We connect people, cultures, and organisations

We are anthropologists and advisers based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. For more than 30 years, we’ve helped governments, NGOs, and international organisations understand people, bridge cultural differences, and create lasting social change.

In a rapidly changing world, collaboration is rarely straightforward. Different cultural backgrounds, values, and ways of thinking make working together both challenging and rewarding. We help our clients navigate that complexity by combining academic research methods with practical, hands-on interventions.

We work with a global network of researchers, designers, and specialists, allowing us to build a multidisciplinary team tailored to each project.

What we do:

We design and facilitate processes that strengthen cultural integration, organisational development, organisational change, and social innovation.

Our work combines anthropological research methods with practical solutions. Wherever possible, we use art as a tool for meaningful intervention.

Every project is tailored to the people, culture, and challenges of the clients we work with. We never remain outsiders. We believe meaningful advice is only possible by becoming part of the communities we work with.

In recent years, we’ve worked extensively on improving elderly care. Together with our partners we founded Aetatis Academy in that field. The programmes are designed to bring about change in elderly care.

At the moment we conduct ethnographic fieldwork in Asia to understand the effect of capitalism on cultures and behaviour. Read more about it on our page: Project Capitalism.

Why we do it this way:

Because lasting change begins with understanding people.

As anthropologists, we bring together knowledge from different cultures. We translate insights from one cultural context into interventions that are meaningful in another. Our international fieldwork, global network, and field experience let us design interventions that are both innovative and practical.

Above all, we believe meaningful change is created together. Because lasting change depends on genuine understanding and shared commitment.

Who we work with:

• National and local governments
• Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
• Healthcare institutions
• Educational institutions
• International companies
• Public-sector organisations

Countries where we’ve worked:

Brazil · Cambodia · Bolivia · Japan · Bangladesh · The Netherlands

The Founder:

Martijn van Oorschot, MSc PhD, is the founder of Kent Consultants.

He holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology, an MSc in Linguistics and an MSc in Artificial Intelligence.

He earned his PhD with a dissertation titled “How People Get Lost in Organizations.”

He taught and conducted research at various universities worldwide.

Martijn is also founder of Studio The Faketory, an interdisciplinary art studio exploring the relationship between art, society, and culture.

We are different. Difference matters.

How to use this website

The Social Projects and Project Capitalism pages show our area of expertise, how we gained that expertise and what some findings and results are. The art of giving advice needs practice as well in-depth knowledge of the subject.