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Despite years of effort, the state of the environment continues to worsen. One major reason is that environmental policy often focuses on technical fixes, while overlooking the deeper causes of environmental problems: our way of life, the rules and systems we live by, and the dominance of economic sectors.
This is also clearly visible in the Dutch western peatlands. These areas have been sinking for centuries due to large-scale drainage for agriculture. In addition to subsidence, the peatlands face water and air pollution, biodiversity loss, and increasing health risks.

This research shows that even promising policy approaches—such as local experiments or integrating environmental concerns into other policy areas—rarely get to the root of the problem. Many experiments are aimed at finding ways to preserve existing agricultural practices. And environmental problems like subsidence are only taken seriously in policymaking when they align with short-term economic interests.

This dissertation argues that environmental governance itself must change in order for environmental policy to truly support sustainable land use. That means shifting power: citizens, future generations, and nature—often those who suffer most from environmental harm—need a stronger voice in decision-making. At the same time, the influence of powerful economic actors must be reduced. We also need institutional change so that sustainable land use becomes the rule, not the exception.

Real change begins where science dares to ask critical questions, where education inspires new ways of thinking, and where leaders show the courage to look beyond short-term gains. But above all, it requires a sense of connection—and the responsibility that grows from it.