven by money. That's inspiring."

Bringing theory to life

Patagonia, for example, a clothing brand familiar to almost all students, is taking important steps in the field of sustainable business by for example, recently becoming steward owned. Steward ownership is a legal form by which the people who decide the direction of a company are not those entitled to profits. This removes the financial incentive that is driving in shareholder capitalism and encourages making long-term decisions aligned with a company's mission. Claudia is going to incorporate this case study with Maarten Hogenstijn, Deborah Tappi and We Are Stewards into educational materials for students. "When I introduce a new legal form of business to a group af students, most students wouldn't find it very exciting. However, when we bring the theory to life with an example of a brand they know and like, students get just as excited as I do."

At the Research Group Entrepreneurship, Claudia appreciates how each team member is so passionate about his or her topic. Entrepreneurship is seen as a means of making the world a better place. In addition to the variety of social and in-depth work in her job, this makes her feel right at home.

Future

As a follow-up to the research on regenerative practices, Claudia and the team are writing a proposal for a two-year study on how regenerative impact can be scaled up. How can large companies be influenced to adopt regenerative entrepreneurship? "If those small regenerative pioneers find a way of doing it, then we can translate this into a way where big market leaders can adopt their practices."