Former Amsterdam mayor and former PvdA leader Job Cohen

Former mayor of Amsterdam and PvdA leader Job Cohen has written a page for our contemporary book of hours and pilgrims and has thus become a symbolic forerunner of the Walk of Wisdom.

Job Cohen is a widely respected administrator, a calm and stable force who has dedicated his social career to the public good in science, government and politics. He was elected the second best mayor in the world in 2006.

Job Cohen is known for his commitment to diversity and seeking consensus rather than polarization. As party leader, he did not allow himself to be carried away by the show and the theatre of image-making. Characteristic is his reaction to a journalist who pointed out to him during a report that it would come across as ‘indecisive’ if he walked relaxed in front of the camera with his hands in his pockets, which Cohen indeed did. Cohen shrugged.

Finally, for the Walk of Wisdom , it is interesting that Job Cohen is of Jewish descent. It underlines what we want to stand for with the pilgrimage route: people with different backgrounds and beliefs can share the same values and interests. We all live on the same earth and go through many of the same universal life experiences. (More about the core values).