Sustainable land use and biodiversity
Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University
How do we make the transition to a more sustainable society? Non-sustainable land use is one of the biggest challenges facing that transition. It requires awareness of the nature and extent of the problem, the need for change, and an understanding of effective sustainable solutions among the public, businesses, and public authorities.
The research group at Utrecht University’s Faculty of Geosciences focus on all three of these target groups with a view to generating support for sustainable land use and biodiversity. They make use of popular science lectures and publications, interviews for newspapers, radio and TV, and blogs, to create awareness of what is involved. They also work proactively on knowledge dissemination and scientific co-creation processes with farmers in the Netherlands, Spain, Peru and Colombia, and with multinationals and national and international NGOs. They also act as advisors to multiple civil-society organisations and provide information to assist policymakers in shaping change processes leading to a sustainable society.
Websites:
UU – Future Food Utrecht
Caring Farmers
Coordinator:
Pita Verweij, universitair hoofddocent
Other group members:
Hens Runhaar, universitair hoofddocent
Jerry van Dijk, universitair hoofddocent