Well-being, Sustainability and Social Development

Frank has been involved in the research Historical Roots of the Dutch Sustainability Challenges, 1850-2010, He is co-author of the syntheses study Well-Being, Sustainability and Social Development, The Netherlands 1850-2050 (Springer 2018).

Prof. dr. Jan-Pieter Smits is part-time professor Qualification of Sustainability at Eindhoven University of Technology, a chair financed by Statistics Netherlands. He obtained his PhD degree in 1995 at the VU Amsterdam. He worked at Utrecht University and the University of Groningen, where he published in the field of historical national accounting, long term economic growth, and the effects of economic growth on well-being. He coordinated historical research in the Groningen Growth and Development Centre, and was a program coordinator in the N.W. Posthumus Institute, the post-graduate school of economic and social history. In 2007 Smits was appointed senior statistical researcher at Statistics Netherlands, where he became project leader of the Sustainability Monitor of the Netherlands and its successor the Monitor of Well-being. With Rutger Hoekstra he led the UNECE - Eurostat - OECD Taskforce for Measuring Sustainable Development. Smits has also represented Statistics Netherlands in the United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Measuring the Sustainable Development Goals.

Prof. Dr. John Grin is full professor of Policy Science, especially System Innovation at the University of Amsterdam. He graduated in physics (BSc, 1983; MSc, 1986), obtained his PhD (1990) at the VU University in Amsterdam on technology assessment and did post-doctoral research on these issues at Princeton University (1990-91) and VU University (1991-1992). He then joined the University of Amsterdam's Department of Public Policy Studies (later part of the Department of Political Science).  Grin was co-founder and co-director (with Jan Rotmans & Johan Schot) of the Dutch Knowledge Network on System Innovations and transitions (2005-2010) and scientific director of the then Amsterdam School of Social science Research (2006-2010). Currently, he is co-director of the Programme Transnational Configurations, Conflicts and Governance at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research. Theoretically, his research interests include policy analysis, policy design and the governance of transitions. Empirically, his work focuses on sustainable agriculture and food, health and care and increasingly also urban transformation. He has extensive experience in evaluating and monitoring projects and programmes for innovative policy design and governance in these areas.