Stichting Demeter biedt meerdere stageplekken voor studenten die komend winterseizoen 2015-2016 met boeren willen werken aan een visievorming op kennisontwikkeling en vernieuwing in de Biologisch Dynamische landbouw. Dit tegen de achtergrond van het maatschappelijk debat rond kwesties als: dierwelzijn; het gebruik van antibiotica en antibiotica vrije status; de mannelijke lijn in de veehouderij (wat doen we met stiertjes, bokjes en haantjes) en kalfjes bij de koe. Van ousher heeft de BD zich sterk onderscheiden van de gangbare landbouw in deze kwesties, maar dat zal naar verwachting minder worden. Hoe kan de BD zich dan blijven onderscheiden? Continue reading
Category Archives: Thesis and internship possibilities
RSO student participation in Kyoto University summer school
By MSc-students Sacha Buisman and Susanne Maenen (pictures).
It is the third day of the Kyoto Graduate Seminar on Economic Development and Sustainability. Three professors, respectively called sensei, from the Kyoto University gave lectures today on topics related to the theme: ‘agriculture, environment and sustainability’. The whole week, we will discuss a wide range of themes with a very multi-disciplinary group of students coming from Thailand, Laos, Korea, Denmark, the UK and Wageningen. In the city where the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997 and in the country where there was a massive nuclear disaster in 2011, we will look back at the economic development of the Asian continent while we try to envision possible sustainable pathways for the future economic developments. Today we discussed if, and how, economic growth and environmental conservation can be achieved simultaneously. In the last lecture of today we looked at food security from a Japanese perspective. One of the main challenges that Japan faces, just like almost every other country in the world, is the population shift from the rural areas to the urban areas. The average age of a Japanese farmer is 65 years, which will soon cause the diminishing of active farmers and the utilization of farm-land. How is the Japanese politics responding to this scenario? Mainly by following the US way of reasoning: ‘increase the efficiency and the productivity’. Which might be not the right solution, given the fact that a Japanese farm has an average of 2 hectare farmland. There are multiple Japanese bottom-up movements, such as the shura ku-eino (village farming collectives), who suggest ‘another’ sustainable pathways that focuses on small-scale farming of ‘diverse local actors with a diverse and multi-layered commitment’. Continue reading
On Becoming: MSc Thesis on Undocumented Migrants in the Netherlands
On Becoming: An Ethnographic Account on the Importance of Social Relationships for Undocumented Migrants in the Netherlands
This ethnographic and descriptive account argues for the importance of personal relationships for the ‘integration’ of undocumented migrants in the Netherlands from the perspective of those who ‘live it’. Following three personal stories we can see that social networks are crucial as they provide access to necessary resources and enable undocumented migrants to practically arrange their existence. But in addition, because these interactions are built on personal connections and allow for intimacy they enable a deeper sense of belonging. This indicates that, although undocumented migrants are formally excluded from any state services, they may in fact participate economically and socially due to their personal social network. As such, they enable a different perspective on the meaning and methods of integration. Because in a domain highly controlled by the state these three personal stories show that integration may also be seen as a trajectory of becoming; as a constant social process based on affective and personal relationships that take place in the social domain. Integration as such should not be seen as a procedural process as only described by the state but instead as an affective process in which people assemble socially. This enables a reconceptualization of integration and a re-envisioning of the role of the state in social life.
On Becoming is a MSc thesis written by Vera Ribbens and supervised by Alberto Arce (SDC) and Joost Jongerden (RSO). The thesis can be accessed by following this link: http://edepot.wur.nl/356124
Course Global sense of place in period 2
The course RSO-55306 A Global Sense of Place starts soon, so please register if you are interested to follow this. It is an optional interdisciplinary course on sustainable place-based development for students from various master programmes (e.g. MDR, MES, MID, MLP, MUE, MOA, MFN). The course builds on the BSc course RSO-56806 Sociology and Anthropology of Place-shaping providing an introduction to place-based approaches in development. Knowledge of this introductory course is an advantage, but is not assumed. The course aims to make students acquainted with an interdisciplinary and place-based approach to development.
A relational place-based approach is seen as key to the understanding of interrelated rural and urban transformation processes and ergo sustainable development. In a relational approach places are considered as contingent but in time and space differentiated outcomes of three interrelated interdependent and unbounded transformative processes: political-economic, ecological and social-cultural. Places are time and space specific constructs, like their boundaries and connections.
By means of this course students will achieve profound understanding in key-concepts and methods on place-based sustainable development. Work from key thinkers in sustainable place-making will be critically discussed and examined on the basis of various cases. Guest speakers are invited to reflect on place-based approaches to sustainable development and illustrate these through case studies. Ultimately students will acquire a place-based perspective on development.
Main themes of the course
Central to a place-based approach is the conceptions of place as: 1) Arenas for negotiation, conflicting interests and power struggles; 2) Endowed with meaning and the constitution of identities, subjectivities and difference.
Different interdisciplinary themes will be addressed such as:
- a relational approach of place and space;
- key thinkers on place and space;
- politics of place;
- community development;
- cultural approaches of place-based development
- ‘the human dimension’, encompassing collaboration and leadership
- ‘defence’ of places and conflicts
For more information, you can contact lummina.horlings@wur.nl
Future perspectives for farmers in Amstelland – Michelle Steggerda
By Michelle Steggerda, MSc Organic Agriculture Wageningen University
From March till July 2015 I’ve done my internship at the research institute Alterra. Alterra is part of Wageningen University and Research Centre and specializes in the ecology, the spatiality and the governance of green spaces. My assignment was to conduct a research about the future perspectives for farmers in Amstelland, a peri-urban but still predominant agricultural area located south of Amsterdam. This was part of a larger project for the Wageningen UR Science Shop on behalf of the civil society organisation Stichting Beschermers Amstelland. Continue reading
Rural Sociology Wageningen University 