Research School for Socio-Economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment
Research School for Socio-Economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment
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Does Biculturalism work?
When I came to the Netherlands in 2014 to do my Master’s studies in Environmental Sciences at Wageningen University, I neither had knowledge nor awareness about Dutch society and culture. During my initial days in the Netherlands, my daily routine was just going to my Master’s classes, coming back home, cooking Sri Lankan food, talking to my family and then going to bed. I almost had zero connection with the Dutch society.
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Voor een leefbare planeet moet het poldermodel de prullenbak in
Moordende overstromingen in Nederland, België en Duitsland; een dorp in Canada dat binnen twintig minuten van de kaart gebrand is; extreme hittegolven in Pakistan en India. We leven in een tijd die door steeds meer mensen wordt gezien als een kruispunt voor de mensheid. Met polderen sparen we misschien op de korte termijn de kool en de geit. Maar de gevolgen voor de lange termijn zijn desastreus. De geit blijft immers een grote bron van methaan en stikstof en het is de vraag of de kool nog groeit als de aarde door gif en kunstmest uitgeput raakt. Er moeten snelle en drastische keuzes gemaakt worden die op de korte termijn grote consequenties hebben voor burgers en bedrijven. In dit essay zetten we uiteen waarom het poldermodel voor de klimaat- en biodiversiteitscrisis de prullenbak in kan en concluderen dat het alternatief voor de ogenschijnlijke inclusiviteit van het poldermodel meer democratische controle betekent.
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Innovative Education for Transformative Change
A course described by students as “one of a kind, emotionally-engaging and potentially life-changing” and “unforgettable and a great source of inspiration for my future career & life!”, was the recipient of the first edition of the Education Innovation Award at Wageningen University & Research’s Dies Natalis on March 9th, 2022.
The two-week intensive course, Transformative Research for Global Social-Environmental Challenges, was designed during the pandemic and involved 21 lecturers, from Wageningen University and Research, the University of Twente, and the Stockholm Resilience Centre. In the acceptance speech, coordinator Josie Chambers emphasized the collaborative effort behind the course: “Together we are part of a growing movement to bridge sharp critique of how our own beliefs and methods constrain us, to a sense of possibility and hope for how we can do things differently by working together.”
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Toilets and Transdisciplinarity
Transdisciplinarity in North-South collaborations, knowing what happens between natural sciences and social constraints is a challenge. Transdisciplinary projects have large aspirations to advance science and address societal problems. However, their participatory nature leads them to find their own direction, sometimes beyond the scope and conceptual frames we put on them.
Dr Léon Späth from the ETH Zurich TdLab (Transdisciplinary Tab) and Sustainable Agroecosystems Group was interviewed by Jillian Student, postdoc Transdisciplinary Research at WIMEK (WUR).
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October 2021 – Personal Involvement with Research: Conflict of Interest?
Researchers are humans, who despite their professional focus on objective collection of evidence, are also moved by internal motivations. In this story we share personal and collective ideas about what personal involvement means for what we research, how we do it and what we want to achieve with it. What are the implications of seeing personal involvement as a potential conflict of interest?
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October 2021 – What is the similarity between an iceberg and a fisherman?
Transdisciplinary as science is not just science FOR society, but science WITH society. Researchers can engage societal players from the start of the project as equal partners with their own share of unique and useful knowledge. In such a situation, researchers may experience that they may have a lot of theoretical and scientific knowledge about the Arctic, but do not have a clue about the information fisherfolk and other interested parties need to respond to climate change.
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June 2021 – Introducing the Sustainable Cacao and Coffee discussion group
The importance of cacao and coffee in society can hardly be overstated. Caffeine in coffee is the World’s number one drug. Cacao is known as the food of the gods. As globalized commodities, understanding the value chains of both crops is complex. Yet only by merging perspectives can we create sustainable production systems. Our discussion group aims to “explore the width of scientific research to create sustainable cacao and coffee value chains from beans to beverage.” This story is about what we do.
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