From Participant to Facilitator: Ziggy Duijns’ HEROES Journey

“The greatest metric of leadership is how many leaders you create. Equip yourself with the skills to facilitate others.”

For Ziggy Duijns, Project Coordinator at Fontys Green Office, the HEROES journey has been about much more than travelling to another country or taking part in an international programme. It has been a journey of connection, leadership and personal development, and, perhaps most importantly, of discovering how to help others turn ideas into action.

Ziggy’s HEROES adventure began on 26 March at 4:00 PM. Since then, it has brought new friendships, international experiences, leadership opportunities, travel and a growing understanding of what can happen when people from different backgrounds learn and work together.

One of the highlights was a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) at UCN in Aalborg, Denmark. The experience introduced Ziggy to Danish culture and hospitality, and also opened the door to something that would have a lasting impact: becoming a certified Innovation Circle Facilitator.

From ideas to action

The Innovation Circle provides a structured approach for working with complex, real-world challenges. For Ziggy, its greatest value lies in its focus on action.

“I have always enjoyed helping others, but thanks to the BIP I have actual tools to make a difference”, Ziggy says.

The methodology gave Ziggy a practical way to support students in tackling challenges, developing ideas and moving towards concrete action. Rather than simply discussing innovation, participants learn how to facilitate a process that helps groups make progress. For him, this action-oriented element is particularly important in a world where old patterns increasingly need to be challenged.

Resilience and mutual respect, Ziggy believes, are essential to making that happen.

The experience also changed the way Ziggy thinks about leadership. Being able to develop skills that can subsequently be shared with and taught to others creates a multiplier effect: learning does not stop with the person who participates in the programme.

“How powerful is it that, through the HEROES community, I have been given the opportunity to keep developing myself with skills that I can teach others?”, he adds.

Learning through difference

International experiences definitely come with challenges. For Ziggy, one of them was the intensive collaboration between people from different cultures and generations during the HEROES BIP. Yet this was also one of the most valuable aspects of the experience.

Working with people who approach problems, communication and collaboration differently requires openness, patience and a willingness to step outside familiar ways of thinking. Within the supportive environment created by the HEROES partners, these differences became opportunities for learning.

Ziggy sees this kind of challenge as something every student should experience at least once during their studies: “You might be surprised what you learn about yourself and others.”

More than mobility

Ziggy’s story illustrates what international learning can become when mobility is combined with meaningful collaboration and active participation.

The BIP in Aalborg was not simply a week abroad. It became an opportunity to develop a new competence, discover a different approach to leadership and return home with tools that can be shared with others.

This is at the heart of the HEROES Alliance: creating learning experiences that connect people across borders, encourage students to take initiative and equip them with the skills to contribute to their communities.

For Ziggy, the journey continues with a new role. Not only as a participant, but as a facilitator who can help others become leaders too.