Last Thursday the city of Den Haag hosted the 9th edition of ImpactFest, hosting over 1,500 impact makers from around the world, including Aspect Works Director Jason Petrait. The day brought together startups, investors, knowledge institutes policymakers and others to “unite and unleash the power of collaboration.” 

With the promise of “inspiration, connection and collaboration,” ImpactFest focused on five crucial themes:

♻️ Circular Economy

🍎 Food Systems

🌍 Impact Cities & Regions

⚡ Energy Transition

⚖️ Peace & Climate Justice

To kick off, Den Haag mayor Jan van Zanen welcomed attendees, highlighting the conference’s tagline of “doing good and doing business” throughout his speech. 

After the opening, Aspect Works Director Jason Petrait attended smaller sessions, starting with the Euclid Network hosting a meetup on the role and development of intermediaries, a close look at how the network supports social enterprise organisations in Europe, with 53 members in 31 countries. 

After lunch and conversation with innovators from Baltimore and Japan, Jason joined a 2nd session, “Stories of Change: Empowering Workers’ Rights Through Dialogue in Global Supply Chains.” WE Program Director Helen Kuyper shared with attendees why stories, from the perspective of workers in factories across the global south, are the answer to impact measurement. Throughout a lively presentation and interactive discussion, attendees gained insight into why audits don’t work and how narrative provides more insight than numbers.