Making an impact together: ‘How do we create a place where knowledge really leads to change in society?’

Our youngest generation is growing up in a world full of challenges. Think of climate change, increasing pressure on healthcare and growing inequality of opportunity. How do we ensure that children and young people get a healthy and promising start? Not only for themselves, but also for the generations to come. According to Jennifer Kockx, program manager at Healthy Start, this can only be done by stimulating collaboration between different disciplines. But how do you set up that collaboration and how do you ensure that the knowledge that results from it really contributes to change in society?

The urge to build bridges

“The urge to bring different people and perspectives together was present from an early age. For example, in high school I was once told that I thought ‘everything was relative’. By this, the teacher meant that I was always open to multiple possible perspectives and adjusted my ideas and beliefs based on that. After high school, I chose to study Physics at TU Delft. I thought it was an interesting study and decided to continue it with a PhD in mechanical engineering.”

What’s special about Healthy Start

”For several reasons, I have enjoyed working at Healthy Start in the past few years. To begin with, I would like to underline the societal mission. There is great inequality of opportunity in our society. These differences can arise very early on. A child who is born with a disadvantage often has to fight throughout life. Within Healthy Start, research is done on both the youngest and young adults. This involves looking at physical, mental and social health. Resulting in a complete picture of how, where and why inequality arises and what can be done about it.

What further appeals to me is the way the research is done. Within Healthy Start, research questions are not determined by science, but by what is going on in society. In addition, we encourage scientists to collaborate with others right from the start of a project. We make a distinction between so-called ‘interdisciplinary’ and ‘transdisciplinary’ collaboration. Interdisciplinary collaboration is about collaboration between scientists from different disciplines. Transdisciplinary collaboration goes one step further. This concerns collaborations between scientists and other stakeholders, such as policy officers, parents, teachers, young adultsand social workers. Transdisciplinary collaboration, in particular, requires researchers to have strong communication skills and the ability to step outside their usual frameworks.”

“In addition, researchers are not only concerned with scientific publications. They also contribute to policy documents, help develop apps and create, for example, theatre performances for young children. Internally, we call this ‘Science 2.0’. It’s about researchers playing a broad role, which goes beyond just academic work.”

New and old profiles

“Of course, this progressive approach to research comes with its own challenges. One of the big questions is how do we ensure that young scientists get enough publications to their name, while also spending a lot of time collaborating and making an impact. Fortunately, more and more attention is being paid to this nationally, but that development is not going so fast. The risk of being at the forefront is that we don’t know exactly how the profiles of our young scientists will fit into the more traditional academic setting. That is why it is essential that we continue to talk to each other and provide internal support where necessary.”

Combination of knowledge and motivation

”At Healthy Start, I learned what collaboration across disciplines really means, and what it means to make societal impact. I was already familiar with these concepts, but at Healthy Start it has been taken to a higher level. Now that I’m leaving soon, I will no longer be witnessing up close how everything unfolds. Nevertheless, I can see that we have already achieved a great deal. For example, it is special that nurses – a group that is often overlooked – are permanent knowledge partners within Healthy Start.

To conclude, I would like to encourage everyone involved to keep pushing forward. Of course, there will be obstacles, but try to think around them. If you are truly passionate about Healthy Start’s mission, you will get a powerful combination of knowledge and motivation. I am convinced that this will lead to interconnection and progress.”

Jennifer Kockx’s Healthy Start perspective
“I hope that the community of Healthy Start will become even closer and larger. To achieve this, it is crucial that we all speak the same language. What do we actually mean by terms like ‘co-creation’ and ‘making an impact’? When we speak the same language, working together becomes much more effective. In addition, it would be great if Healthy Start became a place where other organizations can go for help with complex issues. I am thinking, for example, of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. I hope that Healthy Start will become a centre of expertise known for its strong science and positive impact on society. I believe we are already well on our way in that direction.”

Jennifer Kockx is program manager at Healthy Start.