One final message to mark 25 years of RVO-Society
During Innovatie voor Morgen, the closing event of RVO-Society’s anniversary year, visitors wrote a message to their future selves. In early September, those postcards found their way back to their senders. A fitting opportunity to bring the anniversary year to a close.
On 13 May, RVO-Society concluded its anniversary year with Innovation for Tomorrow. Around 100 participants from education, research, technology and civil society came together to reflect on one central question: how can we work together to build a society that is ready for tomorrow?
That day, visitors were also given a special task: write a message to your future self. What do you want to remember? Which ideas do you want to take with you? And what do you want to put into practice?
In early September, the postcards landed back on their writers’ doormats. Several themes recurred in their messages: collaborating across sectors, creating space for participation and inclusion, giving young people opportunities to help shape the future, and turning inspiration into action.
These ideas also resonate strongly with citizen science. Collaboration between citizens, researchers and organisations, making room for different perspectives, and enabling people to actively contribute to science and innovation are at the heart of many citizen science initiatives.
With the return of the postcards, we can now truly bring 25 years of RVO-Society to a close. The postcards are back with their owners, but hopefully the ideas written on them are far from finished.
Progress happens when we seek each other out and strengthen one another, and especially when we listen without judgement, try to understand, and create space for new, shared insights.
