INTERVIEW
Elke Weesjes
Herman Wijffels: "I would only invest in women" Dutch economist Herman Wijffels is fed up with conservatism. Wijffels used to be part of the so
called
old
guard.
Now
he
dedicates
his
time convincing the world that innovation and reformation are indispensable. A hard job, he admits. “There are still many people who can only define the future using concepts from the past.” You see yourself as an “agent of innovation.” Why? “I like to do things differently. For a long time I was part of the old guard, but I made the conscious decision to leave that behind. Today I believe that social and ecological innovations are necessary in order to keep our economy vital.”
How do you fight the old guard? “By trying to convince as many people as possible that innovation is necessary. Part of this innovation is the creation of a new social dimension, a next level of civilization. We have to strive for better relationships, both on a microand a macro level. This means for example that people have to improve relationships between themselves, but also between them and their Unfortunately not everyone agrees with this. environment. We need to connect more.” “Indeed. Certain political and industrial leaders still have an interest in the old system Does this also apply to science? and will try their hardest to preserve this. Take “Absolutely. Science was once developed for example the new coal-fired power stations based on the Newtonian principle of ‘know which are being built right now in the Nether- more about less’. This assertion is not longer lands. This technology is out of date. Further- tenable. Unfortunately these ideas are still more we know that these power stations will firmly embedded in our academic culture: unipollute our environment for the next 50 years. versities stubbornly continue to separate disciBut they are being built anyway. So there are plines, just like most academic journals. This is still many people who can only define the fu- such a shame, since this mentality discourages ture using concepts from the past.” scientists and academics to do interdisciplinary