about
tamara witschge
how change and space need each other
making a positive impact
(un)learning while questioning the status quo
As long as I can remember, I have questioned the status quo and dominant ways of doing (ask my parents, teachers, or managers!). Though this always felt natural and necessary, the resistance that my questioning was met with, made me reflect on the way in which change happens (and is hindered). Studying people, communication and interactions, as well as doing deep internal work, I have come to see the link between space and change and how to facilitate both.
And I have come to learn that both are verbs: space and change require constant practice. I have had the honour to learn from others as I have explored my own relation to space and change: Creating with designers and artists; playing with acrobats; seeking stillness with yogi’s; and interacting with people who serve as mirrors critically reflecting my own presuppositions back to me (read my children). And I’m very happy to share my (un)learnings with you as I continue to explore this.
lecture
journalism in challenging times
my personal mission and vision for the world
My mission is to challenge beliefs in a playful and uplifting way, and to help create space for change. In this way I aim to inspire the belief that change is possible and the freedom to experiment.
My work is aimed at facilitating people and organisations to challenge beliefs, stories and the status quo and I do so in my own unique way, and through this can inspire change.
Together we question, create, pause, and play. Through workshops, collaborative research projects and consultancy or coaching, we can together which beliefs need challenging at individual or organizational level and how we can foster connection needed to imagine new ways of being and living (together).
Bio Tamara Witschge
“Tamara Witschge is professor of Creative Media for Social Change at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Until 2021 she held a chair in Media and Cultural Industries at the University of Groningen, and before that worked at Cardiff University and Goldsmiths, University of London.
She was trained as a social scientist with a PhD in Communication Science (University of Amsterdam, 2007).
Her work highlights the importance of wonder, doubt, and empathy in understanding current social issues and explores how we can facilitate more inclusive and sustainable societies through creative media and creative research methods.
She is (co-)author of many articles and books, amongst which the book Beyond Journalism (with Mark Deuze, 2020, Polity Press) and Changing Journalism (with journalists Angela Philips and Peter Lee-Wright, 2011, Routledge).”