Leadership is not only for bosses. The book Een wereld van gemeenschappen offers a refreshing and hopeful perspective on grassroots leadership. It demonstrates that everyone can step up and make a difference, regardless of hierarchy. The book showcases a kaleidoscope of local initiatives across the Netherlands that make a difference for all kinds of people. Authors Floor Ziegler and Teun Gautier write that over 6.6 million people actively engage in their neighborhoods, villages, and cities.
Ziegler and Gautier see a crucial role for so called “Stadmakers”: individuals who take the lead in tackling small or larger social issues, often by walking the streets and talking to people. Local communities know best what they need, and the Stadmakers—organized in networks and cooperatives—are key to unlocking that potential. Ziegler is a Stadmaker herself, and with Gautier, she founded the StadmakersCoöperatie. There are 4,000 Stadmakers in The Netherlands, connected on stadmakersonline.nl. They work in various domains, from housing to health care, and from local energy production to arts.
The central message of the book is clear: real change happens when people are put at the center. The authors argue convincingly that top-down policies alone cannot solve issues like loneliness and poverty without genuine community involvement. They highlight how government institutions have grown so large and bureaucratic that they often hinder rather than help social progress.
What makes this book particularly compelling is its blend of inspiration and pragmatism. The authors demonstrate that grassroots leadership not only leads to better social outcomes but can also save significant public costs—for example, by coordinating elderly care across domains, saving €50,000 per person annually by delaying or avoiding nursing home admission. Yet, entrenched interests sometimes resist such change. Ultimately, Een wereld van gemeenschappen is an encouraging call to recognize and empower the enormous capacity of ordinary people to lead and improve their own world, proving that leadership from the bottom up can indeed make a meaningful difference.
Floor Ziegler, Teun Gautier. Een wereld van gemeenschappen. Lemniscaat, 2024