Promising insights into local pathways to food and nutrition security – http://wp.me/p6RmNs-8D
Wageningen University Teacher of the Year Nominee #1: Jessica Duncan
The first contender for the annual award of the University Fund Wageningen (UFW) is, according to the jury, a lecturer who is to be praised for her enthusiasm and audacity. Someone who is not afraid to tackle her lectures in a different way and is always open to feedback on her methods.
At the Rural Sociology Group we are very proud that Jessica Duncan is one of the six nominees for the Teacher of the Year award. The official ceremony in which the Teacher of the Year Award 2017 will be handed out is on April 6, 2017.
Education for Urban Agriculture & Urban Green Entrepreneurship
On the 30th of March there will be a Green Train event in Almere, hosted by RUAF:
Urban Green Train Multiplier Event
Date: Thursday 30 March 2017 14.00 – 17.30
Location: Aeres, Almere, Stadhuisstraat 18 Almere
Urban Agriculture is increasingly seen as a promising area for new business development. However, starting an Urban Farm requires a variety of knowledge and skills. Knowing how to cultivate plants or rear animals does not guarantee success; you also need to be able to analyse markets and social networks, plan and respond strategically to new trends, as well as to manage and monitor results once your businesses is up and running. It is also crucial to be innovative, sustainable and make optimal use of multifunctional resources. The Urban Green Train project, that was realised in the last years with a team from 4 European countries, encourages and supports pioneering business initiatives in Urban Agriculture by strengthening knowledge exchange, cooperation and innovation between Higher Education Institutions, Small & Medium Enterprises, NGOs and policy makers. In this multiplier event, we share some of our findings and results, including an innovative Training course on Urban Agriculture, innovation and entrepreneurship.
For more information about this event, click here.
Gender & Diversity in Sustainable Development
Wageningen University’s School of Social Sciences (WASS) will be offering a PhD course in May and June 2017 called Gender and Diversity in Sustainable Development. Bettina Bock and Jessica Duncan, both from RSO, will lecture in this course.
Inequality lies at the center of current debates about sustainable development, from which a number of policy issues, including Sustainable Development Goals, emanate. Yet, how social (in)equality contributes to creating sustainable development often remains invisible in research. This course enables participants to recognize linkages between gender and diversity and sustainable development in a contemporary globalising world.
The topics covered in this course are:
- Introduction: key concepts in gender studies
- Trends form a historical perspective
- Economics: macro and micro perspectives
- Work and care
- Population and migration
- Food security and governance
- Environment and natural resource management
- Global politics
This course will be a seminar. We will take a highly interactive learner-centered approach that combines short lectures with group-based learning activity and discussion. A series of instructors with gender and diversity expertise from WUR and other universities will discuss the relevance of the themes discussed in our class to their own domains.
More information is available here: http://www.wur.nl/en/Education-Programmes/PhD-Programme/Graduate-Schools/Wageningen-School-of-Social-Sciences/Courses/Show-1/Gender-Diversity-in-Sustainable-Development.htm
Agricultural cooperatives and the social economy in Kenya – IMRD thesis by Jordan Treakle
Last autumn Jordan Treakle successfully defended his Master of Science thesis ‘Agricultural cooperatives and the social economy in Kenya’s changing governance landscape’ in Wageningen’s Rural Sociology Group to complete his International Master in Rural Development. Below a synopsis of the thesis. Continue reading
Rural Sociology Wageningen University 