Plenary opening: Synergy Café

Joining you at your table around the central stage are professionals from the research and education sector, government, Dutch Top Sectors, and social partners. Keynote speaker, dr. Bernice Bovenkerk (WUR) en prof. dr. Tom van der Meer (UVA), will open Synergy ’22. They have been invited to take a stand based on their vision and to offer challenging questions to the audience. Perspectives will be shared and collected at every table. A great opportunity to share your ideas and get to know your peers!

Tom van der Meer, professor of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, will challenge participants to find the dividing line between scepticism and distrust. Is (too) much confidence in institutions desirable? How can we ensure that society displays a healthy scepticism towards authority, without lapsing into blind distrust? A perfect question for the theme 'Building Trust'.

Bernice Bovenkerk, associate professor of Philosophy at Wageningen University & Research, would like to ask participants to what extent science should be coloured by activism. Do activism and research go hand in hand, or is there a limit? And if so, where do we draw the line? How do you act as a professional among competing visions of how science should interact with society? The answers to these questions fit perfectly with the theme 'Building Impact'.