This is an automatic English translation of the Dutch original.
The Netherlands can shape its own future, but does so in a very fragmented way. Meanwhile there is plenty of appetite not to leave the discussion about major changes in society to governments and politicians.
That is the conclusion of Stichting Post-X Society after its first year of research into ways to stimulate debate about transitions. The foundation is expanding and is becoming ‘a platform for democratic innovators’.
Plenty of interest in a new platform
How should we deal with new technology? What should we do as the sea level rises? How do we make sure democracy keeps up with the times? People in the Netherlands have been asking themselves these big questions for so long that most leave them to be answered by governments and organisations.
These rarely do so in a coherent way. They give no answer to questions such as how democracy as a whole is doing, or they lose sight of public support or democratic legitimacy.
To change that, Post-X Society was set up in 2023, a foundation that calls on people and organisations to think about the future together as much as possible. There turns out to be plenty of appetite for that, founder Pieter van Boheemen sees. ‘The age of the great ideologies seems to be over. Many people also feel it is someone else’s job to think about the future. Yet there turns out to be plenty of interest in a new platform that encourages people and organisations to design the future together, in a coherent way.’
What does the X in Post-X Society stand for?
The X in the name Post-X Society stands for any topic you can possibly debate. Topics you want to leave behind or want to reach. The foundation already has a few of them on its site: post-stress, post-24/7 and even post-hope? What do those societies look like? How do we get there in a democratic way? The answers must always be discussed in relation to the other questions, is the idea. With special attention to encouraging critical thinking, dialogue, collective action and co-creation.
Funders have stepped in to support the foundation, so that on 1 October two people were able to join director Van Boheemen: debate expert and communications adviser Arnold Vonk and public-sector adviser Youssra Jabri. Bas Bijlsma has also become a collaborating partner; last year he warned in de Volkskrant that we are sleepwalking towards an autocracy.
In the coming months they will build various projects. There is a post-polarisation project, work is underway on a first Democratie Monitor for the Netherlands, and there is an optimistic project about what a future can look like in which people, nature and technology live together in harmony, Solarpunk Project Sunrise.
A call to take part
Van Boheemen calls on interested organisations and citizens to join the platform. ‘We want to unite initiatives with the same objectives.’ Partners connect their network and activities to the platform, and thereby contribute to knowledge exchange, the organisation of gatherings and the setting up of new projects.
International partners are welcome too; partly for that reason Post-X Society has joined the international network of The Humanity Hub in The Hague.