{"id":742,"date":"2023-06-23T14:54:28","date_gmt":"2023-06-23T14:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecodreamer.gigdemo.xyz\/striving-for-sustainability-or-regeneration\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T00:29:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T00:29:56","slug":"striving-for-sustainability-or-regeneration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecodreamer.gigdemo.xyz\/en\/striving-for-sustainability-or-regeneration\/","title":{"rendered":"Striving for sustainability or regeneration?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The story of rebellious Simone<\/h2>\n

Simone van Neerven is an entrepreneur, and not just any entrepreneur; she\u2019s an innovation expert on a mission to be an international catalyst for change. She does this by making full use of her own rebelliousness and versatility in everything she takes on. For example as founder of Rebella, as an author of books, as a columnist for MT Sprout, as a champion of regenerative agriculture and even as a sparring partner. This week we dive into her fascinating story.<\/p>\n

An unshakeable belief in the importance of regenerative systems<\/h2>\n

You come across the words \u2018sustainability\u2019 and its Dutch equivalent \u2018duurzaamheid\u2019 a lot on the internet. Search for \u2018sustainability\u2019 and you get around 2,140,000,000 Google results; for \u2018duurzaamheid\u2019, 55,600,000. However, Simone feels that these widely used words don\u2019t fully capture what we need to do as a society. We shouldn\u2019t just ensure a system between people, the environment and the economy that focuses on preserving nature or the planet. We need to go further than that: create a new system in which the dynamics between people, the environment and the economy lead to the (re)building or continuous improvement of nature or the planet. Her suggestion: let\u2019s all start talking more about \u2018regenereren\u2019 or \u2018regeneration\u2019. For now, those words get around 189,000 and 282,000,000 Google results, so they still have quite a way to go before they knock the others off the throne. Simone firmly believes in creating regenerative systems. But why? She isn\u2019t doing it to secure a future. She has no children to leave anything to. Her inner rebel simply can\u2019t stand by and watch the problems with the current system, driven by a deep-rooted urge not to be part of the problem, but part of the solution.<\/p>\n

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\"Image
Image by Simone van Neerven<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Creating a healthy environment again<\/h2>\n

Stress and burnout complaints among the Dutch population remain high, and they\u2019re expected to keep rising due to demographic developments in the most vulnerable groups. Simone has seen a lot of it around her, too. People developing complaints because they\u2019ve become completely disconnected from who they are. That\u2019s why she\u2019s working with businesses and sheltered workshops to solve the question: \u201cHow can we create a (work) environment in which people stay really close to themselves?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another question on her mind is: \u2018How can we make the soil healthy again, so that the environment we live in and our food become healthier too?\u2019 According to her, the answer lies in regenerative agriculture. When she talks about it, something happens. Her eyes light up even more. She has even adapted her business model so she can work with farmers on a non-profit basis to develop and share knowledge about regenerative agriculture.<\/p>\n

A sustainable lifestyle means weighing up convenience & impact<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s a lot of attention on the role governments and businesses need to play in becoming more sustainable, and very little on the role consumers need to take on. What trade-offs do entrepreneurs with a heart for sustainability make as consumers? Which sustainable products or services do they buy? Do they also buy sustainable clothing or sustainable gifts, for example? In short, how do they strike the balance as consumers when it comes to making a positive social, environmental and financial impact?<\/p>\n

Simone definitely has a sustainable lifestyle. \u201cI don\u2019t eat meat. I don\u2019t have a car; I\u2019ve never had one and never will. I never buy clothes, because they don\u2019t mean much to me. I don\u2019t buy much online either. If I need something, I just walk to a shop. I prefer that, because then I know for sure I\u2019ll use what I buy, instead of it ending up in a cycle of returns. I try to eat a lot of organic food, but that isn\u2019t always possible, or everywhere. And maybe it\u2019s a no-go subject, but I still want to mention it: I don\u2019t have children. I do still fly. Nowhere near as excessively as I once did, but then I often immediately get criticised for it not being sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Convenience is what holds her back from changing her travel habits even further. \u201cSometimes convenience also makes something else possible. I also take on assignments abroad, and I have to travel for those. But those assignments pay well, which allows me to make other things possible in the Netherlands that pay less but do have a sustainable impact. So there\u2019s a trade-off. Of course, I could say \u2018no\u2019, but then I couldn\u2019t do the other things either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sustainable entrepreneurship is hard and takes guts, curiosity & funding<\/h2>\n

\u201cTo be a sustainable entrepreneur, you need guts,\u201d says Simone. \u201cTo just go ahead and do it anyway, even though you\u2019ve never done it before and don\u2019t know how, because you feel it has to happen. And that in a world that demands you always have an answer ready before you start anything.\u201d For a column, she took a deep dive into two remarkable entrepreneurs: Lex Hoefsloot, co-founder and CEO of Lightyear, and Boyan Slat, founder and CEO of The Ocean Clean-up. \u201cWhen you dig into their stories, they have a lot in common. They follow their curiosity, not a passion. They want to make an impact, but at the start their goal isn\u2019t actually very clear-cut. Everyone says, \u2018What you want simply isn\u2019t possible.\u2019 And every time they just keep going, follow their curiosity, just get on with it and stay very flexible and creative in finding solutions to the many problems they run into.\u201d Bringing about change is hard by definition, because there\u2019s always a lot of pushback, for example within organisations and from mindsets. With sustainable entrepreneurship, on top of that, you often have to change the whole system. So it doesn\u2019t mean you can change one little thing in the chain, process or resources and leave everything else as it is. To make sure you make the right change, you have to design an entirely new system or chain and find a solution for all the pushback you encounter. In addition, there are many unexplored areas when it comes to \u2018sustainability\u2019 or \u2018regeneration\u2019. And they come with lots of unanswered questions that require a big investment of both time and money, and don\u2019t always have an existing market. That\u2019s why the start-up phase can be long and tough. A sustainable entrepreneur is often not out to get rich, but he or she does need to make a living. So one challenge is: \u2018How do you find the right funding?\u2019<\/p>\n

Different challenges in \u2018building sustainability in\u2019 vs. \u2018building from sustainability\u2019<\/h2>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the difference lies so much in the size of a company. After all, every big company started small. But there is a difference in the challenges between companies that have built themselves up from sustainability and companies that are trying to build sustainability in. I seriously wonder whether large organisations that don\u2019t already have \u2018sustainability\u2019 in their DNA will ever get it into their DNA. Because there are so many other things in their DNA that they have to weigh up whenever they make a choice. Say, for example, you\u2019re a dividend-driven organisation. Do you dare, and are you able, to make a choice at the expense of the highest return? So a lower return, but better for the world. The top of a company can genuinely want it, but if they aren\u2019t able to stand up to conflicting interests, it\u2019s simply not going to happen. What gives me a lot of hope is that I see more and more people around me feeling that something has to change. They think: \u2018Shit, I want to do my bit, and I\u2019ve tried everything in my power to change course, but it isn\u2019t being picked up, or not enough.\u2019 These people don\u2019t stay stuck; more and more often, they decide to go looking for an environment that does enable them to make their contribution. And it\u2019s certainly not just the younger generations. This also shows me that the old companies aren\u2019t well equipped to respond to what\u2019s changing right now. If you look at big companies that were founded by people with sustainable intentions, who are genuinely driven to keep making that difference, it becomes deeply rooted in the people they attract and hire, in what they do, how they do it, in the kind of investors they attract and so on. Patagonia is a good example. People within that company don\u2019t have to explain to each other why sustainability matters. Its importance is clear; it is, after all, their reason for existing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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All of this will also mean that you come across things about this world that maybe aren\u2019t so beautiful, and then you have a choice. Can you accept it, stay positive and still keep motivating yourself to try to bring about change? Or do you let it knock you off your stride?<\/p>\n

Simone van Neerven<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You\u2019re going to come across things about this world that aren\u2019t so beautiful<\/h2>\n

Simone certainly has some advice for others who are committed to sustainability and\/or regeneration, whether as an entrepreneur or as an individual striving for a more sustainable lifestyle. \u201cChange isn\u2019t easy. Stay curious. Keep digging. Keep thinking and asking why things can\u2019t be different. Keep marvelling. All of this will also mean that you come across things about this world that maybe aren\u2019t so beautiful, and then you have a choice. Can you accept it, stay positive and still keep motivating yourself to try to bring about change? Or do you let it knock you off your stride? I often have those moments too, when I think \u2018but how?\u2019. Sometimes I think: throw it all overboard and throw myself completely into regenerative agriculture, but, well, right now you can\u2019t earn a penny doing that. And sometimes I think: \u2018Fuck it, I don\u2019t have children, why am I making things so hard for myself? Or: let\u2019s enjoy life to the max!\u2019 And all the emotions in between; every single day. That\u2019s part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simone van Neerven is an entrepreneur, and not just any entrepreneur: an innovation expert on a mission to be an international catalyst for change. On regeneration, convenience versus impact, and having guts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized-en-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecodreamer.gigdemo.xyz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecodreamer.gigdemo.xyz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecodreamer.gigdemo.xyz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecodreamer.gigdemo.xyz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecodreamer.gigdemo.xyz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ecodreamer.gigdemo.xyz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecodreamer.gigdemo.xyz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecodreamer.gigdemo.xyz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecodreamer.gigdemo.xyz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecodreamer.gigdemo.xyz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}