Het IMSA-teamHet team
The team

Tammo Oegema

medew_Tammo_pasf.jpg ‘I was sixteen when Limits to Growth got translated into Dutch; it was Wouter van Dieren who put it in the limelight. I also admired the plea by our Economic Nobel Prize winner Jan Tinbergen for a world government to find an overall solution to the intricate problems of resources, world population, pollution, economic development and distribution.’

Tammo studied Welfare Economics, specialising in environmental and sustainability issues. His alternative civilian service consisted of working on the environmental-economic model SECMON underlying the Dutch broad public debate on energy issues in the beginning of the eighties.
‘In those days, decarbonisation was an important issue. And its importance has only increased since. I am convinced that the speed of climate change is much higher than most people believe, mainly because it is hard for us to imagine how exponential processes evolve.

I joined IMSA in 1993. At the time, Wouter van Dieren just became a member of the Club of Rome. What attracted me was their systems dynamics approach, the broad variety of projects, and the unconventional but obviously successful way of solving societal disputes on sustainability issues.

Limits to Growth (1972) has become my motivation. In our work for both authorities and companies, IMSA applies both the contents of this report and the underlying methodology of systems analysis. In a conflict situation like our Wadden Sea project, for instance, this methodology enables you to take into account the whole group of players with all their interactions. Only then real win-win situations can be created. Narrative journalist Irene van der Linde wrote a book about it: The Battle for the Wadden Sea, An overview of five years of political struggle. The book is available in Dutch only and can be ordered by sending an email to IMSA.

I am interested in Cradle to Cradle. Not because, environmental-technically speaking, it brings about something new, but its power to stimulate entrepreneurs exceeds that of the old environmental mindset. I once heard one of them say: “The environment? Who cares! But C2C is fun”. In my opinion, the reason is that old solutions like efficiency improvements do not yield much results, while C2C is about the intelligent design and use of products, with an eye to reuse.

My current position is that of senior consultant. My card also says that I am a principal. This means that it is my job to integrate IMSA’s methods and ideas in all of our projects and to enhance their development.’


Back 

IMSA operates on the interface between industries, governments, NGOs, science and the critical outside world to develop together with our clients innovative solutions to sustainable development.



  This video is about IMSA Amsterdam, our vision and our sources of inspiration.

Part 1:   'Inspiration to change' 
Part 2:   'Politics of change' 





IMSA Amsterdam
Prins Hendriklaan 15
1075 AX Amsterdam
Tel.: +31(0)20-5787600
Fax: +31(0)20-6622336
info@imsa.nl