Learning Path
Contributing to the Future
January - September 2026
Note: this learning path will be in the Dutch language.
Bringing more life into robust systems:
how the lifeworld can become leading
As a director, manager, policymaker, program manager, or advisor, you are actively involved in the (turbulent) public domain. Energy transition, housing, inequality of opportunity in education, mental health among young people, migration pressure, poverty, digital security, societal polarization, administrative innovation, health crises… to name just a few. The issues are familiar, as are the standard approaches. But many of the difficulties persist or even worsen. We see the root cause of all these problems and challenges as the excessive use of procedures, laws, methods, and systems in situations that require a unique and human approach. We believe this overuse arises from a lack of understanding of alternative approaches. This lack of alternative ways to approach complex issues increases their complexity and complexity.
“Anyone can learn from the past.
What we need today is to learn from the future.”
Herman Kahn (1922-1983)
But what if we look at complexity differently – not from the perspective of yet more policy, planning, and control, but from the perspective of the concrete reality and experiences of people themselves? And how do you translate this into an approach that is workable for everyone involved? And do you align it with an organization's procedures?
Planning, modeling, monitoring, and analyzing are invaluable and offer guidance, but they often fail to connect with human realities. Consider, for example, situations in which citizens feel alienated from well-intentioned policy goals or students who feel disconnected from how education is organized. In this learning program, we focus on how to strengthen and balance the connection between our living environment – the concrete reality in which people work and live—with the world of organizing, planning, and budgeting. While building on deep and far-reaching insights (see results and sources), the program primarily focuses on the practical and direct application of skills to achieve this.
The following questions are central to this:
- How do you enable long-term impact and development in a way that contributes to the future?
- How do you work towards an approach and solution that connects with people's world?
- How do you work effectively with information from, and influence, the entire system?
- … and how do you apply this within your own work context?
The systems world refers to the entirety of rules, procedures, structures, and formal systems established to organize and manage social processes.
The lifeworld is the everyday, individual, and social world in which people live, gather, communicate, and give meaning to their lives.
In this program, we explore how we can bring these two pillars, which have grown apart, back together.
Results and sources
The learning program focuses on acquiring skills in dealing with:
Working according to the principles of the lifeworld in meetings, organizations, situations, and systems: Recognizing the dynamics, impact, and consequences for individuals and the whole. (Methods of Leibniz, Kolb, Kübler-Ross, Brook, Cleese, Cockmann).
Coping with the pressure of the system world and appropriate interventions: The system world continues to exert influence, even when you work from within the lifeworld. It is important to recognize this pressure and create space for nonviolent and authentic action. (Insights from Arendt, Habermas).
Creating movement where things are stuck: by looking not only at behavior and consequences, but also at causes and underlying patterns, problems can be better understood and resolved. (Inspiration comes from thinkers like Senge, Argyris, and Schön.)
Making, creating, and letting emerge: being able to use the right approach for the problem at hand: paying attention to aspects such as ease, form, beauty, and the whole. (Approach and inspiration from Chekhov, Assmann)
Learning from the future: Working (and living) with the unknown, uncertain, and unpredictable. (Based on Levinas, Merleau-Ponty, Kahn)
Applying different types of perception and information processing, and becoming aware of how one's own preferences and beliefs influence perception. (Concept by Heidegger, Gadamer, Jung)
For whom?
This learning program is for administrators, managers, policymakers, (program) managers, and consultants.
- You work or are involved in a complex issue that requires greater connection with the real world.
- You have daily experience with the friction between systems and the real world.
Program
The program consists of two blocks:
- Three two-day meetings
- Four workshops
Before the start of the program there is an intake interview
Part 1
Days 1 & 2: Working with the lifeworld
During the first block, we lay the foundation for working with the lifeworld.
- Practicing different types of perception and information processing.
- Learning to distinguish between intelligence and consciousness.
- Exploring personal preferences, beliefs, and patterns that influence perception.
- Collecting principles that facilitate/enable working according to the living world.
Days 3 & 4: Working with the systems world
During the second block, we will explore the impact of the systems world and practice interventions to influence it.
- Deepen our understanding of the lifeworld and systems world.
- Explore the principles underlying the systems world and identify its boundaries.
- Practice interventions to integrate a lifeworld approach into the systems world.
Days 5 & 6: Deepening of skills
During the third block, we will deepen the insights and skills from the first two blocks with practical case studies.
- Continuous design is a hallmark of the lifeworld approach.
- Therefore, the content of these two days will be based on the work and experiences from the previous days.
Part 2
Workshops
In our experience, it's often difficult to apply the knowledge and experience in your own work context. Therefore, following the six-day program, you can register for four follow-up workshops where we'll deepen our knowledge and experience. During these workshops, we'll focus on the experiences and challenges you encounter in applying the insights and skills you gained during the first six days in your work.
The structure and content of these workshops will be determined in consultation with you.
How we're going to work
The learning sessions are active and dynamic. Lifeworld capabilities are dynamic skills; we use them, we do them, we act on them. Talking about them is certainly important, but it's only one aspect of the skill.
In our experience, a learning process is most effective when we work from real-world situations. The people and realities you encounter are the material we use in a practical way.
To do justice to a lifeworld learning trajectory, the program is unique to a certain extent. We increasingly ask participants to actively contribute to the learning environment.
The idea is that you bring an issue from your work environment to the course so that you can make significant progress.
In our experience, reflecting on your own preferences, beliefs, and patterns is an essential part of a successful learning trajectory.
Participants' experiences
“Connecting to the future gives me language, order, and space to contribute to transitions toward a future that does justice to the system, the process, and the relationship between me and us.”
Leon Klinkers (consultant and interim-manager National government)
“I’ve learned to allow the right solution to emerge from a feeling of ease in the present moment, and I notice that my impact as a professional has grown significantly as a result.”
Réka Vilikó (scrum master at Alliander)
Data
Part 1
- Block 1: 15 & 16 January 2026
- Block 2: 12 & 13 February 2026
- Block 3: 12 & 13 March 2026
Part 2
- Workshop 1: 10 April 2026
- Workshop 2: 8 May 2026
- Workshop 3: 5 June 2026
- Workshop 4: 18 September 2026
Costs
The cost of the 6-day training program is €4,500 excluding VAT.
The cost of the follow-up 4-day workshops is €2,500 excluding VAT.
Practical information
- Duration: 6 days, with an optional 4-day extension
- Language: Dutch
- Group size: 10-15 participants
- Location: Delft, The Netherlands
- Lunch included
Register or need more information?
Please contact us via the connect form on this website.
About the facilitators
Peter Paul Gerbrands
helps organizations and partnerships find a path to the future. He has a background as a director and organizational consultant with experience working with complex, interconnected systems.
Jan Peeters
is a designer and facilitator of energetic learning processes with a focus on future skills. He has a background as a designer and manager in higher education and is a learning coach in various Sioo programs.
Iwan Gerbrands
is a management consultant with extensive experience in the public sector, having worked for WagenaarHoes and Twynstra Gudde, among others. He also has a background in sociology, political science, and music.
Marjoline Baars
creates theater and projects around social issues. She conducts participatory theatrical research and provides training focused on communication and co-creation between people and nature.
Frank Bosboom
works with organizations and networks on current and future societal challenges in the areas of housing, well-being, education, and healthcare. Frank works as a learning coach within organizations that require transformation.
About Contributing to the Future
CTTF has offered training courses for over 20 years. Various trainers and professionals have contributed to this development over the years. The current learning program is therefore a collection of and builds on all these experiences. Our ambition is to familiarize a growing group of professionals with the basic principles and skills of this program, so that they can collaborate and contribute to society and the future.