about us
Pioneers for Change
Pioneers for Change connects, inspires and empowers passionate innovators and responsible changemakers. Thinkers and doers who want to invest in themselves, personally and professionally, and who are committed to building a better world. Pioneers for Change is an interdisciplinary learning community that shares knowledge in a contemporary way, trains 21st-century skills, and boosts and facilitates dialogues about societal challenges.
Pioneers for Change is an initiative of De Pioniersfabriek.
De Pioniersfabriek
A pioneer factory by name, a pioneer factory by nature, De Pioniersfabriek's mission is to stimulate relevant and critical social discussions and put them on the agenda. We enter into dialogues about the big questions of our time, and ask: What kind of world do we actually want to live in? What role do technology, education and work play in this?
De Pioniersfabriek's programmes en projects focus on broadening and deepening general knowledge and showing multiple perspectives. In order to gain more control and insight into a changing world.
At De Pioniersfabriek, we believe in the power of encounters, both live and digital. We use principles and methods taken from (constructive) journalism, design thinking and deep democracy to compile original and substantive programmes.
From the annual Pioneers for Change festival, to webinars, debates and dialogues, masterclasses, workshops and training courses, we work with the best trainers and speakers and are part of a network that is made up of leading and pioneering thinkers and doers.
We strive to make as much of an impact as possible, not as much of a profit as possible.
Our core values: independent, critical, progressive and room for multiple perspectives. Solution-oriented, stimulating, connecting, wonder and compassion.
Clients:
Rathenau Instituut | Deloitte Impact Foundation | Hogeschool Utrecht - UCREATE |
Dutch Design Week | Divosa - Sprank Magazine | Health Hub Utrecht
About the founder
"My mission is to give exceptional ideas and people the platform they deserve. And in doing so, to contribute to creating a world that is better balanced: socially, economically and ecologically. I strongly believe in the power of encounters - even if they are temporarily just virtual. And I am convinced of the crucial role that education, in the broadest sense of the word, plays. My dream is that, within the next three years, I will have set up a contemporary school with an interdisciplinary curriculum that is focused on 21st-century challenges and skills Are you in? "
Arine van Heeswijk is the owner of De Pioniersfabriek and founder of the Pioneers for Change learning community. In 2014, Arine set up NRC Live, an events department for NRC Media, from scratch. She was responsible for its strategy and programming. Under her leadership, NRC Live grew into a seven-strong team in just four years.
After graduating from the Academy of Journalism in Tilburg, Arine went on to study Sociology at Erasmus University for two more years. She started her career as a journalist at a regional newspaper and later worked in a variety of functions where she gained extensive experience in developing high-quality conference programmes, masterclasses and courses for the business community, governments and research institutions.
Her love for entrepreneurship was fueled even more when she was introduced to the world of social enterprises and spoke to dozens of mission-driven entrepreneurs. That was back in 2012 when, as the first Communications Manager for Social Enterprise NL, she began to put the relatively unknown concept of social entrepreneurship on the map in the Netherlands.
Education is the most
powerful weapon
which you can use to
change the world
- Nelson Mandela