Who We Are
The Concept
It all begun in the 2000s, when the founder and Director of IDM Consulting, Dr. Thanos Koulos, realized the gap in the international scene of an organization providing consulting services on issues of identity. More than often, politicians, public servants and bureaucrats are required to deal with sensitive issues that touch upon collective identifications with enormous social, political, economic, symbolic and emotional implications, lacking relevant expertise and guidance. In many cases, mismanaged identity issues have led to unrest and instability, while identity conflicts are consequential for policies on welfare, education, immigration and other issues. This realization turned out to a concrete plan and a few years later, IDM Consulting was established to fill in this gap and provide high quality professional expert services on identity issues. IDM is based out of the Netherlands and operates globally.
Identity
Group identities are never the result of coincidence, but rather the outcome of a project, of social and political engineering.
Once formed, identities are extremely durable; however, they are never fixed or static but in a constant state of formation and transformation. After all, they need to be reproduced for every new generation. Identity engineering is therefore a process to be carried out methodically and with great care in order to reach and sustain the desired outcome. For this reason, identity projects need meticulous planning, expert guidance and proper execution.
Identity projects are necessary for the smooth functioning of our societies and economies. Given the multiplicity of our identifications on the one hand, and the challenges posed to some of these identifications – for example from immigration or religious radicalization – on the other, policy makers are confronted with situations that require expert advice and support – and here is where we come in!
What we do
IDM is a consultancy that focuses on group identity issues (ethnic, national, supra-national, regional, civic, cultural, linguistic, religious), providing valuable support to national, regional, international, and supranational authorities. We provide policymakers with strategic policy advice, decision-making guidance, risk analysis, strategy development, and – to an extent – strategy execution with regards to identity issues. Our role is to help define the vision, mission, and strategy of an identity project as well as the best practices and methods for its implementation. We have a strong professional network stretching from regional to international bodies that we utilize according to the needs of the project.
We further provide program management services, business planning, brand identity strategy development, as well as educational and business strategy development.
Vision
At IDM Consulting we work for a global society where presumably incompatible collective identifications will not threaten social cohesion, create economic and political instability and lead to marginalization and exclusion. We envision and work for a level of acceptance, maturity and respect on a global level where different identities may exist side by side, promoting peace, inclusion and prosperity. All of IDM Consulting projects adhere to the International Bill of Human Rights as well as the United Nations Minorities Declaration.
the director
Our director, Dr. Thanos Koulos, holds a BA in Political Science (University of Cyprus), an MSc in Nationalism and Ethnicity (London School of Economics and Political Science), a PhD in Sociology (University of Cyprus) and a Postdoc in the Nationalization of Cyberspace (Erasmus University Rotterdam). He is an expert in identity formation and re-formation, while his theoretical background is complemented by his extensive project management and strategy development experience.