Nicky Kreté
Behaviour change is at the centre of everything I do. I do this by teaching Behaviour Psychology as a Lecturer. I also do this in my own business Very Tales, where I drive change through the power of imagination.
Biography
After studying Psychology, Nicky specialised in Economic and Consumer Psychology to become a Behavioural Psychologist. Combing psychology, communication and creativity with nature is her utopia. She started her career at Kantar Consulting where she advised and trained (inter)national brand and companies on consumer behaviour and brand positioning.
She continued her career as a social entrepreneur in her business Very Tales where she worked in various projects which all used co-creation to create innovative products and services with a compelling story to initiate purpose-drive change. For example: developing strategic campaigns that tell the many stories of refugees integrating in the Dutch labour market at NewBees. Also: developing multiple story books for and with children to raise awareness about decline in soil health in the Netherlands (e.g., w-onderwereld by Onder het Maaiveld). Furthermore, she published ten books, two magazines and endless stories in co-creation, where the purpose was to embrace childlike qualities such as the power of imagination, simplicity and play to set pure intentions for a better – more sustainable and inclusive – future.
At Creative Business, she teaches Psychology-related courses, such as learning to reflect in Collaborative Studio, understanding and applying Cyber Psychology, using Behavioural Psychology to Influence Your Audiences and how to optimize Creative Processes.
Fields of expertise
- Collaborative Studio
- Cyber Psychology
- Influencing Your Audiences
- Managing Creative Processes
Research themes
An area of interest is to research the added value of including younger generations (e.g., children, teenagers and young adults) in the strategic decision-making. Thus, what happens to the quality of decisions when giving them a seat at the table? I am particularly interested in researching this in the context of the many decisions that need to be made across business and government institutions to reach the climate goals.
| Project title | Co-creating children’s books about soil |
| Keywords | Soil diversity, climate change, co-creation, children, publishing, primary schools |
| Years of completion | 2021-2022 |
| General project description |
w-onderwereld wants students and teachers from primary school to discover the beauty and significant value of healthy soil. Because healthy soil is the foundation of a healthy society. The offer exists from soil safari (seeking soil animals in one's surroundings), teaching materials and a series of children's books. |
| Role in project | Nicky has initiated the project and has been the overall project manager. The books have been Nicky’s main responsibility and are developed in co-creation with children. Both books have already been sent for free to every primary school in the Netherlands (e.g., 7.000 samples per book). |
| Link to website | onder-het-maaiveld.nl/w-onderwereld |
Other recent projects
Changing behavior for the climate – 2023/current – Hybrid – Climate Psychologist (voluntary) – www.klimaatpsychologie.com
Cocreating theatre experiences with primary school children – 2023/current – Hybrid – Board member (voluntary) - www.maanlanders.nl
Key publications
Professional publications
D’Hond, R., Peneva, M., & Kreté, N.J.J.O. (2018, March 19). Purpose 2020: Inspiring purpose-led growth. Kantar. Retrieved April 11, 2023, from kantar.no/globalassets/ekspertiseomrader/merkevarebygging/purpose-2020/p2020-frokostseminar-250418.pdf
Qualifications
- BSc Psychology at University of Leiden
- MSc Economic and Consumer Psychology at University of Leiden. Cum laude, weighed average 8.8/10
- Professional course ‘Master Your Concept’ at The Concept Academy
- Professional course ‘Ready for the CoCreation Revolution’ at The CoCreators