Since we last posted and/or spoke to you a lot has happened again. I am not so good in putting all we do on social media and I have now good intentions to change that for 2023 while we need you support. This is the first post….

It feels like everything comes together. The sustainable development goals of TogetherForTheBetterGood and the individual personal side, the coaching, transformational and inner development side through different cooperations.

 So much has happened in 2022 …

 In January of last year we left our house and home in Almere. It was a difficult period to say goodbye to a place we felt so much at home at as if we could live there for the rest of our life. But the calling for both Hans and I, our vision and mission grew so strong that we could only leave our lives as we lived it at that moment and jump into the unknown…

We wanted to make the change and we really yearned for a different way of living and being. Yes, our life was good but was this what life was all about? Having an amazing house, good money, being able to do what we want and just live….staying in the comfort zone and live in repeat….?

Really feeling and living life, breathing passion and creativity and connecting with what matters to us and what could make a slight difference to the everchanging world we live in became our goal. And with that our next step was so clear and positive to us.

So, we left for Bonaire.

Bonaire brought us so much! What it brought us above all were many beautiful relationships and connections with companies, universities, projects, governments, and foremost people both on the island and internationally.

Furthermore, we took the time to learn to work together as business partners in our own company. And that wasn’t always easy, to say the least…

All of this helped us to transform to the next level of our journey and company…We expected Bonaire to be our next home base… but it turned out that our journey was going to continue. Bonaire turned out to be an intermediate station…

Platform wherein Blue Carbon Offset projects and its related highest quality certified blue carbon credits are surrounded by a shielding doughnut

Hans (re)discovered his passion while working as a volunteer in the mangroves on Bonaire and cleaning the beaches from Sargassum; he really felt the inner drive to make a serious difference here.

And thus, our journey continued. How could we make a difference to Blue Carbon eco-systems and the attached projects?  This time we took a different angle. We started from our extensive experience and knowledge of more than 25 years each in the financial services industry (Banking, private banking, investment fund industry and pension fund industry). How could we use that knowledge and experience for the better good of the Blue Carbon eco-systems and their projects? To sustain the Blue Carbon eco-systems and the attached projects, they need funding on a continuous basis.

But #greenwashing, #fraud and so many other risks circumventing (blue)carbon projects and their issued financial products need to be controlled, reduced or eliminated. #riskcontrol #monitoringsystem

That is how we came up with our Monitoring and Control Framework for Blue Carbon Projects and their possible #carboncredits (or bonds or whatever financial instrument the projects can attract funding/money/investors with).

In this light we have also been supporting the creation of the ‘High-Quality Blue Carbon Principles and Guidance of Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliancepresented during #COP27, by receiving the opportunity to give our feedback and suggestions, which were based on our background and experience. 

Next to Hans’ his passion I finally dared to speak out mine again and act on it: ever since our around-the-world-trip in 2001 with our small children then, I have this inner longing to organize retreats and leadership development journeys. During our 2001 trip I even created a business plan around this… When I came across the InnerDevelopmentGoals framework I knew this could become a gamechanger in implementing the Sustainable Development goals. I touched upon this old longing to add value to leadership development!

“Meeting the challenges of this century requires updating our economic logic and operating system. From an obsolete “ego-system” focused entirely on the well-being of oneself to an eco-system awareness that emphasizes the well-being of the whole.” -Otto Scharmer, MIT Presencing Institute

To make a long story short: We went back to Europe in september 2022 (made a round trip through Portugal, Berlin, Vienna and now the Netherlands. But I will write about that part of our trip later in the year) and connected with the people around the #idgs. Now I am cooperating with different #coaches , facilitators and training companies, like VERTICAL Development GmbH to train and coach businesses and systems in #awareness and personal growth in alignment with the #idgs in service to the SDG’s. 

This has become the other leg of TogetherForTheBetterGood: the #innerworkwhich has to be done by companies, organizations, teams, stakeholders to be aware what is going on with our planet and to act on this in accordance with one’s own purpose. In that way they can be more aligned within the company, driven by a common purpose, and be able to implement the #sdgs#sustainabledevelopmentgoals more quicker and without resistance easily before 2030! #2030agenda