I’m Dutch, and have lived in Sweden for the past two and a half years, where I completed a Master’s in Social-Ecological Resilience for Sustainable Development at the Stockholm Resilience Centre. That experience really solidified my interest in systems thinking and systems mapping, and also in the use of participatory processes in helping groups of people learn together, create new ways of working for social-ecological impact and navigate conflicting situations. I found myself drawn to bridging the more theoretical world of systems thinking and sustainability science with the practical side of facilitation and non-formal education. When I came across the EYE programme, it felt like a natural next step for me to be able to bridge these two worlds and bring in my own creativity at the same time. I wanted to learn from someone already working at that intersection, someone who had built their own business in this space, and to get support and mentorship from a woman in the field for developing my own business plan combining these two worlds.
I’ve been in Barcelona for just over two weeks now, trying to keep up with the processing of what these first weeks have felt like, what I’ve learned, and how to navigate it all. Arriving on the 16th of April, I had a mix of nerves and excitement. It was a particularly fresh feeling coming out of the Swedish winter, which had been quiet and cold. Barcelona is alive, people are excited to talk and share, and there is a very welcoming atmosphere in the air.
The first days were about orientation, not just logistically but mentally. I met Vili and the rest of the team at Reimagined Futures, and it was so nice to finally experience this happening. These are people working on things I care about, asking similar questions to the ones I’ve been sitting with, but from different angles and with different approaches. That has been a reminder that I’m doing something aligned with my values, and shows me how much there is to learn in these coming months about how people work, navigate spaces, and visualise complexity.
One of the highlights was attending an event organised by Shared Agendas, a consultancy doing systems change work in Catalonia and internationally, particularly around cultivating collective action in social-ecological systems. It was a good opportunity to meet people from different sectors and have conversations that are hard to have in your usual environment. It was also fascinating to get a peek into Catalan culture, hearing a lot of Catalan spoken that evening.
A lot of these first weeks have been about listening and observing. I want to take everything on immediately, but I’m also recognising that I’m new here and need to find my way, content wise, skill wise, people wise. I’m enjoying figuring it out slowly.
Barcelona itself has been part of the experience too. The city has a lot going on always: parties, festivals, carnivals in the streets. Very different to Sweden. The barrier to creativity and inspiration feels lower here, and walking around a city where people are gathered in squares, being together in community, has a real impact on my energy and thinking. I’m excited to see how all of this evolves over the coming months.
