In the last months Synclusive’s Amersfoort Living Lab focused its efforts particularly in the childcare sector with a series of impactful initiatives.
A key focus has been a set of workshops for supervisors at Ska Kinderopvang, centred on the concept of Developmental Leadership. These sessions provided a practical exploration of what developmental leadership means in everyday practice, equipping supervisors with tools to empower both their teams and organisation processes. The participants demonstrated remarkable openness and commitment, fostering a collaborative learning environment where experiences were shared and professional growth encouraged. This ongoing journey is steadily shaping a workplace culture rooted in continuous development, delivering tangible benefits for staff and children alike. The next steps are to examine how the organization can best embed the developmental leadership intervention and align it with their long-term strategy.
Alongside the workshops, the Living Lab has worked to strengthen the regional coalition within the childcare sector. This included interviews with employers and a series of activation events aimed at deepening sector-wide engagement.
The first activation event, held in July 2025, brought together 13 key stakeholders from childcare organisations, local government, and research. The group examined the ongoing workforce shortages in the sector and explored how a collaboratively designed development pathway could help address these challenges. Other topics discussed included simplifying language requirements, providing financial support to smaller organizations, tailoring approaches for younger generations (e.g. “generation Z”), promoting effective employer practices.
The second activation event took place in October 2025 and delved deeper into regulatory and qualification challenges. Attendees shared best practices and collaboratively designed a regional pre-entry career pathway, with a commitment to ongoing collaboration and piloting new initiatives with educational institutions in early 2026. This marks an important step in the Amersfoort Living Lab’s growth, now working even more closely with the municipality to develop strategies for stronger employer engagement and sector improvement.