How do you bring together five organizations, each with its own expertise, working methods, and learning environment, within a single shared knowledge and learning platform?
That question is the focus of a new episode of the Procademy . During our Community Day on April 14, Bas Mourits from Studio voor Betekenis spoke with Imke and Eline from Kennis over Zien: a joint knowledge and learning platform created by five organizations dedicated to supporting people with visual impairments.
Listen to the episode here:
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https://open.spotify.com/show/6Ku9hrwYq6i7PFJbzmujxV
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For those who prefer to read the podcast, or for those who have difficulty listening, a written transcript is also available .
"Knowledge about Vision" is a collaboration between Bartiméus, Koninklijke Visio, the Robert Coppes Foundation, the Oogvereniging, and the MaculaVereniging. Together, they are committed to making knowledge about visual impairments more accessible to professionals both within and outside their organizations.
That’s remarkable, because collaborating across organizational boundaries sounds logical, but is often complex in practice. Every organization has its own processes, systems, areas of expertise, and practices. Yet it is precisely this kind of collaboration that is desperately needed.
In the Netherlands, there are hundreds of thousands of people with visual impairments. Some of them are registered with specialized organizations, but many are not. By jointly developing and sharing knowledge, the organizations involved expand their reach and prevent each one from duplicating the same work.
In the podcast, Imke and Eline explain how their collaboration has grown step by step. New training programs are developed jointly whenever possible. In doing so, they always ask themselves: What can we do together? Where is there overlap, and where is differentiation actually needed?
This approach prevents duplication of effort. Whereas similar courses used to exist side by side, the curriculum is now organized more effectively. Instead of multiple variations on the same theme, there is now a clear progression through different levels. For example, an accessible introductory course, an in-depth course for professionals who work with the target group on a daily basis, and an expert-level course for specialists.
This makes the program easier to understand for participants and easier to manage for the organizations.
An important aspect of the collaboration is the technical setup. Employees continue to log in from their own organization’s learning environment. There, they search for a course, enroll, and follow their learning path as they are accustomed to doing.
When it comes to collaborative training through Kennis over Zien, participants are directed from their own learning environments to the overarching platform. That is where the collaborative training takes place. This includes course materials, assignments, meetings, attendance lists, and guidance from instructors.
Upon completion, results, certificates, and progress are automatically synced back to the employee's personal learning environment.
For participants, this feels familiar and intuitive. They don’t have to think about the technology behind the scenes. For administrators and training advisors, however, it offers significant benefits: less coordination, less manual paperwork, and a better overview.
That may well be the strength of this solution. For employees, learning remains familiar and accessible. They can find their training courses in a place they’re already familiar with.
This creates opportunities for collaboration behind the scenes. Participants from different organizations can come together in a single digital classroom. Instructors have access to the same materials and records. Certificates and results are sent back to the appropriate environment.
In this way, collaboration becomes not only a substantive goal, but also something that can be put into practice.
The impact of “Knowledge about Vision” goes beyond simply organizing training programs more efficiently. Ultimately, it’s about providing better support for people with visual impairments.
In the podcast, Imke and Eline share some great examples. A healthcare professional who learns to recognize that someone isn’t just “careless,” but may actually have poor vision. An elder care worker who looks at behavior differently—behavior that was previously attributed to confusion or old age. Or a professional who also takes visual problems into account when working with someone who has an acquired brain injury.
It is precisely these kinds of insights that can make a big difference in clients’ quality of life. When professionals recognize visual impairments earlier, they can provide better guidance, support, or referrals.
In addition to “Knowledge about Vision,” there is also “Learning about Vision.” While “Knowledge about Vision” is aimed at employees within the relevant organizations, “Learning about Vision” is intended for healthcare professionals outside those organizations—for example, in disability care, elder care, or other healthcare and social service organizations.
This not only shares knowledge within the industry but also makes it available to those outside it. And that aligns perfectly with our shared mission: to help as many professionals as possible better recognize, acknowledge, and understand visual impairments.
This episode of the Procademy beautifully illustrates what becomes possible when organizations join forces—not by each continuing to develop the same things on their own, but by working together to identify ways to do things smarter, better, and more effectively.
The conversation with Imke and Eline focuses on technology and organization, but above all on the purpose behind it: making knowledge accessible, empowering professionals, and ultimately contributing to better support for people with visual impairments.
Listen to the episode here:
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6Ku9hrwYq6i7PFJbzmujxV
Apple Podcasts:
procademy
Podcast Addict:
procademy
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