Diane Nijs

Diane Nijs is an Associate Professor in Imagineering at Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas) since 2003 and Director of the Imagineering Academy, a research center focused on value creation through experience innovation. She has held senior academic and managerial roles at BUas since 1986, specializing in organizational development and design methodologies. Her doctoral degree is from the University of Groningen (Business Management), with additional master's degrees from the University of Louvain (Kynesiology), University of Brussels (Leisure Agogics), and a marketing degree from EHSAL Brussels.

Her research interests center on 'Imagineering'—a design approach rooted in complexity science and systems thinking. Key themes include organizational emergence, collective creativity, and experience-driven innovation. She has authored acclaimed books on imagineering, including Imagineering the Butterfly Effect: Transformation by Inspiration (2014), and frequently presents at academic and professional conferences globally.

Professionally, she advises organizations like VRT/KETNET, ANWB, KLM, and cities in Brabant on public and corporate innovation. Her work bridges academia and practice, emphasizing transformative strategies in complex systems. She has published over 47 research outputs and actively engages in consultancies, workshops, and media interviews, advocating for complexity-inspired innovation methodologies.