In a complex and interconnected world, we firmly believe that listening to people’s experiences, sometimes on a larger scale, is pivotal in generating insights and effective decision-making. Voices That Count believes in the power of stories to see the fuller picture and change systems.
In our projects we always apply a set of core principles:
Starting from lived experiences
Our work is grounded in how people experience and perceive the world. Story listening and understanding people’s lived experiences is central to what we do and opens up meaningful learning and change.
Making every voice count
We make every voice count equally, including the voices that often go unheard. Participation and collective sensemaking help us embrace a mosaic of diverse perspectives while remaining attentive to disparities and shared views across different groups.
Understanding what shapes systems
The way societies and organisations function is shaped by how people perceive and make sense of the world. Systems thinking guides us in exploring the underlying values, relationships and dynamics that drive people’s realities and the systems they are part of.
Bringing to light the ‘hard-to-measure’
We cultivate curiosity towards what cannot easily be quantified, such as perceptions, behavioural changes, relationships, and learning over time. Through narrative inquiry, we gain access to facets of systems that are essential for understanding change and impact yet often remain overlooked.
This is how we engage with our clients:
Customisation at the core
We build on existing teams or organisational dynamics. Human connection and customisation are central to how we work, allowing us to respond to the specific situation. We like bricolaging methods rather than applying predefined solutions.
Participation for impact
We start from the knowledge already present and work in a participatory way, engaging in co-creation with all relevant stakeholders. Participation is not only a method for us; it is a transformative aspect of our work, leading to more impact.
Inviting Exploration
Our collaboration is hands-on and ‘learning by doing’. We invite curiosity, openness, and the willingness to explore the unknowns together as the process unfolds.
Strengthening connections
Through inquiry and sensemaking processes, our projects strengthen relationships between team members and connect stakeholders within networks, supporting the building of trust and resilience over time.
Our Story
Founded in 2018, Voices That Count combines many years of professional experience from all its members.
The initiators, Steff, Claudia and Nele, share a common past at the NGO Rikolto where they could experiment with ways of measuring the impact of Rikolto’s interventions. The focus was on capturing people’s experiences in the agri-food systems. The name ‘Voices That Count’ was used in one of the projects to include the voice of farmers into the bigger impact story.
Later, Voices That Count became the name of a collaborative network that acquired a legal entity in 2021: we purposely opted for a cooperative enterprise to put collaboration at the centre and to anchor our social mission in our operations.
Since then, new encounters and collaborations have emerged. Based on a common vision and shared basic values, Voices That Count has since grown into a passionate network of experts from various countries.
