Wouter Wolters has a Masters degree in New Media and Digital Culture from the University of Utrecht, specialising in serious gaming and participatory culture. Wouter’s Masters thesis focused on the diversity of the participatory culture of games and virtual worlds. Through his research he developed a model which conceptualized differing forms of participation and strategies. It was also during this study that he won the student edition of Craftworld; a competition focused on the development of a creative concept combining the best elements of television and gaming. The result was a creative crossmedia project called Dokter Tom which aims to help children afflicted by chronic disease. Dokter Tom uses the vehicle of play to help these children breakout of their social isolation. Following his success, Wouter and his team presented their concept at the Craftworld summit for professionals. As a result several major media companies (Endemol and IJsfontein amongst others) showed their interest in supporting the concept.
Currently Wouter works as a consultant for e-hulp.nl where he advises companies in the use of new media within a counseling and coaching environment. Amongst others he works together with Child Helpline International and the child helplines of Namibia, Malta, Egypt, Czech Republic and Aruba on the development of a modular online help website aimed at providing online counseling for children.
Before beginning his career in New Media, Wouter studied sports management. After graduation in 2001 he worked for the National Sports Institute (NISB) on a national youth participation campaign called whoZnext. He was involved in the general development of the campaign and initiated an active online community and crossmedial training for the more than 150 whoZnext teams. This experience proved to be the inspiration for Wouter’s later career in participatory culture and new media.
In the future Wouter wants to remain active in the world of interactive communication. He wants to exploit his creativity and project management skills in the development of small and large interactive communication projects.