Rien was for many years director of the Utrecht theatre academy and later served on the board of directors of the Utrecht School of the Arts. He has been a driving force behind many important arts initiatives in Utrecht and beyond, including the foundation of a theatre school in Nicaragua in the 1980s. He was one of the programmers of the first and second ‘Art in my backyard’ festivals. He is currently in charge of coaching artists at the neighbourhood level and developing local networks in Utrecht city and province.