Sywert van Lienden

Sywert van Lienden is a political and cultural activist with a strong drive to engage young people in politics and decision processes. To this end, he led the Dutch pupil strikes of 2007, demanding governmental guarantees for the provision of a first-class education at secondary school level. In 2012, he was one of the initiators of G500, a movement that attempts to rejuvenate Dutch politics from the inside by overstepping the traditional boundaries between political parties. Van Lienden studies European political science, law and economics and regularly writes well-received essays for leading Dutch papers and journals, among which HP/De Tijd and NRC Next. An aficionado of classical music, he additionally serves as president of the young membership organization Entrée at the Concertgebouw Orchestra.