Hybrid professional in green

How can we successfully employ more hybrid professionals in green mbo and hbo? How do we strengthen cooperation between education and business so that students are better prepared for practice? The ‘Hybrid professional in green’ project is working on innovative and sustainable solutions to these questions. 

What is a hybrid professional?

The hybrid professional is someone who works in both business and education. This can be done in various ways: for example, by contributing to training students for the green sector in addition to a job in an organisation. A hybrid professional can also combine two different jobs, at least one of which is in education. In all cases, cooperation between business and education is key. In the process, students are given the opportunity to gain practical experience.

The aim of the project

The aim of this project is to successfully deploy more suitable Hybrid Teachers in green education (MBO and HBO). We do this by recruiting new teachers or by giving current teachers the opportunity for further development and professionalisation. 

To this end, we develop realistic and holistic concepts for different types and levels of Hybrid Teachers for the green MBO and HBO programmes. By ‘holistic concept’ we mean a broad, coherent view of the Hybrid Teacher. We look at all aspects of the profession and place the teachers in their work context. 

We also want to ensure a sustainable implementation of the Hybrid Teacher concept. We do this by integrating it into the policies of organisations and HRM departments. This includes recruitment and selection, professionalisation of hybrid teachers and cooperation with practitioners. 

Project duration

The ‘Hybrid professional in green’ project runs from September 2024 to April 2026.

Cooperation and partners

This project is a collaboration between the research group Sustainable Talent Development of The Hague University of Applied Sciences and the research group Human Capital of Inholland University of Applied Sciences. Lecturer Petra Biemans, associate lecturer Jeany van Beelen-Slijper and researcher Iris van Noort participate from the research group Human Capital. We are carrying out the project as part of the Growth Fund Katapult project with Inholland and Lentiz.

How do we approach it?

We start with interviews with, among others, experts, hybrid working mbo and hbo teachers, and practical supervisors from industry. In the second part of the project, we will develop products around Hybrid Teachers so that they can be used more often, more widely and more effectively. We are developing them together with a working group consisting of hybrid workers from mbo and hbo. With this, we develop the tools in co-creation, which we will later test in practice. 

By March 2026, we will know:

• Which variants of Hybrid Teachers are relevant for mbo and hbo green (holistic professional images at various levels)
• What the impact of hybrid teachers is on the ecosystem (education and business together)
• What needs to happen in the ecosystem (education and business and together) in order to deploy Hybrid Teachers widely and successfully
• What is an appropriate way of recruitment that has proven itself in a pilot
• What is an appropriate way of development and professionalisation
• In what way and under what conditions the individuality of the green MBO and HBO programmes, including any level differences, can be safeguarded. 

More information

dr Ellen Sjoer, [email protected] 

dr Miranda de Hei, [email protected]