Wim van Vierssen receives 2025 Honorary Fellowship

In the KWR building that took shape under his inspired leadership, emeritus professor and former director Wim van Vierssen received the KWR Honorary Fellowship 2025 on April 16. How does Van Vierssen look back on his time at KWR? And how does he view KWR’s role in an increasingly complex world?

As KWR’s first director after its separation from KIWA, Van Vierssen succeeded in positioning the organisation as a public research institute bridging the gap between science and practice. In an increasingly complex playing field, he reached out to the entire water cycle on the basis of an integral vision. And in addition to natural sciences and civil engineering, he broadened the scientific spectrum to include disciplines such as hydroinformatics and social sciences. “Wim was well ahead of his time,” says the current director Mariëlle van der Zouwen as she described the grounds for awarding the KWR Honorary Fellowship. “He was behind the clear growth of our institute between 2007 and 2018, making a valuable contribution to informed decision-making about water.”

The power of ten

Now he has retired, water researcher Van Vierssen can look back on a rich and varied career. The fact that he is an emeritus professor at both Delft University of Technology, the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education and Wageningen University bears witness to his boundless commitment. During this journey, Van Vierssen made a discovery. “I call it ‘Wim’s law’,” he says with a smile. “I found out that my emotional bond with organisations is directly proportional to their size, which can be reduced to powers of ten. As a scientist, you start out on your own: ten to the power of zero (10⁰). You develop yourself, have to write a thesis, demonstrate that you can do independent research. That’s pretty lonely. Then you set up your own research group, usually consisting of 10 people or slightly more (10¹). You learn how a team works, how to manage it.

The next step is running an institute (10²). In my case, that was NIOO-KNAW, the Netherlands Institute of Ecology. Then you have a real ‘home’, an environment where you know all the people. The same applied to the IHE in Delft later. I then joined Wageningen University as the Managing Director of Environmental Sciences: 10³, more than a thousand people. In emotional terms, this is an anonymous ‘home’. That large scale didn’t make me happy. When I joined KWR, which employed about 175 people at the time, I got back to the size where my heart lies. Although I was a director, I could sit down for a pleasant conversation anywhere, for example during the lunch break, because I knew everyone. That felt good.”

Setting the right course

For Van Vierssen, being at the helm of a brand new institute was an interesting challenge. KWR had been split off from KIWA, the inspection institute for water products, in 2006. “KIWA was an organisation of the drinking water utilities; it was established after World War II to manage certification and standardisation for the drinking water sector,” explains Van Vierssen.

“It wasn’t the case that I received a clear mandate from the shareholders, the drinking water utilities. Discussions with directors of those utilities helped me to find indicators for the right course, although though this was not always a smooth process. And KWR staff were brimming with ideas. When another queue of people formed outside my door, I would often say: ‘think of this as your own company and do what’s needed.’ I have always wanted to have an open organisation where everyone has a say. Like the self-supporting structure of an aircraft. The strength of the aircraft is created by how the parts work together. You can only take off once everything is in the right place.”

Transparant and open

KWR’s position as the research institute of the water utilities was not clear to everyone at the outset, Van Vierssen recalls. “Other parties in the market were also doing water research (as they still do), and I realised that KWR needed to be well organised with a transparent structure where everyone can communicate openly with each other and understand their roles and responsibilities. Over the course of time, I realised that a new culture of this kind needs a new building. And that’s not something that you can do on your own. I remember Renko Campen, the former chairman of the board at DHV, and David Luteijn, a member of the Dutch Upper House and acting Queen’s Commissioner in Zuid-Holland. People who weren’t frightened of resistance, who asked the right questions and supported us during that tense time. I am proud to have contributed to the new location, where the inviting and transparent look in a green setting expresses without words what KWR stands for: a meeting place for collaboration, knowledge sharing and innovation.”

Broadening to the entire water cycle

As the new building was being built, Van Vierssen worked on broadening KWR’s mission as a research institute: from drinking water research to research for the entire water cycle. “As I observed the Dutch knowledge landscape, I was looking for the gaps,” he says. “The water authorities could go to STOWA with knowledge questions. That was very valuable but they missed the established knowledge infrastructure that KWR offered. I also saw drinking water sources coming under increasing pressure, with solutions such as integrated water management. And so the need to include our shareholders – the drinking water utilities – in the entire water cycle became urgent.”

The overarching motto for KWR’s work, ‘Bridging science to practice’ saw the light of day during Van Vierssen’s tenure. “Applied science is about closing the gap between knowledge and practice,” he explains. “On the one hand, you really have to establish your position in water practice. On the other hand, striving for excellence in knowledge enhances KWR’s reputation. That is why I wanted our most promising researchers to get part-time positions at universities. That worked out well and I am happy to see that the number is still growing.”

Honest Broker

During the process of linking that scientific excellence with the practical use of knowledge, Van Vierssen has been the driving force behind KWR as an ‘honest broker’. What does that involve? And what does this position offer the water sector? Van Vierssen drew inspiration for this topic from ‘The Honest Broker’ by Roger A. Pielke (2007). That book outlines four archetypal researcher roles. The ‘Pure Scientist’ produces knowledge and adds it to the global reservoir of knowledge. The ‘Science Arbiter’ helps find answers to questions, without making a commitment. The ‘Issue Advocate’ is a committed actor who helps to reduce the number of choices. Finally, the ‘Honest Broker of Policy Alternatives’ actually offers a whole range of alternatives. Although Van Vierssen endorses the usefulness of all four roles, he found the role of ‘Honest Broker’ to be the best one for the work of shaping KWR. “On the basis of that role, you learn as a researcher to offer different alternatives to the objectives pursued by drinking water utilities,” he explains. “You set out the pros and cons of each alternative. Of course, you can also do that for an option that has already been decided on, but then you don’t teach people to cast the net wide in advance. Moreover, you always want alternatives in the Netherlands because space is literally and figuratively limited and there is always a need for solutions that are optimal for several parties at the same time.”

Impact through teamwork

For decades, KWR has been known for the numerous international alliances in which researchers participate, or which the institute itself has created. An example was the Horizon 2020 projects in the EU, as well as the Aqua Research Collaboration ARC and Watershare. The last of these, a network of research institutes, extends far beyond Europe’s borders. Van Vierssen: “It is very significant that one of our first Honorary Fellows, Harry Seah, works with PUB, Sinagpore’s water utility. Institutional cooperation requires reciprocity; everyone must benefit. And the partners should be chosen carefully.

“The social impact that KWR has should be reflected in the results of activities and actions that you see in society. And I can certainly cite examples of this. Take Jan Vreeburg’s work on drinking water infrastructure, that is a truly innovative concept. Or Gertjan Medema’s work on wastewater epidemiology, for which he was awarded the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize. So you see that KWR really can make a difference.”

Mountain trail

In 2015, Van Vierssen himself introduced the KWR Honorary Fellowship, which was awarded first to Martien den Blanken. The award was in recognition of the former PWN director’s contribution to the growth of KWR and to the establishment of collective water chain-related research. Van Vierssen praised his fellow Fellow for his expertise, humanity and structured way of thinking. And he considers it a special honour to occupy a position on the wall alongside him, and many others, in the form of a plaque at KWR. “As an Honorary Fellow, I look forward to hiking along the mountain trail where KWR’s journey sometimes takes us. In some cases, this trail is the line separating two extremes. On one side, you have the abyss of futility. Scientific commonplaces: lazy work that no one really wants. That can’t be your job as a top institute. On the other side, there is a landscape of often uncomfortable truths that people would rather not hear. So this is your path, and it is already getting dark. Where next? I have often said: ‘frappez toujours!’ – grab your opportunities when you can. I would like to pass on that determination and persistence to the next generation of water professionals.”

KWR Honorary Fellowship

Since 2015, KWR has annually awarded an Honorary Fellowship to individuals who contribute to the research community and society in KWR’s network, both nationally and internationally. Wim van Vierssen now leads the growing list for the prestigious appointment, after Marleen van Rijswick (2023), Rita Ugarelli (2023), Luc Keustermans (2021), Marion Koopmans (2020), Harry Seah (2019), Ad van Wijk (2018), Willy Verstraete (2017), Joan Rose (2016) and Martien den Blanken (2015).

KWR appoints Honorary Fellows for life. With their peers who have received the same award, Honorary Fellows are a source of knowledge, expertise and experience for KWR.