Top of this document
Go directly to navigation
Go directly to page content

english  nederlands
1  

The Beach

for creative innovation

From our field of expertise – co-creation and design with people, we cooperate with people and organizations who realize that in a rapidly transforming society, many issues are not easy to solve. We offer our networks, knowledge and experience in cultural programming and creative processes to companies, citizens, governmental and public organizations who are seeking for new perspectives and practices. Besides that we develop our own projects on topics we consider important.


Our philosophy

Shifting perspectives can help re-defining the ethos for design and makes innovation possible. `To our concern hierarchical organization models and related tasks make 'creative innovation' impossible. That is why The Beach operates as a network of people and organizations that embrace openness, involvement and interaction. We are convinced that shaping the future requires different way of thinking, looking and interacting. Seeking and finding new shared meanings are central to our approach.

What we do?

The Beach creates new visions and situations in the area of creative innovation. New insights are translated into organizational concepts and new (participatory) ways of working together. Cooperation with the best creative talent in design, art, science and business often yields unexpected but valuable perspectives.
We worked for and with Randstad / Yacht, Ahrend, Rijkswaterstaat, Arts and Culture Noord-Holland, Ymere, Koers Nieuw West, Innovation Network, Pal West, Casa 400, Platform for Labour Market and Education (PAO), Oude Huygens / Far West, Holland Casino, ABN AMRO, Trimbos Institute, BPF Bouwinvest, Amvest, HKU, Goods, Kasteel Groeneveld / Ministry of Agriculture, Probiblio, THNK, and the Chamber of Commerce Netherlands, Premsela, Ahead of the Game, Waag Society, Media4Me and ClickF1.
By clicking on the pictures you can see examples of our projects.

How?

By:
- Exploring, naming and imagining new possibilities, shifting perspectives.
- Design of future situations, environments.
- Making new crossovers and connections between organizations, sectors, disciplines.
- Directing of active participation and programming collaborations (of people and coalitions).
- Organizing conditions of organisational culture, leadership and change.

We-Think Ethic and The Beach

Our vision appears to fit in well with the ideas of Charles Leadbeater, who used in his book We-think: the power off mass creativity (2008) the metaphor of 'the beach'. As he puts it in his essay (Un) Common Ground (2007): "Beaches are ordered without being controlled. No one is in charge. Beaches are model civic spaces: tolerant, playful, self-regulating, democratic in spirit, mildly carnivalesque. Underlying the beach’s appeal is a simple idea: the beach is a commons where people can self-organise in play (...) There are no zoning regulations, fences nor white lines to tell you where to go". The beach reflects a way of thinking and doing, and it shows in our perspective on the organization of creative processes of innovation.


Who?

Diana Krabbendam, Mira de Graaf, Wina Smeenk, Brigitte van Mechelen, Bas Ruyssenaars and Dasha van Amsterdam are at the core of The Beach and have a broad experience in the field of culture and innovation processes. For the various projects they cooperate with creative thinkers and practioners from various backgrounds. Besides our core team, Michiel Schwarz (co-founder, The Beach) and Bert Mulder are key partners in our exploration in the landscape of creative innovation.

Contributions 
Diana Krabbendam, Mira | The Beach (en), Ino Paap