Prof. dr. Kees Boersma is professor on 'Organizational and Technological Innovation and Societal Resilience'. His chair is established at the Faculty of Social Sciences, hosted by the Department of Organization Science. Professor Boersma is part-time seconded to the Faculty of Science.
Mission-oriented innovation for societal resilience
Professor Boersma’s research focusses on how organizations (both formal and informal, public and private) can contribute to tackling grand challenges related to sustainable development through strategic practices, technological innovation, and institutional change. His chair generates knowledge into how organizations can effectively establish organizational and technological innovation to create societal resilience. He is in particular interested in mission-oriented innovations in the context of crises and disasters.
As the lifeworld perspective is important to him, Professor Boersma conducts his research in close collaboration and where possible in co-creation with public, private and community partners. He has been expert member of various advisory committees on crisis-governance, crisis evaluation, and societal resilience including those of the WODC (the Research and Documentation Centre of the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security), the NIPV (the Netherlands Institute for Public Safety), the LOT-C (National Operational Team Covid), the Dutch Parliament, the EU JRC (Joint Research Center) and various EU committees. Professor Boersma frequently acts as an expert consultant to public and private organizations.
Research projects
Professor Boersma’s research is embedded in various projects with academic and non-academic partners, funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO, NWO/NWA, and ZonMw), the European Union (Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020, and COST Action) and by public and private institutes. He is the investigator, co-investigator, or recipient of about €7.5 million in research funding. His current and recent grants include:
- 2020-2024: PI of the EU Horizon 2020 grant "LINKS: Strengthening links between technologies and society for European disaster resilience", with 16 partners from 7 European countries and from Japan. Total grant: €5.2M.
- 2023-2026: WP leader in the EU Horizon grant: "SYNERGIES: Innovating Preparedness by Leveraging Synergies and Enhancing Results of DRM Projects", with 17 partners from 8 European countries. PI: Alberto Pasquini, Deep Blue, Italy. Grant: €5.0M. VUA budget: €500K.
- 2020-2023: WP leader on multi-layered disaster governance in the EU Horizon 2020 CORONAVIRUS grant "HERoS: Health Emergency Response in Interconnected Systems", with 10 partners from 7 European countries. Grant: €2.8M. VUA budget: €375K.
- 2022-2025: co-applicant of the NWO/NWA grant: Institutional Resilience, Organizational Healing, and Adaptive Capacity in the Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic. BASICS for Resilience Building Adaptive, Collaborative, and Inclusive Capacities. PI: dr. Lianne Cremers. Budget: €100K.
- 2014-2019: PI of the NWO Smart Governance grant: Enhancing Smart Disaster Governance: Assessing the potential of the net-centric approach. Co-funded by 5 Dutch Safety Regions, the IFV, Cordaid and Oxfam Novib. Grant: €700K.
More information about my research and publications can be found in my research portal profile.
Click here to return to researchgroup Organizational and Technological Innovation and Societal Resilience
