鈥淔or environmental governance to effectively drive a transformation toward sustainable land use, it must first transform itself"
Mandy is a postdoctoral researcher in the field of transformative environmental governance for sustainable land use.
Research
Despite countless governance efforts, environmental decline continues unabated. In the peatlands, too, problems are piling up: biodiversity is decreasing, water quality is lagging behind, and the land keeps subsiding.
This accumulation of environmental problems can partly be explained by the fact that most governance approaches are ill-suited to address so-called 鈥渨icked鈥� environmental problems. They are highly technocratic in nature: relying on the knowledge of experts, governments, and natural scientists, and focusing primarily on technological measures. This reinforces existing ways of thinking and acting with regard to land use in the peatlands: first determining which societal function鈥攕uch as housing, agriculture, or recreation鈥攊s desired, and then adapting the soil and water system accordingly. Even though such efforts are often pursued as sustainably as possible, the underlying assumption remains that the landscape must adapt to human desires, rather than the other way around. As a result, fundamental alternatives with regard to how we relate to the peatlands remain out of sight.
Research / Art: Embassy of the Peat
Where research questions and critically reflects, art moves, touches, and opens up a world of possible futures. Motivated by a desire to connect initiatives that challenge the taken-for-granted logics of exploitation, colonization, and commodification in the peatlands, I founded the Embassy of the Peat together with Tom Wils. Through research, education, and art, we give a face and a voice to the peat itself, indigenous flora and fauna, and future generations in decision-making about future land use. These perspectives offer surprising, diverse, and relational insights into what it means to 鈥榣ive with the peat.
Current projects
Shaping the future: stimulating the transition to sustainable peatlands in The Netherlands
Systematic literature review on agency in climate adaptation governance
The Embassy of Peat
Research output
- Scientific publication focusing on the transformative potential of environmental integration as a governance approach (2025):
- Scientific publication focusing on the transformative potential of experimentation as a governance approach (2024):
- Popular article on how experimentation can limit instead of expand the solution space for sustainable land use (2023):
- 木瓜福利影视 article in Friesch Dagblad (2023):
- Scientific publication focusing on typical governance challenges to wicked environmental problems and creeping crises (2022):
- Scientific publication focusing on mechanisms influencing the mainstreaming of climate adaptation in spatial planning (2022):
- Practical toolbox (published by Springer) with participatory foresight methods for local climate and food governance (2022): Towards a climate-resilient future together - A toolbox with participatory foresight methods, tools and examples from climate and food governance