Ron Lander
My name is Ron Lander and I've been asked to inspire and motivate you in relation to the career choices you will be facing. And according to the organizers a personal approach would be appreciated. So let me introduce myself through a brief overview of my professional journey through life. I hope this will be intriguing enough to see you during my presentation on the 15th of May.
After graduating in economics at Groningen University, I started working at the Ministry of Environment and by chance almost immediately became a member of the team that made the first two National Environmental Policy Plans: an integrated approach to policy making that was revolutionary at the time. My real education had begun.
In my early thirties I moved on to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where I became Head of the division of International Environmental Policy, Instruments and Water Management, spending half of my time in The Hague and the other half in places like Geneva, New York, Nairobi, Manila, Washington and Brussels: the amazing adventures of a small town boy in the big world.
But I had never been to Niebert. So after some fifteen years in The Hague, I followed the love of my life and moved back to Groningen where I became deputy director of the Northern Netherlands branch of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries. And we settled in Niebert.
We're still together, but he match with the Ministry of Agriculture was not really made in heaven and after a little over two years I decided to move on. SNN, the organization in which the three northern provinces join forces, had intrigued me for a while, so I grasped the opportunity to become the Head of their executive agency and as a more or less logical consequence I later found my way to the province of Groningen, where I held the position of Head of the division of Spatial Planning for ten years.
Then, at the beginning of the Corona lockdown period, after 25 years in management positions, I got fed up with the managerial elements of my job and I was craving for morecontent. The province allowed me to create my own Gideon's band to direct and orchestrate the big spatial challenges and transformations in our province. And that's where I find myself now.
I hope this resume leads to some curiosity about the choices I made. I'll be happy to shed some light on what leads me in those choices, answer your questions and share some personal experiences and advice if that's appreciated.