Symposium | The creative economy (featuring Peter Wennink and others)

How can the creative industries and the cultural sector contribute to economic growth in the Netherlands? A symposium featuring Peter Wennink, former President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ASML, among others.

Business leader and former President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ASML Peter Wennink outlined a growth strategy for the Netherlands in his report, focusing on digitalisation and AI, security, energy and climate, and life sciences.

The creative industries are absent from this strategy. Yet these major challenges demand precisely the imagination and design expertise our sector has to offer.

Peter Wennink is the keynote speaker. Responding to his analysis are Jeroen Bartelse (director of TivoliVredenburg and chair of Kunsten ’92), Anne Ligtenberg (designer and programme director of Design Development Eindhoven), Mark van Iterson (chair of BNO), Barbara Baarsma (economist), Jeroen Dijsselbloem (Mayor of Eindhoven) and Kiriko Mechanicus (creator of, among other works, Starpower!).

Anna van Nunen (director of Eurosonic Noorderslag) and Willem van Zeeland (director of Dutch Design Foundation) open with an overview of the current state of the design sector.

Programme:

• 10:00 | Doors open and welcome

• 10:30 | start Symposium | The creative economy

• 12:30 | Networking lunch

• 13:30 | Design Tour begins (optional, ticket required)

Language: Dutch

Speaker biographies

Peter Wennink
Peter Wennink is an entrepreneur and business leader, and the former President and CEO of ASML. Under his leadership, ASML became one of Europe’s most valuable technology companies and the global market leader in chipmaking machines. Since retiring in 2024, Wennink has held various supervisory and advisory positions. In 2025, at the request of the Dutch government, he issued independent advice on the Netherlands’ long-term earning capacity.

Barbara Baarsma
Barbara Baarsma is an economist, Chief Economist at PwC Netherlands and Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Amsterdam. She also chairs the Bank Council of De Nederlandsche Bank and is a member of the Dutch Committee for Entrepreneurship. Her work focuses on economic and societal challenges and how economics can contribute to broader prosperity and sustainable growth.

Jeroen Bartelse
Jeroen Bartelse is Managing Director of TivoliVredenburg and Chair of Kunsten ’92. His previous roles include Director of the Council for Culture, and positions at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Through his various roles, he works to strengthen the cultural and creative sector in the Netherlands.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem
Jeroen Dijsselbloem is an economist and public administrator who has served as Mayor of Eindhoven since 2022. His previous roles include Member of Parliament, Minister of Finance and President of the Eurogroup. He also chaired the Dutch Safety Board and the National Growth Fund. As mayor, he works to support the continued development of Eindhoven and the Brainport region, with a focus on economic growth and the city’s liveability.

Mark van Iterson
Mark van Iterson is a designer and has served as Chair of the Association of Dutch Designers (BNO) since 2026. Before this, he worked at Heineken for many years, where he was responsible for design across the company’s international brand portfolio as Global Design Director. As Chair of BNO, he champions the position and significance of design and designers in the Netherlands.

Anne Ligtenberg
Anne Ligtenberg is a designer and Programme Director at Design Development Eindhoven (DDE). She graduated with honours from Design Academy Eindhoven and is co-founder of social design agency AM. As a designer, she focuses on the societal power of design and on connecting people and perspectives. In her role at DDE, she works to strengthen Eindhoven’s design ecosystem.

Kiriko Mechanicus
Kiriko Mechanicus is a filmmaker, writer, photographer and culinary creative. Her graduation film A Tomato Tragedy (2023) won the Netherlands Film Fund Wildcard, and her documentary How to Catch a Butterfly (2026) premiered at SXSW and won several international film awards. She also creates music videos, documentaries and experimental work. For VPRO, she made Starpower!, a YouTube series exploring how geopolitics and soft power influence online trends and pop culture.

Anna van Nunen
Anna van Nunen is Managing Director of Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS), the European platform for emerging music talent. She previously worked in both the cultural sector and the start-up and scale-up world, and developed Innofest into a platform where innovations are tested in practice at festivals. Her work connects culture, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Willem van Zeeland
Willem van Zeeland is Managing Director of Dutch Design Foundation (DDF), the organisation behind Dutch Design Week, Dutch Design Awards and Coalitions. Through DDF, he champions the position of designers and the role design can play in addressing societal and economic challenges.