Published on: January 8, 2026, 10:38 AM
On November 4, 2025, Govert van Oord (CEO of international maritime contractor Van Oord) and Martin Wijnen (Director-General of Rijkswaterstaat) swapped roles for a day. A successful experiment that yielded valuable insights. ‘We wish everyone an annual exchange with a stakeholder.’
The idea for the exchange originated during the recordings of the sixth edition of the podcast De Transitie . In it, Wijnen and Van Oord discussed how market and government can accelerate infrastructure renewal together.
By taking a look into each others operations, they wanted to gain a better understanding of the opportunities, challenges, and complex decisions the other faces. On November 4, it was time: Martin Wijnen followed Govert Van Oords program for a day and vice versa.
This ranged from discussions with the policy ministry and progress of organizational change at Rijkswaterstaat to risk allocation in a tender, progress of fleet investments, and sustainability themes at Van Oord.
Successful exchange
The gentlemen wanted to better understand each others positions to strengthen collaboration from there. They succeeded wonderfully, they say enthusiastically. Van Oord was surprised by how much coordination Rijkswaterstaat needs to carefully consider the interests of the large number of external and internal stakeholders.
Conversely, Wijnen experienced how difficult it can be to decide on an assignment based on limited information from the client. The exchange was a success.
What lessons did this yield?
- Read more about the lessons learned in the latest magazine Rijkswaterstaat Business & Innovation.
- Want to know more about the exchange between Martin Wijnen and Govert van Oord? Listen to the new edition of the podcast De Transitie via Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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