Tag: Intercultural Communication

Shake hands or not?

illustratie bij begroeting

Do you ever have those moments when you wonder, ‘Should I shake hands with the other person or not?’ Greetings are more than a formality; they say something about a person’s culture. Although the ways of greeting vary greatly, they often have the same purpose: to show connection, respect and trust. So let’s take a […]

Pilotage Service

Geeft indruk van ons bezoek aan het werkveld van het loodswezen

Cultural Insights will train the Dutch Pilotage Service in intercultural communication. To learn more about their work, all three of us were allowed to spend a day sailing with a pilot. What an experience that was! With over 460 pilots, spread across three partnerships and four ports (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Vlissingen, and Delfzijl), the Pilotage Service […]

Masterclass Intercultural Competences

Een indruk van hoe de training eruit zag

On June 18, we organized the first Master Class with open enrollment, of our Cooperative. Great fun to join forces and complement each other, and exciting to co-facilitate well. The result was a good training with enthusiastic participants from five different companies and organizations, at a beautiful location in Amersfoort. Together we covered insights about […]

Conference Friends of Hofstede

Sfeer impressie van conferentie

Last week, just before a soccer cup win set Deventer in the Netherlands ablaze, an international group of cultural experts came to this city. Two members of our Cooperative Cultural Insights joined in as well and we are happy to tell you about it! The event was organized for “the Friends of Hofstede,” an international […]

Creating happy clients

CCIFG Team sitting together following the online workshop

On the 26th of April Alette gave an online workshop on intercultural communication to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry France Ghana. It inspired Manager Director Armelle Sae-Jeanne, coming from Martinique, working for a French organization in Ghana, to write the following: “No, I could not complete this assignment on time I was not feeling […]

Saskia Maarse

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Saskia Maarse is a Dutch intercultural speaker, trainer and author. For six years, she researched how Dutch culture is experienced by people from other cultures. She did so through in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and managers from 30 different countries. She wrote two books on the subject: Tutti frutti – Success in a colourful and entreprising Netherlands and Onder de zeespiegel – collaborating and living together with the Dutch.

Saskia’s fascination for cultural differences started at a young age. She worked in tourism for over ten years, including several years in France, Spain, Italy and Austria. Her work experience abroad and her subsequent trip around the world broadened her view of the world and its inhabitants. Her research provided Saskia with much: more cultural awareness and extensive knowledge about Dutch culture in relation to other cultures.

Saskia’s mission is to provide as many people and organisations as possible with cultural insights and awareness in an accessible and inspiring way, so that more understanding of different cultures is created.

“During our team building day in Openluchtmuseum Arnhem we have had the pleasure to enjoy a very interesting cultural awareness workshop focussing on the Dutch culture in comparison with other cultures, how other cultures see us Dutch and what we can learn with the 6 principles of intercultural working from Saskia Maarse. The diverse group that we were with 25 people, 6 nationalities and even more cultures (including Frisian and Limburg) were really enthusiastic and even more understood the importance of good communication (verbal and visual) in international business.”
Marko van der Smitte, Sales Director Alfa Laval