What kind of economy truly helps us flourish? This question lies at the heart of this interview collection. Through a series of engaging interviews, todays innovators from CEOs and entrepreneurs to artists, scientists, and politicians share their visions on and experiences of the economy of tomorrow: one that is fairer, more inclusive and more sustainable. But these voices do more than imagine a better future; they show how it can be realized. They examine what it takes to turn ideas into action and take the first concrete steps toward change. The collection brings to life a new multi-actor approach, as outlined by Jan Peter Balkenende and Govert Buijs in Capitalism Reconnected (2024) an approach in which everyone matters and shares responsibility: governments, businesses, civil society, and consumers alike.
Introduction
Interview 1 Iñigo Ucín: Lessons from Europes Largest Cooperative
Interview 2 Marlies van Wijhe: Innovating for a Sustainable Paint Industry
Interview 3 Henk Willem van Dorp: Leading a Family Business with Family
Values
Interview 4 Bruno Roche: Redefining Value
Interview 5 Harmen van Wijnen: Steering Pension Funds for Future
Generations
Interview 6 Ronald Cohen: Measuring Impact for a Good Economy
Interview 7 Kim Tan: Businesses that Transform Lives
Interview 8 Maria van der Heijden: Future-Proof Businesses Seek Connection
Interview 9 Marcello Palazzi: Leading Europes B Corp Movement to Foster
Responsibility
Interview 10 Marjan Minnesma: Pioneering to Accelerate the Transition
Interview 11 Hannah Ritchie: Finding Hope Through Data
Interview 12 Sabine Oberhuber: Shifting Power and Responsibility in
Circular Business Models
Interview 13 Julian Rosefeldt: Critical Art that Moves and Provokes
Interview 13 Cardinal Peter Turkson: Culture Critique Rooted in Faith
Interview 15 Mariana Mazzucato: The Entrepreneurial State
Interview 16 Lara Wolters: Battling for Change in Brussels
Epilogue
About the authors
Govert Buijs is a political philosopher and Professor of Social and Economic Renewal at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, supported by the Abraham Kuyper Foundation. He is part of the facultys Èthos research centre and from 2016 to 2026 held the Goldschmeding Research Chair. Buijs previously led the international research project Markets and Morality, funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation. Together with former Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, he co-authored Capitalism Reconnected: Toward a Sustainable, Inclusive and Innovative Market Economy in Europe (Amsterdam University Press, 2024). Ellen Klaver studied Philosophy of Culture and Governance at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Global Business and Sustainability at Erasmus University Rotterdam. She is a researcher at the Èthos Centre (VU) and at Socires, a Dutch thinktank on societal issues, where she works on the programme Structures of Meaning, researching meaningful (co)existence in a post-secular society. She co-authored Zin in de Samenleving (2024). Marcus van Toor studied Cultural History at Utrecht University and Philosophy of Culture and Governance at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He worked on the research project Markets and Morality, led by Buijs, and is now a researcher at the Netherlands Court of Audit, focusing on infrastructure, the environment, and the energy transition. He is pursuing a PhD at the University of Amsterdam on science and politics in the Anthropocene and has published widely on theology, philosophy, economics, and ecology.
