Frank van Gemert, PhD, studied Cultural Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. During and after his studies he conducted research on street dealers. He finished his dissertation in 1998. This was ethnographic research to crime of Moroccan boys, with a special interest in cultural factors.

After he worked at Regioplan, an agency for policy research, and in 2004 he started working at VU University, Amsterdam.

Besides researching youth gangs, Frank writes biographies and about topics related to cultural criminology. Frank is member of the committee of the Eurogang, a network that conducts international comparative research to youth gangs. 

Eric Bervoets, PhD, has completed a dissertation in public administration and works as a criminologist. He is founder and owner of Bureau Bervoets. Since 1997 he has been working as a researcher and finished his dissertation in 2006. His book is titled "Tussen Respect en Doorpakken" (Elsevier Overheid) and concerns police and Moroccan youngsters in Gouda, Utrecht and Amsterdam. For these (mainly ethnographic) studies he deepened his understanding of the life world of Moroccan Dutch and professionals in 'tough neighbourhoods'.

In 2012 he wrote 'Vlindermessen en Jonko's', with which he wanted to inform a broader audience about youth crime and youngsters. The book describes extensively the use of drugs amongst adolescents. Together with Balthazar Beke and Henk Ferwerda (nationally well known for their short list for youth groups), he conducted research commissioned by Police and Science regularly to youth groups (Youth groups and Violence, 2012; Youth Groups from Then, 2013) and a research commissioned by the WODC to the decrease of juvenile suspects in Amsterdam (2013). In all these studies the high risk behavior of youth was described, such as use of drugs. In 2013 an edited volume was published with Hans Moors about working in the front line of the Safety and Security domain, with contributions of amongst others Michael Lipsky and Archon Fung. In December 2013 he published a research report on Auxiliary Police commissioned by Police and Science (Gemeentelijk Blauw). In 2014 also the book Particulier Blauw was published, an ethnographic Police and Science study on security professionals.  

Toon Molleman, PhD, works as a strategic management advisor for the Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency. He also published a wide range of scholarly articles on prison related topics and performance statistics. Last decade he gave lectures on these topics and received the annual research award of the International Corrections and Prisons Association. 

The medieval Knights' Hall is the centre of the Parliament buildings in The Hague. The Counts of Holland had the Hall built in the 13th century and since then The Hague is the centre of politics and public administration in the Low Lands. All those times parliament buildings have been built and rebuilt.

The buildings around the Binnenhof (“The Inside Court” - the central square inside the parliament buildings) tell us about the political history of The Netherlands, about the long road to our present political system. But still the Binnenhof is the very lively centre of the democracy.

Both chambers of Parliament are set there, the Prime Minister holds his office there and the King has his annual speech in The Knights’ Hall at the beginning of the parlementary year. Since the political centre is just small and overseeable, one runs into MP’s in the streets on a regular basis. This is a unique and very special place to work and a well suited environment to explain visitors the ways the democracy works in the Netherlands.

ProDemos, located at the opposite of the Parliamentary buildings, welcomes yearly more than 150.000 students, tourists and other visitors. Dozens of guides show people all over the world around and are the face of the organisation. But myself as well, I like to welcome groups once every while, especially foreign groups. This often leads to surprising questions and interesting comparisons with other political cultures and systems. And remember; the one who peeks across borders will get a deeper comprehension of his own surroundings.

Eddy is the executive director of Prodemos and has written the Dutch edition of Politics for dummies.

Petra Timmermans lectures on the subject of sex work, policy and sex worker activism in the Netherlands. Her talk draws from personal experience in sex work and involvement in sex worker activism. In the past Petra worked at the Prostitution Information Centre in Amsterdam's red light district and as Coordinator of the International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe [www.sexworkeurope.org]. She has been living and working in the Netherlands since 2002. Petra has a Bachelors degree in Criminology, Society and law (University of Toronto) and has nearly finished her Masters in Sociology (University of Amsterdam) .

Dutch drug policies are weird –at least to most foreigners. We sell weed, but officially it's illegal. We can sell fresh truffles that contain psilocybin. But selling their magic mushroom brothers is illegal, because they contain ... psilocybin! The Dutch state gives away free heroine and clean needles to addicts, so they can lead normal lives. If you get caught with low doses of illegal drugs there’s a fair chance that you’ll get off the hook with a simple warning. And, in total, our little liberal nation has four different drug markets: a cannabis market which is partly tolerated partly prosecuted; an alcohol, sugar, and tobacco market which is fully legal; a smartshop market selling the before mentioned magic truffles and other psychoactive herbs, also fully legal; and a black market!

So, how do we need to make sense of all of these different markets and various shades of legality? What is the effect of selling certain drugs ‘over the counter’, and giving away others to addicts? Are people here completely bonkers and super addicted? What is more important to the people who are selling drugs legally: making profit or the health of potential buyers? And come to think of it, aren’t drugs supposed to be bad? What does the scientific research actually say about all of this?

For the past eight years, all of these questions have deeply interested me. I’ve studied Dutch drug policies during my bachelor in sociology, I’ve worked in a smartshop for over six years, I’ve conducted scientific research into the motivations of drug user to take drugs, I’ve interviewed drug dealers to ask them why they sell illegal substances of which they don’t know the health risks, and I’ve worked for a harm reduction 'peer-to-peer' drug education organization. 

EduTravel has asked me to share my knowledge and experiences with you, and provoke you into thinking independently about these issues. To do so I've tried to come up with some basic building blocks, some general ideas about drugs, drug policies, and drug effects, that can help you think critically and responsibly. I’m looking forward to hearing –and questioning- your ideas!

I first met Ruben around the time he was starting Edutravel. I remember it well. It was at our neighborhood bar. He had just moved into the area and was full of stories. We hit it off right from the start and talked quite some nights away about all kinds of things. It turned out that we had a professional connection as well; whilst he had been interviewing (ex) prisoners in the field I had been concerned with prison staff policy at our ministry of Justice. It soon became involved with Edutravel as well, an enterprise I fully supported from the start. I first helped connecting with them with the ministry, then started hosting the traditional final debate. I went on to draw some cartoons and then gave lectures on Dutch history. I’m sure there will be more to come. In my opinion there are two great things about Edutravel. First: the content. I have never seen a programme so jam-packed full of goodies that are just, well, great to know. The speakers that they have lined up are right there, in the field, and can really give you that in-depth experience of “doing things the Dutch way”. I have often said that Dutch students would also benefit from these insights. Second: the over-all experience. All participants I ever spoke to seem to be unanimous in their enthusiasm about the friendly and relaxed hosting of the programme itself (all thanks to Ruben and Koos) as well as the chance to immerse yourself in different cultures. You will find that Holland is small and that places like Brussels, Paris, London and Berlin are relatively close by. To sum it up: Edutravel offers you a programme that is at the same time incredibly fun and extremely educational. I look forward to meeting you here!