{"id":2766,"date":"2025-07-14T09:27:47","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T09:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/?p=2766"},"modified":"2025-07-14T10:50:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T10:50:23","slug":"time-to-rethink-competitiveness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to Rethink Competitiveness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Time to Rethink Competitiveness \u2013 For People and Planet<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Most conversations about Europe’s future \u2014 whether on the Green Deal, the New Social Contract, or the Just Transition \u2014 are still held within an outdated framework:<\/p>\n

Competitiveness.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

But what does competitiveness really<\/em> mean in today\u2019s world?
\nAnd more importantly: what is it costing us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our competitive thinking is still rooted in capitalism<\/strong> \u2014 a model that sees the economy as a race for growth, profit, and market dominance. This logic has shaped not only our markets, but our social contracts<\/strong>, which now focus less on mutual care and more on producing \u201cproductive citizens\u201d who can compete.<\/em><\/p>\n

That means even our \u201csocial\u201d<\/em> policies are often judged by how well they support economic competitiveness \u2014 not how well they support health, belonging, or dignity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s here that things break down:<\/p>\n

A competitive social contract<\/strong> undermines the very social<\/strong> part of the contract \u2014 and makes it nearly impossible to fulfill the promises of the European Green Deal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because profit and power<\/strong> always come first.
\nAnd when climate, justice, or wellbeing threaten those profits, they get sidelined.<\/p>\n

So what if we redefined competitiveness altogether?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s reimagine it as:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe collective capacity to meet human needs within planetary boundaries while building shared wellbeing and ecological resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imagine policies that reward:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Cooperation over domination<\/li>\n
  • Regeneration over extraction<\/li>\n
  • Community ownership over corporate scale<\/li>\n
  • Long-term wellbeing over short-term gain<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    This is what we might call regenerative competitiveness<\/strong> \u2014 not a race to the top, but a shared commitment to a future where all can thrive.<\/p>\n

    Europe has a choice:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    \u27a4 Double down on extractive competition \u2014 and watch both society and the planet fragment further.
    \nOr<\/strong>
    \n\u27a4 Lead the world in developing a post-competitive, collaborative social contract<\/strong> \u2014 where the Green Deal and the New Social Contract support each other, not compete.<\/p>\n

    Let\u2019s stop asking how to stay ahead<\/strong>, and start asking:
    \n\u201cHow do we live well, together, within our means?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Time to Rethink Competitiveness \u2013 For People and Planet Most conversations about Europe’s future \u2014 whether on the Green Deal, the New Social Contract, or the Just Transition \u2014 are still held within an outdated framework: Competitiveness. But what does competitiveness really mean in today\u2019s world? And more importantly: what is it costing us? Our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[212,48,76,202,205,204,213,72,46,44],"class_list":["post-2766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","tag-collectiveresilience","tag-doughnuteconomics","tag-eupolicy","tag-greendeal","tag-justtransition","tag-postcapitalism","tag-regenerativeeurope","tag-socialcontract","tag-systemchange","tag-wellbeingeconomy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTime to Rethink Competitiveness - Govert van Ginkel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do we redefine competitiveness to support health, belonging, or dignity? Do we need to re-think our goals?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Time to Rethink Competitiveness - Govert van Ginkel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How do we redefine competitiveness to support health, belonging, or dignity? Do we need to re-think our goals?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Govert van Ginkel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-14T09:27:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-14T10:50:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Arek-Socha-from-Pixabay-scale-2634833_1280.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"711\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Govert van Ginkel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Govert van Ginkel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/inspiration\\\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/inspiration\\\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Govert van Ginkel\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2568f8028f1e53da1d48b132d73b023\"},\"headline\":\"Time to Rethink Competitiveness\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-14T09:27:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-14T10:50:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/inspiration\\\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":324,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/inspiration\\\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/Arek-Socha-from-Pixabay-scale-2634833_1280.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"#CollectiveResilience\",\"#DoughnutEconomics\",\"#EUPolicy\",\"#GreenDeal\",\"#JustTransition\",\"#PostCapitalism\",\"#RegenerativeEurope\",\"#SocialContract\",\"#SystemChange\",\"#WellbeingEconomy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Inspiration\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/inspiration\\\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/inspiration\\\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/inspiration\\\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\\\/\",\"name\":\"Time to Rethink Competitiveness - Govert van Ginkel\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/inspiration\\\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/inspiration\\\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/Arek-Socha-from-Pixabay-scale-2634833_1280.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-14T09:27:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-14T10:50:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2568f8028f1e53da1d48b132d73b023\"},\"description\":\"How do we redefine competitiveness to support health, belonging, or dignity? Do we need to re-think our goals?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/inspiration\\\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/inspiration\\\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/inspiration\\\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/Arek-Socha-from-Pixabay-scale-2634833_1280.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/Arek-Socha-from-Pixabay-scale-2634833_1280.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":711,\"caption\":\"How do we value wellbeing and nature\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/inspiration\\\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Time to Rethink Competitiveness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/\",\"name\":\"Govert van Ginkel\",\"description\":\"Trainer en coach in Verbindend Communiceren\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2568f8028f1e53da1d48b132d73b023\",\"name\":\"Govert van Ginkel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/82fc2d0715d891981728ba52bb158388c395f6b26868361e38b9b3b69a8b52dd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/82fc2d0715d891981728ba52bb158388c395f6b26868361e38b9b3b69a8b52dd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/82fc2d0715d891981728ba52bb158388c395f6b26868361e38b9b3b69a8b52dd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Govert van Ginkel\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\\\/en\\\/author\\\/govert\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Time to Rethink Competitiveness - Govert van Ginkel","description":"How do we redefine competitiveness to support health, belonging, or dignity? Do we need to re-think our goals?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Time to Rethink Competitiveness - Govert van Ginkel","og_description":"How do we redefine competitiveness to support health, belonging, or dignity? Do we need to re-think our goals?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/","og_site_name":"Govert van Ginkel","article_published_time":"2025-07-14T09:27:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-14T10:50:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":711,"url":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Arek-Socha-from-Pixabay-scale-2634833_1280.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Govert van Ginkel","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Govert van Ginkel","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/"},"author":{"name":"Govert van Ginkel","@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/#\/schema\/person\/e2568f8028f1e53da1d48b132d73b023"},"headline":"Time to Rethink Competitiveness","datePublished":"2025-07-14T09:27:47+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-14T10:50:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/"},"wordCount":324,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Arek-Socha-from-Pixabay-scale-2634833_1280.jpg","keywords":["#CollectiveResilience","#DoughnutEconomics","#EUPolicy","#GreenDeal","#JustTransition","#PostCapitalism","#RegenerativeEurope","#SocialContract","#SystemChange","#WellbeingEconomy"],"articleSection":["Inspiration"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/","url":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/","name":"Time to Rethink Competitiveness - Govert van Ginkel","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Arek-Socha-from-Pixabay-scale-2634833_1280.jpg","datePublished":"2025-07-14T09:27:47+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-14T10:50:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/#\/schema\/person\/e2568f8028f1e53da1d48b132d73b023"},"description":"How do we redefine competitiveness to support health, belonging, or dignity? Do we need to re-think our goals?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Arek-Socha-from-Pixabay-scale-2634833_1280.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Arek-Socha-from-Pixabay-scale-2634833_1280.jpg","width":1280,"height":711,"caption":"How do we value wellbeing and nature"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/inspiration\/time-to-rethink-competitiveness\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Time to Rethink Competitiveness"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/","name":"Govert van Ginkel","description":"Trainer en coach in Verbindend Communiceren","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/#\/schema\/person\/e2568f8028f1e53da1d48b132d73b023","name":"Govert van Ginkel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82fc2d0715d891981728ba52bb158388c395f6b26868361e38b9b3b69a8b52dd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82fc2d0715d891981728ba52bb158388c395f6b26868361e38b9b3b69a8b52dd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82fc2d0715d891981728ba52bb158388c395f6b26868361e38b9b3b69a8b52dd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Govert van Ginkel"},"url":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/author\/govert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2766"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2788,"href":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2766\/revisions\/2788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.govertvanginkel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}