With her chair, Karen van Oudenhoven will focus on societal resilience. That resilience is needed in light of the major challenges our society faces, including the climate crisis, labour market shortages, population ageing, and the long-term viability of the healthcare system. The government’s task is to formulate sustainable solutions to these complex issues – solutions that go beyond tackling the acute problem or the impending crisis. It has to ensure that the chosen measures sustain or even reinforce the resilience of society and of individual citizens.
What do these complex issues demand of political leaders and how can the resilience of institutions and citizens be strengthened? How can politicians and institutions take account of the capabilities of citizens while also counting on and bolstering those citizens’ strengths? Read more about this subject in this essay that Karen van Oudenhoven wrote for the 50th anniversary of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP).
From 2014 to 2022, Karen van Oudenhoven-van der Zee worked as a dean (and latterly also as vice-rector) at VU Amsterdam. As a professor, she also held the chair of Intercultural Competence at the Department of Organization Sciences during that period. She has been the director of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research since 1 October 2022. The endowed chair of Societal Resilience is appointed for the period from 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2028.
“I’m really happy to hold this chair”, says Karen van Oudenhoven. “On the one hand because it enables me to stay in connection with the faculty that I have enjoyed working with for many years. And on the other hand, because it’s a great opportunity to use the expertise of the faculty and the SCP for research into societal resilience. By gaining new knowledge we can be of service to politics and policy.”
The dual role of director of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research and endowed chair of Societal Resilience creates a natural bridge between science and society that fits in well with the profile of the Department of Organization Sciences at VU Amsterdam. “We are very happy with this appointment”, says Sierk Ybema, Head of the Department of Organization Sciences. “There are many links between Karen’s expertise, the SCP agenda and the Department’s research on issues such as how do social developments pan out in the workplace? How do organisations contribute to sustaining and solving social problems? The SCP operates at the heart of the political and social arena, and Karen’s chair can bridge the gap between science and society, research and policy.”
