Endorsement comments after sustainability projects
In February 2022, the TU/e study association Intermate awarded me two prizes: best teacher for first-year students of Sustainable Innovation and best new teacher.
NGO, Friends of the Earth – In the past two years I supported Friends of the Earth Netherlands in developing and mainstreaming their just transition agenda. Director Donald Pols about my work: “Bart can switch quickly between apparently diverse disciplines. He knows how to connect people and themes. What I found impressive was his ability to use ‘facts and figures to combine conceptual and political thinking”.
Government – Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL). Demanding users and clients on their home market are an important condition for Dutch companies in becoming succesfull exporters of green innovations (2016). This is what researchers Alexander Vooren and Bart Wesselink concluded from nineteen interviews with key persons from industry and science in the areas of sustainable food production, water treatment, reprocessing waste into raw materials, solar and wind energy. PBL researcher Alexander van Vooren about Bart “Bart’s work is characterized by drive, impatience, curiosity, knowledge, network and clear and correct writing.”
Education – Energy Modelling, Radboud University (2019/2020). “The Faculty of Science committee for the evaluation of faculty education has received and read with great interest the evaluation of your course NWI-FMT026 ‘Energy Modelling’. The committee would like to congratulate you with the excellent results. Dr. Willem Halffman, on behalf of the committee
Education – Teaching a one day course ‘quantifying sustainability’ for an international group of professionals with different backgrounds (2015). An assignment for the Maastricht School of Management (MSM). Participants evaluated the quality of the materials, methods and the lecturer Bart Wesselink on a scale of 0-5, with a 4.5. Participant Adel Yacoub, Head of Department at Ministry of Environment – Lebanon: “I immensely appreciated Dr. Wesselink’s knowledge, experience, skills and teaching methodologies. Thanks to his learning by doing approach, the course was of added value to me not only in improving my personal understanding of Quantifying Sustainability but also in developing my capacities to better manage the sustainable development in my country Lebanon.”
Education – Teaching students quantifying sustainability (2014). A contract for the development and teaching of an education module for the HAS Den Bosch University of Applied Sciences. Students evaluated the course on a scale of 0-5, with a 4.4 (“I have learned a lot”) and 4.7 (“good teacher”). HAS lecturer Lotte Stoppelenburg about Bart Wesselink: “He inspires, is committed, knowledgeable, gets the best out of the student and is always well prepared. In short, highly recommended!”
Municipalities – The energy transition in the province of Utrecht (2014): What is the state of affairs? Which energy agenda will ensure a 10% growth of renewable energy by 2020? The project was contracted by the Nature and Environment Federation Utrecht. Local councillor van Liere, co-chair of the group of fifteen city councillors to which Bart Wesselink presented an energy agenda: “I found it a fascinating eye-opener! Thanks, you have helped us to re-position ourselves.”
Business – Clean energy and economic opportunity (2012, 2013). Senior Advisor at the World Wide Fund for Nature. Programme director Hans van der Spek at the Federation for the Metal and Electrical Industry (FME), the largest Dutch employer in the technology industry: “In 2012 and 2013 I worked closely with Bart Wesselink in organizing the WNF Cleantech Star and Cleantech Business Day. Bart is reliable, knowledgeable and very pleasant to work with. He brings creative solutions, is a good team player and has good eye for mutual interests.”
Business – European emissions trading for NOx and SO2? (2010) Project at consultancy Ecofys. Client dr. Martin Schneider, CEO of Verein Deutscher Zementwerke (VDZ), the central organisation of the German cement industry: “Despite your openness, you have kept your independence in a very competent manner, which is exactly what we had agreed upon and which makes the report a very valuable one. It now rests with us to use this report in our political work. ”
Business – Dynamic allocation of EU Emissions Trading (2008). Project leader at consultancy Ecofys. Client Hans Grünfeld, CEO at the Association for Energy, Environment and Water (VEMW): “From complex allocation issues, Bart Wesselink offered a simple ‘ABC’ formula to calculate the cost advantage of our method. This made the impact of our method immediately clear. The results of the study were used in the discussions that we, as member federation of the International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (IFIEC) conducted with stakeholders in Brussels“. This method is included in the Dutch National Energy Accord of 2013.
Government – The state of the European environment and the effectiveness of European environmental policy (2004). Project leader on the PBL (then MNP) report Outstanding Environmental Issues of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. Sector head Keimpe Wieringa: “Minister of Environment van Geel presented that report to the European Parliament within the Dutch Presidency of the EU framework. Bart was able to give in a very short time a fresh overview of the main European challenges in a handy report.”
Government – Environmental Balance, the main Dutch environmental report of the RIVM (2002) Project leader within the RIVM. Client Rob Maas comments: “Environmental Balance 2002 was perhaps the best structured balance report out the entire series. The contribution of policies and measures to reduce environmental pollution is consistently displayed throughout the report with clear figures. Bart Wesselink’s presentation to policy directors and MPs was so clear that he was urged to present his report a second time to Dutch government cabinet members.”