Our vision

Utopa derives its name from the Topa Group, a group of companies operating in transport packaging, focusing on trade, production, technology, research and training. Utopa was launched in 1988, and has owned all the shares in the Topa Group since then. Some of the income of Utopa comes from the dividends that it receives from these shares. Despite the link that exists between Utopa and the Topa Group on account of the share ownership, Utopa has no commercial control over the Topa Group. The relationship between Utopa and the Topa Group resembles that of a coin: two sides that cannot see each other but which still belong together. Two different faces that constitute one unit. Utopa is a non-profit and a recognised Dutch public benefit institution (ANBI).

A vision

The main reason why former owner of the Topa Group, Loek Dijkman, decided to subsume his company into the Utopa foundation was his vision that a company’s role in its environment goes further than providing employment and making a profit. In his view, a company does not pay out its ‘surplus profit’ to shareholders but to the community that nurtures it. The profit is used for the greater good.

History repeats itself

Neither the act of subsuming the assets of a company into a foundation nor the ideas underlying it are new. Back in Germany in 1889, Ernst Abbe founded the Carl Zeiss Stiftung in Jena. Abbe was personally convinced that ‘corporate ownership should serve more stringent ethical standards and be treated as public property, insofar as that exceeds the standard of a suitable wage for work.’ In our own country, utopian movements were started around 1900 centred around Frederik van Eeden and Nescio. In 1972, the Van Leer Group, another packaging company, channelled its corporate assets into a foundation for idealistic purposes.

Statutory objective

The objective of Utopa according to its by-laws is: to stimulate and promote the creative talents of people, particularly those whose potential goes unrecognised, for whatever reason. Our society places great emphasis on certain values, while neglecting others. Utopa aims to restore such imbalances. As the values emphasised by society regularly change, Utopa regularly adjusts its focus.
History teaches us that economic arguments are often key to decision-making. Later on, these arguments sometimes prove to be one-sided, debatable or even incorrect. With the resources it has at its disposal, Utopa wishes to somehow compensate this one-sided value judgement and act as a catalyst in a desired change process. At the same time, Utopa wants to emphasise the relativity of our current system without immediately offering a better (utopian) alternative.

A Utopia

The name of Utopa fits wonderfully well within the Topa Group. This name obviously evokes associations with Utopia, the book published by Thomas More in 1516 in which he described an idyllic society. A utopia... Thomas More was followed by many more utopians, also in the Netherlands. Despite the differences in substance, all utopias throughout the ages concern the relationship between man and his environment, between man and his fellow man, between man and nature and between man and his work. In terms of these relationships, historic realisation is a recurring element in the work of Utopa.

Vision

50 years of doing business differently

Loek Dijkman wrote the book 50 jaar anders ondernemen (50 years of doing business differently) to expand on his vision around Utopa and the Topa Group. It is firstly a philosophical and social vision on entrepreneurship, shaped over 50 years of doing business. You may find more information on the book on this Dutch page, where you can also download it in full (in Dutch).