Category Archives: Education

Farmer driven transformation: next grassroots-science seminar

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As announced earlier, St. Boerengroep and St. Otherwise organize a serie of seminars called Grassroots science: socially driven alternatives that tackle global problems. Next one will be on Monday May, 14, starting 19.30, in the Forum building. See the announced below and register a seat here:

Farmer driven transformation in the Netherlands: sustainable practices and struggles with the state

Dutch agriculture is one of the most productive in the world. This however seems to have come at a price. Disease outbreaks have led to the killing of more than 40 million animals in the last 14 years, it is the only EU country that does not comply to EU groundwater standards, it is the largest user of antibiotics for meat production in the EU, it ranks in the top 3 of the world’s largest pesticide users and the farming population has shrunk by 36% in 15 years. Policy efforts and huge investments in research seem to have brought little change to this. Farmer-led initiatives have however emerged that promise to tackle some of these problems. Frank Verhoeven (Boerenverstand bv) and Douwe Hoogland (chair Noardlike Fryske Wâlden) will talk about two farmer-led environmental co-operatives in the Frisian Woodlands, who, in cooperation with researchers, have devised system innovation by re-integrating dairy farming with nature conservation and landscape management. To realise this struggles with state policies were inevitable.

Learning about the role of agriculture and natural resources in sustainable rural development

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Together with four students of Wageningen University, I spend two weeks in Kaunas, Lithuania to represent Wageningen University, and the Rural Sociology Group, at this years’ ‘Intensive Programme’ on rural development. In this post I would like to reflect on this interesting experience and share some of the activities, impressions and outcomes.

  

Intensive programme?

An ‘Intensive Programme’ (or IP) is a short study programme bringing together different EU member states’ students and teachers from higher education institutes to study a relevant topic, in this case: rural development. EU’s main motivation to finance these programmes is to encourage multinational learning and teaching in the EU. The Rural Sociology Group has been participating in IP’s on rural development for some years now. Last years’ IP, hosted by colleagues of Padova University, focused on ‘the role of agriculture in territorial identity’ and took place in the Belluno province in the Italian Dolomites. We have also participated in IP’s with other themes. More recent, colleague Petra Derksen participated in an IP on traditional foods and micro-organisms in Romania. In a series of posts on this weblog she, and participating students, reflect on their experiences in this programme.        

The role of agriculture and natural resources in sustainable rural development

This years’ IP, on rural development, focused on ‘the role of agriculture and natural resources in sustainable rural development’. The programme was hosted by colleagues from the Aleksandras Stulginskis University in Kaunas, Lithuania. Twenty tutors and more than forty students came together for two weeks to discuss and learn about (Lithuanian) rural development. Participants represented universities from: Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, Belgium, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Spain and the Netherlands.

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HappySixtyFive

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The Rural Sociology group in Wageningen is celebrating its 65th anniversary. To celebrate this we decided to collect some of the stories from the people working here or who have been part of this group in the past. We asked them about how they started working with rural sociology issues, stories about their time here and things they look forward to.

Our hope is that through their accounts we can get to know a little bit more about the story of our group, its people, and where we are headed.

So, please click around, enjoy, and… Happysixtyfive RSO!

Traditional Foods at IP Romania (6) Student reflection

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Four previous blogs reported on the Intensive Program on Traditional Foods in Romania which took place during the first weeks of February. Students who participated reflect on their experiences.

Written by Hylke Sibtsen

While watching the airplanes departing from Schiphol airport take-off from a runway with perfectly white lanes of snow on either side I wondered what the IP in Cluj-Napoca Romania would bring. Besides a little bit of information concerning the topic, “Microbes and traditional foods: competitors or allies?”, and that each participating country would present several traditional products of their country or region, I didn’t know what to expect from the IP.

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Traditional Foods at IP Romania (5) Student reflection

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Four previous blogs reported on the Intensive Program on Traditional Foods in Romania which took place during the first weeks of February. Students who participated reflect on their experiences.

Written by Cho-Ye Yuen

picture: Stefanos Nastis - Valea Draganului

Not knowing what to expect, we arrived in Cluj-Napoca, where it was minus 15 degrees during the day and minus 20 during the night and everywhere was covered with snow. The first day started off well, students from different countries brought their own traditional food and held a presentations about it. Afterwards there was this big tasting where we enjoyed parmigiano reggiano aged 12 and 48 months, French saucisson, different kinds of cheeses and cakes, smoked bacon and off course accompanied by some drinks: strong liquors from Poland and Romania such as plum brandy. The next day was more serious and started with lectures from professors all over Europe. Assignments were given and working in groups with different nationalities was not unfamiliar when you come from Wageningen.

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