Noor Debets
Who Wim Ploeg jr., president of keeping company Snelstart
Why Mr. Ploeg has a, for Texels concepts, big company with 100 men in service. Despite of many clients situated everywhere in The Netherlands, the company is still located at Texel. As a born and raised Texelaar mr. Ploeg still lives on Texel[1] and has a strong connection with the island.
What The aim of the interview is to verify the assumptions made in the YUPTA model, to explore possibilities to reach the goal of a self-sufficient Texel 2065 and the opinion of the interviewee about sustainability.
Verifying assumptions from YUTPA framework
Relation In the sub-system Sustainable Lifestyle, three characters are stated. The Profit- and Planet Local and the Tourist. Mr. Ploeg just mentions the Tourist and the Texelaar (the one who lives on Texel) wherein both profit and local are mixed up. He correctly questions “Who is currently not aware of sustainability?”. Focusing on just these roles Texelaars have, he divides the early adopters, the followers and those who react with great reserve. The relation that everyone has, is the strong relation with the island of Texel. The reputation of the Texelaars as stubborn, like Urgenda seems to mention (lecture 03-12-2015), can be related to the strong feeling of communion. Mr. Ploeg agrees with the resistance to Urgenda. Those from the mainland (Dutch: de overkanters) come to Texel for research and talk about us but without us, it creates enmity. There is some engagement towards new (sustainable) initiatives but people loose attention really easily.
Place The only thing that all Texelaars really connect with each other, is the place. The emotional space is very present on Texel. They are proud and chauvinistic and despite the fact that many young people leave the island, this strong relation with the island stays intact. Texel is a strong brand. The Body sense didn’t apply in the interview, just like the environmental impact. The situated agency, the possibility of interference, is present but varies between different companies.
Action Mr. Ploeg gets right down to the subject explaining about all the experiments and the negotiation done in any field, so in sustainability too. But as soon as these moments of negotiation are done, people go their own way again. So the quality of deeds is low. They are up to a certain point willing and reciprocate, but it shouldn’t be too complicated. Their tuning seems more difficult since one don’t work in unison, objectives are harder to achieve. As Ploeg notes “Because of wealth no service” (Wegens rijkdom geen service). In the end, businesses stay competitive.
Time A moment to signify, a performance that is synchronized or rhythms which are integrated, all three are present at Texel but since the duration of engagement is very low these won’t last for long.
Suggestions/Extra When a platform is raised, it shouldn’t be a foundation but an enterprise that can make a difference, with a drive, vision and specific, concrete goal. Something that can make Texel a brand of international appeal. A common goal, the “we”-part is missing, find one and just do it. A period of experimenting where people are let free, could work. Rules and regulations can help to achieve this. Afterwards, the tourists will follow.
[1] Texelaars strongly prefer to say in Dutch ‘op Texel’ instead of ‘in Texel’.