We spoke with Aaron Vermeulen, Global Lead Finance for Freshwater for WWF, about the results of PRINS for WWF – and what he thinks organisations can take away from this innovative consultancy.

Q: What attracted you to working with Leiden University BA students to solve your case?
It was twofold. One is working with young people, who are in the midst of their education. That is very attractive to us, because it gives us an insight into which topics are alive and important for these new leaders of the world, who are new supporters or challengers of our organisation. So we get a feel for what the important topics are for this generation – that’s one side.

Secondly, environmental protection is a very complex task which can only be approached from many different angles – so this specific study, International Studies, is not just a broad study but the students are not ‘the usual suspects’ that consult with our organisation. Working with these BA students provided me with new perspectives, which eventually could be incorporated in our work.

 Q: What added value do International Studies and Humanities students bring to your case?
As I mentioned above this is a group we normally don’t engage with. However, after working with them during the PRINS project, and having listened to the results during the final pitches, I think the added value of International Studies and Humanities students was clear from two angles, which they really highlighted in our case. One is the role of government and how government can help us to be more effective with engaging financial approaches, with an eye to protecting the environment – because in the end governments are regulators, they can create enabling environments for sustainable investments. That angle was quite strongly represented in the PRINS team pitches.

What also struck me during the pitches was the angle of inclusivity – focusing more on the needs of local people, because those needs are often aligned with environmental protection. The social issues were highlighted by the Leiden humanities students. It was a good reminder for us. I’m not saying the WWF is not engaged with these groups of stakeholders, but the PRINS students reminded us how we can do it better.

Q:  Why not go to a business school/management/public administration or development programme to find student consultants?
Well, we also go to students from other types of programmes, but they will come up with  different advice, and a different focus. They will lean more into the business case, how you can make money out of sustainable development that on the one hand provides returns for investors and on the other hand has a positive effect on nature.

But the teams from Leiden’s International Studies programme were better at looking at the context, what enables or prevents these deals from happening, for example – the importance of local government and other stakeholders is key, ensuring that they benefit from these investments and are not negatively impacted.

Q:  How were you inspired by these teams?
I was inspired by their idealism -  and they really showed the urgency that we need to save this planet. They also offered to be part of the solution, which was really encouraging. I think this is counter to a lot of the negative articles about millennials or people belonging to Generation Z that we sometimes read, how they are glued to their mobile phones and are not really engaging with societal topics. Our experience with the PRINS teams has really proven the contrary.  

What also inspired me was that these Leiden University BA of International Studies students are very articulate, very skilled in sharing messages in a short and powerful manner. I think that is very important these days when you don’t have a lot of time to get your message across, and that skillset was really striking to observe in these young people. We will definitely be hiring some of them in the near future!

Q: What will your organisation do with the ideas/solutions that were presented?
OK, now I will get specific. There were four teams for our case, and they all presented great ideas. I think two teams were better in coming up with advice that is directly implementable; there was one team that developed an app to inform consumers which companies and banks are engaging in sustainable practices, so that can make the right choice of which company or bank to go to. That’s implementable and something I definitely want to share with my colleagues, so I invited this team to come by our office next month and present it, so we can assess the feasibility a bit more.

The winning team really had a great idea, and they responded most fully to our research questions: how can you shape partnerships with external organisations better, and how can you make sure that the partnerships are really delivering positive planetary impact? They did a good assessment of partnerships that had worked well, and those that had worked less well, and found that Accountability, Transparency, Inclusiveness, and Long Term Thinking were important.

We can’t do our work alone…but we don’t always have a clear strategy and tactics behind partnerships, so this report really gives us good guidance on how to better design partnerships. I’ve invited this student consultancy team to meet our partnership management team.

Q: Based on what you saw during the pitching, do you have any career advice to help and inspire our students?
Well, you know, I think it came up during the first meeting. We got a similar question from one of the students: would you advise me to work for an NGO or a for-profit organization to work on promoting sustainability?

There’s not one answer for that. Are you a pragmatic thinker and are you ready to give in and compromise your principles and beliefs somewhat? That’s one way, and then maybe the corporate world would be more suitable. If you are really a hard-core idealist, maybe the non-profit sector is better for you. At WWF we are right in the middle: we have quite pragmatic people who have a strong belief in saving the planet. So my career advice is: understand who you are, then find the right organisation where you can make a positive impact on sustainability.

Q: How would you summarise your PRINS experience?
I thought it was very inspiring. And on both sides, there’s the value of getting two different worlds together, which creates a lot of energy and innovation. That’s how I summarise it: the merging of different worlds. Young and old, business and academia, sustainability and practicality, relevance and ideals –  PRINS gives you the opportunity to bring opposites together to launch creative, innovative thinking.