Jan Jonker

Professor Dr J. (Jan) Jonker (Emeritus Spring 2021) is a specialist in sustainable entrepreneurship, strategy and business modelling. Until recently (Spring 2021), he was employed as a professor at the Nijmegen School of Management (NSM) at the Radboud University Nijmegen (RU – Holland). Between 2014-2016 he also held the Chair d’ Excellence Pierre de Fermat position at the Toulouse Business School (TBS) in Toulouse (France). Between 2017-2018 he also was the Chairholder of the Chair Emilie Francqui at the Free University in Brussels, Belgium.

He created the international conference series on New Business Models, of which the 7th edition will be held in Rome in June 2022. Previous editions were in Toulouse, Graz, Budapest, Berlin, Nijmegen, Halmstad and Rome. For seven years (2009 -2015), he was nominated on the Top 100 list of most influential ‘green’ people’ in the Netherlands. In the Fall of 2018, he was appointed Officer in the Order of the Dutch Crown by HRH King Willem-Alexander for his work on sustainability and circularity.

Professor Jonker’s research interests are explicitly developing strategies for sustainability and circularity related to new business concepts and business models. Within this focus, he explores how to shape systemic change and transformation leading to organising (inter) organisational sustainability. This work has led to concepts such as ‘The City as a Business Model’ or regional economic-organisational ecologies. More recently (2021), he developed a sustainable and circular business models classification of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.

All his work results from teamwork, working with dedicated teams on a national and international basis. Thus far, he has written and co-written 35 books, published over 150 articles and provided numerous contributions to blogs, talk shows and radio programs. In recent years, he wrote, co-edited and published ‘Duurzaam Organiseren’ (2020) and published the translated and adapted version of this book entitled ‘Organising for Sustainability in the Summer of 2021. The book is a global mega-hit with over 140.000 downloads in the first eight months of its launch. On September 1st, he also launched a global MOOC (Massive Open Online Couse) made with twelve Dutch institutes based on this book.

He retired from active academic life in Spring 2021 and has gone back to providing consultancy supported by applied research. He remains an often-solicited international speaker.

What participants are saying

What the workshop accomplished, in light of the current situation, was to provide a common ground for struggling social entrepreneurs to re-think and re-strategize their interventions for transformative impact in this this new era.

This two-day workshop which brought together practitioners and researchers was a unique opportunity to share the latest insights and knowledge useful in addressing current challenges in the social entrepreneurship field. This format promotes cross-fertilization, fruitful discussions and networking for social entrepreneurs eager to contribute to a better world".

It was such a privilege to be a group facilitator for this event. Together with the participants, we explored how social enterprises can develop strategies to ensure they continue to thrive within a changed and changing context, and how they can demonstrate what difference they make to their communities in an effective manner. I personally felt particularly inspired by Mrs Alero Ayida-Otobo’s talk and the concrete steps she set out for social enterprises to enable them to tackle the current challenges head-on. It was a real joy to work with the social entrepreneurs and it was very moving to hear about how the work they do change people’s lives.

Social enterprises, when properly positioned, will play a huge development role in Africa; there is a need and opportunity to implement innovative solutions to reach the transformation Africa needs.

Looking back, the two days impressively showed that the world is not on pause. By collaborating, sharing and developing new ideas amidst various crises, social entrepreneurs tirelessly work alongside accelerators, government and support organisations to make the world a bit better. With the tools and concepts provided in the workshop, they now are even better equipped to demonstrate that potential and put it into practice.

Professor, Author and International Speaker

Sustainable Entrepreneurship, strategy and business modelling.

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What participants are saying

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