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Maritime Institute Willem Barentsz

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NHL Stenden Hogeschool

By moving your boundaries forward you will achieve more. Our campuses are located in the north of the Netherlands and we have a worldwide partner network. From Leeuwarden to South-Africa; the world at your feet.
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The Thorbecke Academy is the institute for study programmes and research in the fields of law, public administration, and safety and security.
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European Preparedness and Resilience

Professorship
Both the Netherlands and Europe are facing major security challenges. These include hybrid warfare, threats to the democratic legal order, growing polarisation, disinformation, disruptive cyberattacks, migration crises and climate disasters. The frequency, interconnectedness, complexity and impact of these challenges are increasing worldwide. It means that Dutch society is facing acute, cross-border challenges, and increases the urgency to strengthen awareness, preparedness and social resilience. This resilience challenge is high on the national and local policy agenda and calls on the whole of society to take action. 

The European Preparedness and Resilience professorship focuses on developing and facilitating research, training courses, and education to increase resilience for government institutions, semi-public organisations, small and medium-sized businesses, and other social partners in Northern Netherlands. The professorship will play an active role as a connector, driver and facilitator of research, projects and initiatives in this field. It does so as part of the Safety and Security Campus. As the quartermaster of the Safety and Security Campus, professor Sipke de Hoop also contributes to its further development and to cooperation with the Ministry of Defence and other important partners in the security domain.

Our Mission                                    

The professorship aims to raise awareness and increase the capacity for action among public and private partners, civil society organisations and citizens in Northern Netherlands with regard to security threats arising from geopolitical, climate-related and societal (cross-border) challenges. 

Within the Safety and Security Campus, the professorship aims to actively contribute to the preparedness of the armed forces, the strengthening of civil security partners and the resilience of society through knowledge, research and education.       

Practical ways forward are derived from, amongst other things, lessons learned elsewhere in the world in the field of “human security” and resilience. Examples include: 

  • The experiences of authorities and security actors in Ukraine 

  • The cybersecurity system in Estonia, where citizens play a crucial role in combating disinformation from Russia 

  • The well-prepared Finnish society, where resilience is deeply rooted in the community 

  • The major power outage in Spain in 2025 

In addition to lessons from abroad, the professorship also researches best practices from the Netherlands: 

  • What strategic lessons about resilience have been learned from the coronavirus pandemic?   

  • How did “communities” (government, organisations, businesses and citizens) in Limburg deal with the floods in 2021?   

  • How are crisis organisations and businesses preparing for the various hybrid threats and what bottlenecks are they experiencing?   

  • Are there local examples of successful efforts to combat polarisation?      

With a strong profile in the field of regional studies, combined with expertise in the areas of governance, security and law, best practices from elsewhere are translated into practical perspectives for organisations, governments, businesses and citizens in Northern Netherlands. In this way, the professorship links the resilience of our own communities to resilience elsewhere in the world.      

Who we are  

  • Dr Sipke de Hoop, professor 

  • Dr Anna Bartelds, lecturer-researcher

  • Dr Bart-Jan Heine, lecturer-researcher 

The professorship is part of the Thorbecke Academy. There are many opportunities for collaboration with other professorships within NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, such as the Cybersafety professorship, the Safety, Governance and Subversion professorship and the Maritime Law professorship. 

Lector Sipke de Hoop

Dr Sipke de Hoop

professor Preparedness and Resilience

Collaboration partners 

The professorship collaborates, including within the broader context of the Safety and Security Campus, with: 

  • Various ministries 

  • Northern provinces 

  • Municipalities and security regions 

  • VNO-NCW MKB Noord (Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers, SME North) 

  • NCTV (National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism) 

  • Intelligence services and various knowledge institutions such as the NIPV (National Institute for Public Safety) and the NLDA (National Forensic Laboratory).   

It also collaborates with Cordaid and Oxfam Novib, the Centre for European Security Studies, and the Groninger Institute for Central and East European Studies. 

Research approach

The professorship is working on three areas of research: 

  • Strengthening the information position on the nature and extent of current vulnerabilities, threats, conflicts and their possible significance and impact on “communities” in Northern Netherlands. This knowledge position can be used to increase visibility in the public domain and raise awareness among specific target groups.   

  • An analysis and overview of best practices that have enabled “communities” in the Netherlands and abroad to cope with various crises and threats. The effective mechanisms identified provide starting points for interventions to increase the resilience of “communities” in Northern Netherlands.   

  • Contributing to research questions from society. Under the supervision of members of the professorship, third and fourth year students from educational institutions within the Safety and Security Campus can carry out practical assignments in multidisciplinary teams in the field of resilience for organisations and companies in Northern Netherlands. This format makes it possible to scale up quickly and flexibly in response to research questions from society. 

Research areas 1 and 2 actively contribute to creating a preparedness mindset: the research provides valuable insights into relevant threats and tools for strengthening resilience. Research area 3 promotes interaction. 

Research projects 

  • Research and education: Advisory exploration of resilience education for secondary school pupils in Northern Netherlands. Client: Safety and Security Campus (completed in January 2026). Follow-up project: implementation pilot in collaboration with the municipality of Assen, ministries, schools and Safety and Security Campus partners (autumn 2026-summer 2027). 

  • Research and advice: Raising public awareness, particularly among young people, of the relevance of development cooperation and international cooperation. Client: Cordaid and Oxfam Novib (completed January 2026). Possible follow-up project in collaboration with these clients (autumn 2026-summer 2027). 

  • Research and design of Economic Resilience knowledge and innovation board. In collaboration with the province of Drenthe (January-June 2026).   

  • Research and training – Project SME 1: From awareness to leadership – business continuity for SMEs. Target group: SMEs in Drenthe. In collaboration with the province of Drenthe (and possibly VNO-NCW MKB Noord and Rabobank). (2026-2027). 

  • Research and training – SME Project 2: From inspiration to leadership – the role of business associations in resilient villages. In collaboration with the province of Drenthe (and possibly VNO-NCW MKB Noord and Rabobank). (2026-2027).   

  • Survey and follow-up research: Resilient citizens, resilient organisation – perceptions of threats, resilience and role among employees and organisations. In collaboration with the municipality of Assen, the province of Drenthe, the municipality of Assen, DCTerra, NHL Stenden 

  • Education, training and awareness: Setting up a regional version of the National Security Leadership course in collaboration with NCTV, NIPV, IDL and the Dutch Police (autumn 2026/spring 2027). 

  • Research: exploring the potential for a Cognitive Resilience project in collaboration with the Netherlands Defence Academy (spring 2026). 

  • Research and training project: ‘resilience on the streets’ – about how citizens in neighbourhoods can become self-reliant together. Exploration of a possible project in collaboration with the northern provinces, the Safety Regions and Rabobank (spring 2026). 

Publications

Below is a selection of publications by the professor.

Sustainable Development Goals

This professorship contributes to...