Corona: we knew she was coming but forgot about it

Jack Kruf | March 2020

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 gives rise to some personal thoughts. Of course, we face a crisis and are trying to limit the outbreak. But we seem to have entered the middle of a movie, in a world, for most people, strange, where aliens are trying to take over our precious planet. Some reflections through some familiar lenses in the world of value and risk management.

Microscopy image showing SARS-CoV-2. The spikes on the outer edge of the virus particles resemble a crown, giving the disease its characteristic name. (source: Wikipedia).

Certain or uncertain?

Some say we are living in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world, and that this outbreak is related to this. I personally do not think along these lines of considering the world. I never did. I think we live in a highly sophisticated world where science is advanced, and experts are fully aware of most patterns. We live in a world full of certainties. VUCA is made up and non-existent in my view.

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Resultaat in tijden van Transitie

PRIMO Europe en TIAS | februari 2020

Universiteit Tilburg en PRIMO Europe bieden een compact programma op strategische sturing. In lijn met de bevindingen uit (inter)nationale rapporten ervaren topmanagers in de publieke sector een combinatie van transities. Deze transities voltrekken zich tegelijkertijd en vragen om bezinning. Bezinning op herformulering van strategie, innovatie in waardecreatie en herinrichting van de sturing van systemen. 

Leergang ‘Resultaat in tijden van Transitie’ door PRIMO Europe en TIAS.

Public Risk Management Organisation (PRIMO) en het Tilburg Institute of Governance (TiG) hebben gezamenlijk het initiatief genomen een unieke leergang te ontwikkelen. TiG doet onderzoek naar public governance en hecht veel waarde aan een goede verbinding tussen wetenschap en praktijk, onder andere met praktijkgericht onderzoek en opleidingen voor bestuurlijke professionals. PRIMO heeft tot doel bij te dragen aan good governance van met name publieke organisaties en doet dit door middel van een portfolio waarbij publieke waarden en besturing ervan worden gekoppeld. Zij is gericht op kennisdeling en kennisbevordering. Academisch directeur is professor Theo Camps en marktdirecteur is Jack Kruf, president PRIMO Europe.

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PRIMO Risk Management Award 2019: Paul Hofstra

Uitgereikt te Rotterdam op 18 september 2020 aan Paul Hofstra.

The board of PRIMO Netherlands and the board of PRIMO Europe have awarded the PRIMO Risk Management Award 2019 to Paul Hofstra for his courage and leadership at the intersection of public value, public risk and governance.

Paul Hofstra

The award is based, on the one hand, on his mature leadership as a board member and director of the Rotterdam Court of Audit and, on the other, on his professional contributions to the precise and essential application of the principles of risk management, as set out, for example, in the reports Heat Without a Pipeline and Public Value Under Pressure.

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Public value under pressure

Headlines from ten years of audit reports

City of Rotterdam | 2019

The Audit Office has investigated the substantive similarities (‘common themes’) found in the conclusions of 42 reports it published on the municipality of Rotterdam between 2009 and 2019.

Administrative overconfidence and excessive regulation

The council is repeatedly overconfident in its plans and consequently takes on too many (financial) risks. Furthermore, the council often relies too heavily on rules and procedures, paying too little attention to practical implementation issues and residents’ everyday lives. These and other conclusions are set out in the Audit Office’s report ‘Public value under pressure’, a summary of dozens of investigations carried out by the Rotterdam Audit Office in the municipality of Rotterdam since 2009.

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Het gezag van de gemeentesecretaris

Een ambachtelijke uitdaging

Corné van der Meulen, Thijs Jansen en Niels Karsten | 2019, Stichting Beroepseer en VGS

“Waarom luisteren mensen naar je als gemeentesecretaris? Het lijkt een logische vraag, maar het antwoord is niet zomaar gegeven. De tijd dat je als secretaris, met een rood potlood in de hand kon wachten tot de collegestukken bij je werden aangeboden is lang voorbij – als die ooit al echt bestaan heeft.

Natuurlijk brengt de hiërarchische positie in de organisatie gezag met zich mee. Toch blijkt ook telkens dat er meer nodig is. Dat zien we in dit onderzoek bevestigd. De discussie over gezag, waarom nemen mensen je serieus, hoe krijg je positie in complexe organisaties, wordt steeds relevanter. Nu steeds meer taken in samenwerkingsverbanden worden uitgevoerd, we regionaal beleid maken en gezamenlijk met zorgpartners en woningbouwcorporaties optrekken, sta je als secretaris niet meer bovenaan, maar midden in het speelveld. Dat maakt ons werk veel leuker, maar ook uitdagender.

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Cracks appearing in financial relations

On investment and solvency

Jack Kruf en Caspar Boendermaker | juni 2019

In April 2019, in consultation with BNG Bank, the annual PRIMO/UDITE meeting of the ‘From Global to Local’ think tank took place. Around 15 public-sector leaders met with BNG Bank to discuss the challenges facing local authorities.

The cracks in the local authority’s financial system are clearly visible.

The recently published Global Risks Report 2019 by the World Economic Forum and a presentation by the City of Delft revealed cracks in the financial situation. Is the financial resilience of the city and region at risk?

Transitions require investment, whilst the council’s solvency is under pressure.

The City of Delft presented its ambitious long-term investment strategy. Investments totaling at least 1.4 billion euros are planned through 2040, of which the council will have to cover approximately 25%.

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Resilient Cities Catalyst

Resilient Cities Catalyst | 2019

In partnership with a community of urban resilience actors, RCC leverages experience and a pioneering ecosystem of partners and practitioners to apply lessons, insights, and resources to advance this critical work. RCC works with cities to build the local capacities and partnerships needed to understand, prioritise and concretely address each city’s risk and chronic stress as it pursues strategic goals or recovers from a crisis.

Urban Practitioners

RCC is a network of urban practitioners with deep experience in municipal government service design and delivery, public and private funding and financing, and philanthropic partnership development.

“Our resilience approach rests on three pillars – integrated assessment, planning and action, inclusive governance, and a forward-looking risk-based methodology.”

RCC’s resilience approach rests on three pillars – integrated assessment, planning and action, inclusive governance, and a forward-looking risk-based methodology – that build lasting capacity to address the deep-rooted problems that often impede progress at the project, neighbourhood, city and regional scales.

Their professional experiences cover a breadth of technical domains, from economic development to affordable housing to climate change adaptation to urban mobility and beyond. We know the way cities budget, the way cities plan and procure, and how cities operate.

Resilience Experts

RCC is a network of resilience experts who are pioneers in the urban resilience movement. They have collectively partnered with more than 100 cities worldwide to catalyse and support their resilience-building journeys to deliver impact for their communities.

Strategic Conveners

RCC is a group of strategic conveners who understand the importance of bringing uncommon partners and practitioners together. They have built action-oriented communities of practice and networks of diverse actors centred on complex challenges like urban migration, natural infrastructure, seismic resilience, and more.