The exchange is just over halfway now, which is quite the accomplishment and also quite crazy that I am already at this point. There have been a lot of learnings so far, plenty of good moments and also a few brain-crunching ones where my perspectives shifted or I had to acknowledge I’m still building my own skills.
A big chunk of this period was preparing for and being part of Katapult Future Fest (KFF) in Amsterdam, which I attended with Viliana. It was the first time I got to properly see the bioregional and systemic investing world in the Netherlands up close, not just as concepts I’d read about but as an actual mix of people working on this from different angles. What I liked most was the range of people who showed up, investors, start-ups, and organisations working on systems change. I met people doing specific projects in the Netherlands, giving me a solid sense of what patterns and movements are active in this space right now. I left with new questions and inspiration about my own path, and a clearer sense of where the critical gaps are and where I might bring something useful.
Being pulled into the organisation of KFF was harder than expected. Brainstorming workshop ideas and scheduling under tight deadlines, with different collaborators and different ideas of what a successful event even looks like, was genuinely stressful and time-consuming. But with structure and a solid plan from the start, it goes well, something I want to carry into any future workshops I run myself.
I’m also noticing the pace difference between running a consultancy business and academia. I knew this translation was coming, but now I’m experiencing it. I’m still figuring out when something needs to move fast and when it needs more time, and how to plan around that instead of just reacting. It’s a skill that takes time, but I already notice a difference compared to when I started.
Grant applications have taught me a lot too. They take far more time and energy than expected, and they’re often tedious. There’s a craft to writing a good one that you mostly learn by watching someone experienced, like Viliana, do it. It’s made me think some of my own business plans will need more time than planned, especially with the funding landscape shifting significantly right now.
Systems mapping has also been a learning experience, mostly because I don’t always have the depth of context an expert would have. Depending on time, I either reach out to others or research myself, a friction I’m learning to work with in the tasks and in conversation with Viliana.
Overall, the objectives of this exchange are being met, at times more than expected. I’m exposed to more skills and knowledge than anticipated this early on. One thing that keeps coming up is how much everything depends on solid relationships rather than content or specifics. Projects move when relationships are trustworthy and inspiring, not necessarily when the plan is flawless. I knew this theoretically from my thesis, but seeing it in practice has made it far more concrete, shaping how I think about building my own future collaborations.
I’ve made small adjustments to which objectives I focus on in the second half, and to how Viliana and I communicate, which naturally gets adjusted as any relationship develops. Nothing major needs to change – I’m learning a lot that feels genuinely relevant to building my own business in the field, and I hope to spend the second half integrating these pieces together.
