Chair and Professor of Rural Sociology at Wageningen University (The Netherlands)
Research domains: rural development, multifunctional agriculture, city-region food systems
2021 was a very special year for the Rural Sociology Group: as the chair group turned 75 years old, more than 100 people from all over the world have successfully completed their PhD with this group. PhDs have contributed to our understanding of the three main themes that characterize the research lines of RSO: agriculture, food, and place. They have developed a diverse range of theoretical frameworks. Former PhDs of RSO have continued their professional careers in farming, research, and project implementation in academia, the government, international organizations, and NGOs. Throughout the 75 years of RSO, we have seen a considerable increase of female and non-Dutch PhD candidates, and increasingly research sites outside of the Netherlands and Europe are studied. The trajectory of a PhD and funding structures have transformed as well.
Cover PhD Magazine 75 years Rural Sociology
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of RSO, we developed a RSO PhD magazine as a tribute to PhD research and education at RSO. In the magazine we share stories of a selection of former and current PhD candidates. You will find a tribute to Bruno Benvenuti, former PhD candidate and professor at RSO, written by Jan Douwe van der Ploeg. We trace the trajectory of several PhD alumni. These stories provide insight in their research topics as a PhD at RSO, the rewards and challenges they faced to complete their projects, the influence of their research on their current professional jobs and vice versa the influence of previous (work) experiences on their PhD research.
Other sections of the magazine highlight the life of PhDs that graduated and continued their academic career at RSO. For this, current staff wrote a letter to their “younger-selves” to reflect on the time when they were PhD candidates. Besides these retrospectives, the magazine also contains a section with stories from the field from current PhDs. In the end, the magazine offers a rich conversation between the chair holder of RSO, Han Wiskerke, Professor Bettina Bock, and Emeritus Professor Jan Douwe van der Ploeg. They reflect on their experience of supervising PhDs candidates, candidates who have inspired them, and the lessons they carry forward from their own PhD journey. In between these stories, the magazine documents a variety of interesting developments and trends among the PhD candidates and their research. Do you know when the first woman completed her PhD at RSO? Which nationality is represented most among candidates after the Dutch nationality?
This magazine was borne out of curiosity. Curiosity about former PhDs, their research and trajectories, and how PhD trajectories have changed over 75 years. The magazine was designed and edited by us as current and former PhD candidates. We are grateful to all the people who contributed to the magazine and made the production of this magazine possible. The process of creating this magazine and the end-result made us even more proud of the inspiring, warm chair group RSO is and was over the last 75 years. We want to invite you to get inspired as well, as you can now find the digital version of our magazine via de following link: https://edepot.wur.nl/568431
Op maandag 31 januari om 20.00 uur organiseert Pakhuis De Zwijger in samenwerking met Trouw De Duurzame 100 onder de titel ‘Grond van Ons’ een gesprek over de waarde van een gezonde bodem voor burgers.
Zonder gezonde grond, geen gezond voedsel. Op steeds meer plekken staan burgers op om samen grond te kopen en duurzame productie van voedsel door boeren mogelijk te maken. Verschillende initiatieven hebben letterlijk het heft in eigen handen genomen, want de betrokken burgers werken soms mee en brengen de producten rechtstreeks van het erf naar de keuken. In overleg met lokale bewoners en boeren ontstaat een nieuwe sociale gemeenschap. Deze ontwikkeling legt de basis voor de democratisering van de landbouw. De stad en het platteland, de burger en de boer raken weer met elkaar verbonden. De volgende vragen staan centraal in deze bijeenkomst. Zijn deze initiatieven dé oplossing voor verduurzaming onze bodem? Hoe gaan deze initiatieven te werk? Waar komt de toegevoegde waarde van deze initiatieven terecht?
Vorige week bereikte ons het droevige bericht van het overlijden van Ans van der Lande-Heij. Ans was van 1983 tot 2007 werkzaam bij de Leerstoelgroep Rurale Sociologie als secretaresse. Naast het reguliere secretariaatswerk voerde Ans ook een groot deel van de werkzaamheden uit die tegenwoordig tot het domein van het adjunct-beheer horen. Voorts verzorgde ze de opmaak van de boekenreeksen “Studies van Landbouw en Platteland” en “European Perspectives on Rural Development” en de organisatie en administratieve afhandeling van de projectbijeenkomsten van de EU-projecten CAMAR en IMPACT. Het leverde haar veel internationale contacten en ook nieuwe vrienden op.
Bovenal was Ans het sociale hart van de leerstoelgroep. Ze stond altijd klaar om (gast) medewerkers en studenten te helpen met vragen en problemen – tot en met het regelen van onderdak voor tijdelijke gastmedewerkers. Ze zorgde ervoor dat we elke ochtend met z’n allen bij haar op het secretariaat koffie dronken (zo rond 10 uur galmde Ans door de gang “Koffie!!”). En jarenlang hebben we als groep, met onze partners en kinderen, een weekend gekampeerd op de camping in Arcen, waar Ans en haar man Cees een stacaravan hadden. Ook dat was, op Ans’ welbekende wijze, altijd uitstekend georganiseerd en voor ons allen een moment om naar uit te zien en nu nog steeds om met veel plezier aan terug te denken.
Ans was vrijwel altijd opgeruimd, vrolijk en beminnelijk. Handen uit de mouwen, dat was haar devies, en problemen waren er om op te lossen. Of ze deed alsof ze er niet waren (ook dat is, in een universitaire bureaucratie, een goede eigenschap). Ze was begiftigd met het vermogen steeds een gezellige sfeer te creëren en steunde de mensen die dat nodig hadden. Een bewonderenswaardige vrouw.
Ans is in 2007 met pensioen gegaan en veel van de (oud) medewerkers hebben na haar pensionering contact gehouden met Ans en Cees. Wij beiden tot op heden. Op de rouwkaart schrijven haar kinderen, hun partners en de (achter)kleinkinderen van Ans: “Denk aan Ans met een lach, een lied of een drankje”. Dat zullen wij zeker doen, maar ook met een traan omdat we haar zeer zullen missen.
Namens de (oud) medewerkers van de Leerstoelgroep Rurale Sociologie,
Jan Douwe van der Ploeg en Han Wiskerke
Last week we received the sad news of the death of Ans van der Lande-Heij. Ans worked as secretary at the Rural Sociology Group from 1983 to 2007. In addition to her regular secretarial duties, Ans performed many of the tasks that nowadays belong to the domain of assistant management. She also took care of the lay-out of the Dutch book series “Studies van Landbouw en Platteland” and the English book series ‘European Perspectives on Rural Development’ and the organization and administration of the project meetings of the EU-projects CAMAR and IMPACT. It brought her many international contacts and also new friends.
Above all, Ans was the social heart of the chair group. She was always ready to help (guest) staff and students with questions and problems – up to and including arranging accommodation for temporary visiting scientists. She made sure that every morning we all drank coffee at her office (around 10 o’clock Ans would echo “Coffee!” through the corridor). And for many years we spent a weekend as a group, with our partners and children, at the campsite in Arcen, where Ans and her husband Cees had a mobile home. That too, in Ans’ well-known way, was always excellently organised and for all of us a moment to look forward to and to remember and cherish until today.
Ans was almost always optimistic, cheerful and amiable. Get to work, that was her motto, and problems were there to be solved. Or she pretended they weren’t there (in a university bureaucracy, that too is a good quality). She was gifted with the ability to always create a friendly atmosphere and supported those who needed it. An admirable woman.
Ans retired in 2007 and many of the (former) employees have kept in touch with Ans and Cees after her retirement. Both of us to this day. On the bereavement card her children, their partners and Ans’s (great) grandchildren wrote: “Remember Ans with a smile, a song or a drink”. We certainly will, but also with a tear as we will dearly miss her.
On behalf of the (former) staff members of the Rural Sociology Group,
The Rural Sociology Group of Wageningen University will celebrate its 75th Anniversary on May 13, 2022 with a public event entitled “Rural Sociology: past, present and future”.
Venue:Akoesticum, Nieuwe Kazernelaan 2D42, 6711 JC Ede, The Netherlands (registration has closed).
At the event we will reflect upon the history of rural sociology and discuss future challenges in a lively and interactive setting.
Program
08.30 – Registration and coffee/thee
09.00 – Opening by Arthur Mol (Rector Magnificus of Wageningen University)
09.30 – Keynote Han Wiskerke Meaningful diversity: Past, present and future of rural sociology
10.00 – Keynote Haroon Akram-Lodhi From peasant studies to critical agrarian studies
10.45 – Break
11.00 – Rural Talk Show – Interactive session including invited guests and audience participation. The Talk Show is chaired by Matt Reed, with Jan Douwe van der Ploeg as a permanent table guest, and changing table guests around the following three themes: – Societal engagement or academic distance; with Jessica Duncan, Aya Kimura, Han Wiskerke – Discussing the rural-urban dichotomy; with Henk Oostindie, Sally Shortall, Esther Veen – A continuing debate: agency and structure; with Bettina Bock, Bram Büscher, and Mark Vicol
12.15 – Closure morning session
12.30 – Lunch
14.00 – Workshops
15.30 – Keynote Hannah Wittman Bridging rural and urban through agroecological networks: cultivating agrarian citizenship in a climate crisis
16.30 – Imagining the next 25 years of rural sociology. Interactive session around three research agenda’s, briefly pitched by RSO staff, followed by an open floor exchange of ideas and discussion: – Agriculture – introduction Kees Jansen – Place – introduction Joost Jongerden – Food – introduction Jessica Duncan
18.00 – Closure, drinks and conference diner
Keynote speakers:
Haroon Akram-Lodhi – ‘From peasant studies to critical agrarian studies‘ Haroon Akram Lodhi is Professor of Economics and International Development Studies at Trent University, Canada. His research interest is in the political economy of agrarian change, the future of smallholder peasant communities in the world food system, on the sustainability of rural social structures, relations and institutions, and gender and rights based economics. https://sites.google.com/site/aharoonakramlodhi/home
Arthur Mol– Opening Arthur Mol was trained in environmental sciences (MSc) and environmental social sciences (PhD). Besides being Chair and Professor of Environmental Policy at Wageningen University he was also Professor of Environmental Policy at Renmin University, China, at Tsinghua University, China, and at the National University of Malaysia UKM. He was joint editor of the journal Environmental Politics, and is book series editor of New Horizons in Environmental Politics. His main fields of interest and publications are in environmental studies, globalization, social theory and the environment, informational governance, ecological modernization, China, sustainable (food) production and consumption and urban environmental governance. Currently, he is Rector Magnificus and Vice-President of the Executive Board of Wageningen University & Research and president of the Association of European Life Science Universities (ICA). https://www.wur.nl/en/Persons/Arthur-prof.dr.ir.-APJ-Arthur-Mol.htm
Hannah Wittman – ‘Bridging rural and urban through agroecological networks: cultivating agrarian citizenship in a climate crisis‘ Hannah Wittman is Professor Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia in Canada. Her research examines the ways that the rights to produce and consume food are contested and transformed through struggles for agrarian reform, food sovereignty, and agrarian citizenship. Her projects include community-based research on farmland access, transition to organic agriculture, and seed sovereignty in British Columbia, agroecological transition and the role of institutional procurement in the transition to food sovereignty in Ecuador and Brazil, and the role that urban agriculture and farm-to-school nutrition initiatives play in food literacy education. http://ires.ubc.ca/person/hannah-wittman/
Han Wiskerke – ‘Meaningful diversity: past, present and future of rural sociology’ Han Wiskerke is Professor of Rural Sociology and Chair of the Rural Sociology Group at Wageningen University since 2004. From January 2013 until June 2016 he was also Professor of Foodscape Studies and Design at the Academy of Architecture (Amsterdam University of the Arts). His main research themes during the past 15 years have been a) agrarian and rural development, b) city-region food systems and c) urban-rural relations. He was founding editor-in-chief of Urban Agriculture and Regional Food Systems from 2014 – 2018 and (co-)editor of books on agrarian & rural transitions, food planning, foodscape studies & design, urban agriculture, and sustainable & regenerative food systems. https://www.wur.nl/nl/personen/han-prof.dr.ir.-jsc-han-wiskerke.htm
Participants in the Rural Talk Show session and the Imagining the next 25 years of rural sociology session:
Bettina Bock is Professor for Inclusive Rural Development at the Rural Sociology Chairgroup at Wageningen University and Professor for Population Decline and Quality of Life at Groningen University. Her areas of research include inclusive rural development and social innovation, with a particular focus on remote and depopulating rural areas, governance, migration and rural gender relations. From 2013-2019 she was the editor-in-chief of Sociologia Ruralis. In addition, she is a board members of the European Society for Rural Sociology and the International Rural Sociology Association. She has been invited as guest professor at the Università di Gastronomia in Pollenza in 2020), Cornell University in the United States (2019), Kyoto University (2018) and Newcastle University (2017). https://www.wur.nl/nl/personen/bettina-prof.dr.ir.-bb-bettina-bock.htm
Bram Büscher is Professor and Chair of the Sociology of Development and Change group at Wageningen University. He holds visiting positions at the Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies of the University of Johannesburg and the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology of Stellenbosch University, in South Africa. His research interests revolve around the political economy of conservation and development, the politics of energy and extraction, ecotourism, new media and social theory. More info at www.brambuscher.com
Jessica Duncan is Associate Professor in the Politics of Sustainable Food Systems in the Rural Sociology Group at Wageningen University, is a researcher and educator committed to social justice. Jessica is widely recognised for her expertise on the politics of sustainable food system transition. She is a founding member of the Centre for Unusual Collaborations (CUCo) and sits on the editorial board of Sociologia Ruralis. https://www.wur.nl/nl/personen/jessica-dr.-jab-jessica-duncan.htm
Kees Jansen is an Associate Professor in the Rural Sociology Group at Wageningen University. His work connects the fields of political ecology, critical agrarian studies and international development. His current research focusses on pesticide risk governance and social movements concerned about pesticides. More info at www.keesjansen.eu
Joost Jongerden is an Associate Professor in the Rural Sociology Group at Wageningen University. His research on ‘Do-It-Yourself Development’ aims to identify the possibilities of alternative futures grounded in peoples’ daily practices and present struggles. His geographical focus is Kurdistan and Turkey. He holds a position as professor at the Asian Platform for Global Sustainability and Transcultural Studies, Kyoto University, Japan, and has been a visiting professor at Toronto University in 2018. In 2012 he was a founding member of the journal Kurdish Studies, of which he was an editor until 2020. In 2021 he founded the journal Commentaries. He is a board member of the European Union Turkey Civic Commission. https://wur.academia.edu/JoostJongerden
Aya H. Kimura – professor of sociology at the University of Hawai`i-Manoa. Her research analyzes the intersections of technoscience, gender, and sustainability. She has had research projects in Indonesia, Japan, and Hawai`i, and has written on agrobiodiversity, fermentation, food safety, nutrition science and the idea of “smart food.” Among others, she examines diverse practical experiences with citizen science on a range of food and farming issues, from seed development to toxicants to biodiversity. https://ayakimura.weebly.com/
Henk Oostindie – Senior Researcher in the Rural Sociology Group at Wageningen University. He has a longstanding experience in researching the socio-economic aspects of rural development, including topics as farming styles, multifunctional agrarian pathways, food chain dynamics, multi-level rural governance and rural-urban interdepencies. A significant part of his empirically grounded research interests took place within comparative analysis and policy oriented European projects.
Jan Douwe van der Ploeg – Emeritus Professor and the former Chair of the Rural Sociology Group in Wageningen. In his position as Professor of Rural Sociology, he elaborated the inquiry into the expressions, implications and underlying mechanisms of heterogeneity in agriculture. He was also closely involved in some of the grass root initiatives that aimed at developing (practical) new alternatives to the reigning model of ongoing scale-increase and further industrialization of agriculture and rural development. http://www.jandouwevanderploeg.com/EN/
Matt Reed – Associate Professor in Food Citizenship and director of the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) at the University of Gloucestershire (UK). He is a sociologist with research interests in how and why social change takes place around food. His research rests upon the intersections of political sociology, cultural studies and rural geography. http://www.ccri.ac.uk/reed/
Sally Shortall – Duke of Northumberland Professor of Rural Economy at the Centre for Rural Economy, Newcastle University (UK). Her research interest is in rural sociology, community studies, rural development and rural proofing, agriculture, farm families. She is specifically known for her work on gender and agriculture. https://www.ncl.ac.uk/cre/about/staff/profile/sallyshortall.html#background
Esther Veen worked as an Assistant Professor at the Rural Sociology Group of Wageningen University until 2021. She taught courses on urban food, food and identity, foodscapes and alternative food networks, and studied urban food initiatives, urban food growing and the effects of green on health and wellbeing. She is currently lector (reader) Urban Food Issues at Aeres University of Applied Sciences Almere, working closely with research institute Flevo Campus. She studies how food routines change and normalise, and how the urban environment can stimulate healthier and more sustainable food patterns. She is specifically interested in the interplay between the food environment and everyday routines around shopping, cooking and eating. She also focuses on the role of urban agriculture in the urban food system. https://www.aereshogeschool.nl/onderzoek/lectoren-en-onderzoekers/esther-veen
Mark Vicol is Assistant Professor of Agrarian Sociology in the Rural Sociology Group at Wageningen University. My research focuses on the intersections between rural livelihoods, agricultural development and agrarian change in South and Southeast Asia. I explore integrative approaches to understanding patterns of change at the intersections of micro-scale rural livelihoods and the macro-scale political-economic structures and social relations that underpin global capitalism. Specifically, I am interested in the changing relationships between land, agriculture, rural livelihoods and inequality; the livelihood implications for rural households of modern agricultural global value chains, and the politics of value chain development; and broader political economy questions about patterns of agrarian accumulation and differentiation and the future of small farmers and agriculture in the region. https://www.wur.nl/en/Persons/Mark-dr.-MR-Mark-Vicol.htm
Venue: Akoesticum, Nieuwe Kazernelaan 2D42, 6711 JC Ede, The Netherlands.
How food production in the city contributes to a sustainable future
21 & 22 October, 2021 [Hybrid Event]
The industrialization of our global food system and growing urbanization not only exacerbate the effects of climate change and accelerate the loss of biodiversity, but also significantly cause the spatial and mental decoupling of food production and consumption.
Against the backdrop of the associated socio-ecological challenges, a “renaissance” of various forms of urban agriculture can be observed worldwide over the last decade, accompanied by the emergence of new multifunctional productive ecosystems in urban spaces. Especially in the Global North, the manifold forms and different dimensions of urban agriculture increasingly show potentials how negative effects along the food value chain can be reduced and how ecological, economic and social added values can be created.
The 14th Weihenstephan Symposium will therefore revolve around a provocative question:
“Urban agriculture – A trend phenomenon or transformative element for the development of resilient cities and food systems?”
To explore this controversial question, the professorship for Urban Productive Ecosystems at Technical University of Munich invites practitioners from science, business, politics and civil society to debate their expertise and experience in the form of keynote speeches and subsequent discussion. Different forms and aspects of urban production – their limits and potentials – will be critically examined and their practical potential discussed from ecological, social and economic points of view.
We invite you to participate in the forum and discuss with us – participation is open to the interested public.
Registration & Participation
Due to the current Covid-19 related regulations, the event will take place hybrid, i.e., with a limited number of participants at TUM Campus Weihenstephan in Freising (Konferenzsaal iGZW, 3G rules apply) and the possibility to participate in the full program via Zoom. Please note that registration for on-site participation is required by October 18 to allow for planning the logistics and catering according to Covid rules. All admitted registrants will receive final information and the access link for Zoom closer to the event. The event will be held partly in German (GER) and partly in English (ENG) with no simultaneous translation. It is open to all and is free of charge.
Rural Sociology Wageningen University 