Category Archives: Education

Education

Internship opportunity | Social Justice in the Agroecological movement – Boerengroep & Mycelia of Hope Project

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Are you dreaming of an agroecological world in which farming is inclusive and where allies can work together for a fair food system? Mycelia of Hope is looking for an intern who wants to work on the agroecological pillar of social justice and who wants to make Mycelia of Hope – and the broader agroecological movement – inclusive and caring for people who are marginalized, structurally disadvantaged or in precarious situations.


Mycelia of Hope is a working group within the agroecology movement, in which we build
bridges between farmers, activists and other allies. During our on-farm working days,
activists learn about agroecological practices and can share knowledge on (food) system change. At the same time, farmers can share practical knowledge on agroecology and provide a space to come together, learn and collaborate.


As inclusivity is a struggle in big parts of the European agroecological movement, Mycelia of Hope experiences difficulties in being inclusive and accessible for people in precarious situations. Therefore, we are looking for an intern who wants to help find practical solutions for both Mycelia of Hope and the whole agroecology movement.


Main responsibility
The internship is open for your own suggestions and together we will look at what is most in line with your own ideas. There are two main projects we want to work on: social justice within Mycelia of Hope and social justice within the (Dutch) agroecological movement. As an intern, you can pick one of these two to focus on and we can adjust the tasks accordingly.

Social Justice Mycelia
● Setting up a structure to connect migrants and farmers.
● Find potential ways to compensate migrants for farm work in a fair manner for both the farmer and migrant.
● Look into the legal aspects of the work, funding, and processes.
● Get in touch with other similar projects in different countries or on different topics.

Social Justice Agroecological Movement
● Organize a workshop/skillshare on inclusivity in the agroecological movement: invite people who work on this, who struggle with this or who found solutions.
● Perform a small research project on inclusivity/accessibility within the agroecological movement.
● Interviews/questionnaires with farmers who want to think with us about this topic.

Other Possible Responsibilities
● Share group facilitation with the other group members: Facilitate and coordinate the activities and meetings of the working group in a rotation with the other members of Mycelia of Hope
● Help to organize Farming Days
● Create a detailed agenda for our working days
● Website development

Requirements
● Passion for sustainable agriculture, agroecology, and inclusivity/social justice.
● Organizational and communication skills.
● Ability to work collaboratively in a diverse team environment.
● Ability to work independently
● Demonstrated experience in project coordination or related roles is a plus

What we offer
● A working space in Wageningen (or possibly in Amsterdam)
● A lot of freedom within the focus of the internship
● Horizontal teamwork
● Opportunity to meet our wide network in the agroecological movement
● An office dog

How to Apply
If you are enthusiastic about participating in transformative projects and believe in the
potential of Mycelia of Hope, please submit your resume, and a motivation letter outlining your relevant experience and personal motivation for joining the project, to
st.boerengroep@wur.nl. Please include reasons what you are enthusiastic about and how you would like to shape the topic into something you are passionate about.

Application Deadline: 30th of December

Start Internship: February 1st (date is flexible)

The Mycelia of Hope Project is an equal-opportunity employer. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds and experiences. Join us in cultivating sustainable change and fostering a sense of belonging within our community!

WASS Graduate Course | The Rural Everyday of Geopolitics, 13–16 January 2025

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There’s still time to register for this inspiring course – don’t miss out!
Register here.

We have entered a new era in the geopolitics of agriculture and rural livelihoods. The decline of the United States’ power, the rise of China, and an assertive stance of Russia, have resulted in a multipolar global order.

In this course, we will interrogate the ways in which geopolitical rivalries manifest themselves and are responded to, in rural areas around the world. Farm fields, as well as pastures and forests, have always been political domains, and the range of actors affecting rural livelihoods has become more diverse and complex in recent decades. It is imperative to weave geopolitics more strongly into analyses of trajectories of social, agrarian, and environmental change. 

Using various analytical lenses, and drawing on a rich variety of scholarly and non-academic works, this workshop will explore the rural everyday of geopolitical rivalries. We will depart from the macro-level to the micro-level and back again, to examine whether, how and to what extent transformations in rural livelihood portfolios and land use practices have reflected geopolitical rivalries in recent decades, for instance in terms of the influx and use of technology, crop and seed varieties; changes in production relations; and, farms’ integration into markets. Examining these dynamics, we will discuss a series of questions, including: to what extent are rural actors’ decisions and practices influenced by “grand politics”? Do geopolitics bear more heavily on rural livelihoods in one locality than in another, and if so, why? How or where does intersectionality come into play? How and to what extent have people resisted or reworked external interventions or influences, and, in aiming to understand responses: does it matter who is intervening? These questions will contribute to a better understanding of the extent to which geopolitics is embedded in rural social and agrarian change, and with what result.

The course engages the dialectic of structure and agency and addresses the importance of multi-scalar and comparative research approaches. We will attend not only to the ways in which rural communities have experienced geopolitics, but also to examine how they have responded to changes instigated by macro-level dynamics. 

Course coordination & lecturing by Irna Hofman.

Register here

Read more in the course guide:

WASS rural everyday geopolitics guideDownload

Photo: Irna Hofman, Tajikistan 2020

WASS Course | Agrarian, Environmental and Food Citizenship

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Issues surrounding agriculture, the environment, and food systems have become central in public debate. This graduate-level course presents a unique opportunity for students to explore these debates through the lens of citizenship and its role in shaping fair and just agricultural, environmental, and food systems.

Key topics include:
>>Approaches and debates to citizenship and its relevance to contemporary agricultural, environmental, and food practices
>> Case studies highlighting successful initiatives and challenges in democratizing agricultural, environmental and food practices
>> The role of grassroots movements in practising inclusive citizenship

Throughout the course, students will develop critical thinking skills and analytical tools to assess the complexities of democratization efforts in these domains. By the end of the course, participants will gain a nuanced understanding of the role citizenship plays in shaping fair and just agricultural, environmental, and food systems, and will be equipped with insights to contribute meaningfully to ongoing debates and practices in this field.

The course adopts an interdisciplinary approach, drawing upon insights from political science, rural sociology, environmental studies, and agrarian studies. Through engaging lectures, discussions, readings, and case studies, participants will examine various dimensions of agrarian, environmental and food citizenship.

This course is intended for students doing a research master’s, PhDs, postdocs, and staff members who want to expand their engagement with the democratization of our agrarian, environmental and food practices and the citizenship approach to this.

More info here.

Navigating Precarity:  (Un)documented immigrants in Spain’s agri-food industry

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In the master thesis “Navigating Precarity:  (Un)documented immigrants in Spain’s agri-food industry” Merissa Gavin discusses the strategies employed by immigrants in navigating precarity from the perspective of the immigrants themselves and new forms of being political are being created. The main question that guided her research was: “How do undocumented immigrant workers in Spain’s agri-food industry engage in claim-making and claim-living to navigate precarity?”

Over the last two decades, immigrant workers have become a structural element of Spain’s agri-food industry. Arriving to Spain undocumented, immigrant workers have few options other than the exploitative working conditions of the agricultural sector. The present research centres on the precarity of these workers, highlighting the multitude of ways they navigate vulnerability and uncertainty. This research is important, firstly, to raise the voice of undocumented immigrant workers and demonstrate how they exercise agency in everyday activities. Secondly, to investigate the socio-spatial conditions that facilitate, or obstruct, the emergence of a collective political being.

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Internship: Governing food sharing in Utrecht

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We are looking for a research intern to conduct scientific research on food sharing and governance in the Municipality of Utrecht as part of the EU-funded project CULTIVATE. Knowledge of Dutch and experience with qualitative research methods and analysis are essential.

CULTIVATE uses a multi-actor approach to build sustainability and resilience in urban and peri-urban areas through a ground-breaking online social innovation support platform – The Food Sharing Compass. Built with and for five key stakeholder groups – food sharing initiatives, policy makers, food supply actors, researchers and citizens – the platform will make it possible to navigate diverse food sharing landscapes and cultures, in order to understand, develop, replicate, expand and strengthen sustainable food sharing in Europe. In essence, CULTIVATE will establish the EU as the global frontrunner in the development of resilient and inclusive food sharing economies, identifying drivers and implementation gaps and challenging existing theories and practices which currently constrain sustainable food sharing.

Internship description: The intern will be participating in research which aims to better understand the evolution of, and help transform, existing policies, regulatory regimes, governance structures and habits to strengthen local food sharing economies, promote sustainable food sharing and prevent and reduce food waste.

The intern will part of the Rural Sociology Group of Wageningen University but the work will be based mainly in Utrecht from September 2023 to January 2024 (4 months, full time).

For questions about the position, please contact Dr Lucie Sovova lucie.sovova@wur.nl

Generally, the intern will support the WUR Research team and other members of the CULTIVATE to collect, organize and analyse information and data to help achieve the scientific objectives of the project, develop effective task management and collaboratively work, publish and disseminate project findings.

We seek highly motivated candidates to:

  • work in an international, innovative and multistakeholder project,
  • develop qualitative research skills while working with different types of stakeholders,
  • communicate and amplify scientific, policy and innovation knowledge around food sharing in Utrecht.

Key responsibilities:

  • Follow research protocols to analyse the urban food sharing governance landscape in the city of Utrecht with special focus on food waste, social and solidarity economies, and urban agriculture with support from the research team.
  • Work closely with university researchers and the Municipality of Utrecht to identify leverage points and pathways for transformative change, using scenario and backcasting tools.
  • Support the organisation of project meetings.

Expertise/Competence/Skills:

  • Excellent Dutch and English language skills are a requirement
  • Capable of working independently and meeting deadlines
  • Proven capacity to synthetize and communicate complex ideas
  • Experience with qualitative research methods, especially interviewing is an asset
  • Experience with data collection and policy analysis is an asset
  • Experience with food sharing initiatives is an asset
  • Experience working in diverse teams is an asset