Looking back at Innovation for Tomorrow: 25 years of RVO-Society
On 13 May, RVO-Society (the umbrella organisation of Scivil) closed its anniversary year with a celebratory event, Innovation for Tomorrow. During this inspiring day, 100 participants from education, research, the technology sector and civil society organisations not only looked back on 25 years of RVO-Society, but above all looked ahead. At the heart of the event was one key question: how do we build a society that is ready for tomorrow?
The day was opened by Ilse Ooghe, Director of RVO-Society, with a reflection on 25 years of the organisation and an insight into its future plans. This was followed by an inspiring keynote from Thomas D’hooge on futures thinking and innovation.
The workshops focused on themes such as innovative approaches to building resilience, inclusive innovation, trust in science, and the role of young people and citizens in innovation. For Scivil, the strong practical examples from citizen science projects particularly stood out. Numerous initiatives shared their approaches and best practices, offering insight into how collaboration between citizens, researchers and organisations takes shape in practice. They demonstrated how citizen science can create clear added value, increasing public engagement and delivering tangible societal impact.
The day concluded with a future-focused dialogue featuring changemakers Patrick Vandenameele (CEO imec), Ann Caluwaerts (Chairperson STEM-platform), Katrien Kolenbergh (Professor Astrofysica & Wetenschapscommunicatie KU Leuven) and Katrien Rycken (Director Leuven 2030).
The future is not fixed. We build it together.
