Otto Raspe appointed as Professor of Practice of Broad Prosperity and the Regional Economy
On March 1, 2023, Tilburg University appointed Dr. Otto Raspe as Professor of Practice at the Academic Collaborative Center of Broad Prosperity. Raspe has been appointed for 0.1 FTE, his teaching and research remit being Broad Prosperity and the Regional Economy. Besides his work as a Professor of Practice, Raspe is head of RaboResearch Regions, Innovation, Sustainability and Entrepreneurship, a research department at Rabobank.
The region, where the public and private sectors collaborate and people live their daily lives, is the ideal place where the key to broad prosperity can be found, according to Raspe. It is here that the often interconnected social issues in the field of the energy and climate transitions, care, and the housing and job markets should be solved.
Raspe: ‘As a researcher, I hope to get some insight into how companies at a regional level can contribute to broad prosperity, and how this can be supported by policy. As a lecturer, I look forward to sharing with my students the experience I have gained with both policymakers and businesses, and to make the subject of broad prosperity strike a chord with them. I hope to enthuse students about internships and graduation assignments in this field, so they can make a difference in the future. Finally, it is my ambition to make the insights of academic research accessible for the business community. Through my frequent contact with entrepreneurs, I am aware of the fact that they ask themselves the question of how they can accelerate the transition to a new, sustainable and inclusive economy and what they should do to achieve this.
Things have come full circle for Raspe. Thirty years ago, he studied Regional Economics in Tilburg, a program that is no longer taught. His mission is now to reintroduce that regional dimension in the research and education on broad prosperity.
Broad prosperity, more than just income
‘Broad Prosperity’ is an important strategic theme for Tilburg University in general and for the Tilburg School of Economics and Management in particular. The term refers to the fact that prosperity is about more than just per capita income. Besides material matters, it is also about personal development, social cohesion, and a good quality of the living environment. In the Academic Collaborative Center of Broad Prosperity, university researchers collaborate with partners from the public and private sectors to better measure and monitor broad prosperity and also make it concrete for businesses and the public at large.
Professors of Practice – links between science and practice
Professors of Practice are innovative leaders working in internationally oriented companies who have an affinity with teaching and research. They enable the Academic Collaborative Center of Broad prosperity to better identify important research questions, to develop new knowledge together with partners, and to ensure that this knowledge is also applied in practice. Otto Raspe is the second Professor of Practice at this Collaborative Center, in addition to Joks Janssen, senior advisor-researcher at social knowledge institute Het PON-Telos. Last year, the university appointed president of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER), Kim Putters, as University Professor of Broad Prosperity.
Otto Raspe
Otto Raspe (1973) studied Regional Economics and Economic Geography at Tilburg University and received his doctorate in 2009. His PhD thesis was entitled The Regional Knowledge Economy. He has worked, among other roles, as a researcher at TNO and the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving). He has headed the Regions, Innovation, Sustainability and Entrepreneurship department at RaboResearch since 2019.
Note to the press
For more information contact Dr. Otto Raspe - Head of Regions Innovation Sustainability and Entrepreneurship RaboResearch otto.raspe@rabobank.nl or 06 - 11247626