Social engineer and podcast creator Jetske Thielen

6, April 2023

Positive activist entrepreneur Jetske Thielen inspires thousands of listeners through her podcast Sustainability #HOEDAN?! The podcast has since been downloaded 10 thousand times and well-known sustainability warriors such as Babette Porcelijn and Jan Rotmans share their stories. Through her company Duurzaam Vlechtwerk, she helps organisations - especially in the construction sector - innovate and become more sustainable.

By: Dominique de Groot | Photography ©KikaBooy

Beaming - with a generous smile - Jetske Thielen splashes off my computer screen. I read that she is a social engineer, speaker, trainer, transition maker and podcast host. She gets her boundless energy from her mission: to help organisations innovate and accelerate sustainability. When I speak to her a few days later, I learn why she is particularly focused on the construction sector. "From an early age, I was concerned with; how can we make something beautiful together and how can it be better, smarter and more sustainable. In the traditional construction sector, there wasn't much focus on that and I found that interesting."

Sustainability is something she gets from an early age from home. 'Doing with what is there' is the motto in her family. Nothing is wasted, raw materials are handled sustainably. "On my grandparents' farm, we worked with the seasons and thought about what nature has to offer us." She is a gentleman farmer herself, co-owner of a farm in Boxtel, where sustainable food is produced. About her daily life, she regularly posts on Instagram.

Durable wickerwork

Both professionally and privately, sustainability is an important thread in her life. Meanwhile, Jetske has 15 years of experience in programme management, change processes and social innovation. With her company Durable Wickerwork she focuses on accelerating technical and social innovation in organisations. One day she speaks in front of a large group, the next she co-writes a sustainability vision.

There is a beautiful symbolism woven into the name Sustainable Braiding. "It stands for bringing more femininity into processes, literally the braid. Feminine values like listening, bringing people together and working more from co-creation. On the other hand, it refers to the real estate sector: steel makes concrete stronger and that's called concrete braiding. This is also how I see my business. An organisation can strengthen with sustainability as a goal or ambition."

On a different tack

She regains her enthusiasm, which she was previously in danger of losing in paid employment, in entrepreneurship. With Sustainable Braiding, she focuses only on organisations that want to become more sustainable. "That was a really big lesson for me. I used to focus on the people who didn't want to join by enthusing them, by pushing and pulling, but I just ran out of steam on that. As a result, I also paid too little attention to the people who did want in." When a sustainability programme at one of her clients was going badly, she decided to change tack. "I put my energy on the branches that did want to become sustainable and then the other branches came naturally. Through the results, conversations and successes we achieved, we shook up the others."

Sustainability DNA

What sometimes goes wrong in organisations is that targets are set from the top down but employees are not properly included. Jetske gives an example of this: "In 2035, our organisation will be CO2 neutral and we will all work very hard to achieve that! OK, but what does it mean for my work or for my department?" Before she starts any assignment, Jetske therefore goes out to do research. She has many conversations, in a casual atmosphere, to find out what people are concerned about and what they are worried about. "It is important to involve as many colleagues as possible in the plans you make. They are the organisation's capital."

Podcast Sustainability #HOEDAN!

Recently, her podcast reached Sustainability #HOEDAN?! 10 thousand downloads. With the podcast, she not only wants to inspire listeners to become sustainability heroes themselves (at home or at work), but she also wants to give them heart. "It really isn't always easy," she speaks from experience. "Maybe it seems like I just do everything as usual, but it feels rather unusual to me. I found the launch of my podcast really exciting. It's nice to feel supported and to speak to like-minded people." Jetske therefore regularly compliments or thanks other people for the work they do.

The idea for the podcast originated two years ago in corona time. Initially as a passion project for herself to meet like-minded people and engage with interesting ones. "Later, I thought: this doesn't have to stay just mine, I'm going to share it." She interviews experts such as Babette Porcelijn (author of The Hidden Impact), Anja in 't Velt (Van Gogh Museum) and Professor of Transition Studies Jan Rotmans. Last summer, a college decided to make her podcast part of a course assignment. "That's such a great compliment, that I can inspire the younger generation. Really fantastic."

Looking to the future

Living and working more sustainably; there is no one system for everyone to fit into. By showing who she is and sharing her story, she hopes others will find the courage and enthusiasm to choose their own path in this. "We can all do our own bit," she says.