Population too small We could have more wolves | p.12
14 Wageningen’s mayor on safety, depression and protests
From both sides COP: Pointless or crucial? 30 Urgently wanted: board members for student societies and associations
Unanswered
The protest was loud but the Executive Board stayed silent. As yet, there has been no genuine dialogue about WUR’s links with Israeli institutes. The Board kept referring to previous statements and are still doing so. A knowledge institution feels uncomfortable in the big wide world of politics, it would seem. Their own comfort zone – sciences – is much easier (read our commentary on page 4). When the minister, Rummenie, criticized WUR´s research on the wolves, they closed ranks quickly: WUR stands by its work. They have no difficulty nailing colours to the mast about climate issues either. Opinions may differ, but two of the climate scientists involved were still happy to debate the COP in Resource . Leave that discussion to bubble away, because politics will not be able to take the steps needed for a better climate, I fear.
This time too – of course – Resource has a healthy dose of politics. After four years as the mayor, it was time to have a lengthier chat with Floor Vermeulen (page 14). We discuss the election fever as well on page 26, where there are two portraits of colleagues who are hoping to take their first steps in Parliament.
In short, plenty of reading material to consider or simply to enjoy (see page 22, the workshop).
Willem Andrée Editor-in-chief
This is not a drill
More than 100 teams took part on Wednesday last week in the annual soil drilling competition organized by study association Pyrus. This year’s theme was This is not a drill On either side of a field stamped flat were small plots; each plot was for two duelling teams. The groups of students were dressed up as frogs, bunnies, firemen, criminals or reptiles. The winner was one half of Huize Bibo, who beat the other half of Huize Bibo in the final. The evening ended with lots of mud wrestling and a hearty rendition of the Pyrus association song: ‘We are heroes, we are Pyrus, we go through fire for one another.’
Photo Yijun Zhu
Comment Standing up for science
Quarrels between researchers and clients are often internal affairs, but the latest wolf report by WUR is an exception to that rule. When the state secretary Jean Rummenie sent the wolf report to Parliament describing it as ‘unusable’, WUR responded sharply.
The study works out how many wolves the Netherlands could accommodate in ecological and legal terms. The conclusion was twice as many as at present, which Rummenie wasn’t happy about. It doesn’t help him in his efforts to take measures against the wolves. Strictly speaking he is right: the report is unusable for that purpose.
Even so, WUR was offended by the description. ‘The fact that the conclusions are inconvenient for the state secretary does not make them incorrect,’ reported an angry WUR press officer. The researchers had done precisely what they had been tasked with doing. They were not asked to look at the extent of public support for wolves. The ministry admitted as much in its response to Wageningen’s remarks.
The relationship between researchers and their clients is a delicate one. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you if you can help it. Any disagreements usually become public knowledge only by chance. Like in 2021, when WUR ecologists presented a new method for assessing the impact of nitrogen on nature. The researchers said the method was reliable. But in the version the minister sent to Parliament, the term used was ‘plausible’. A difference in nuance, but one that had been the subject of quite an argument between the client the Ministry of Agriculture and WUR. The matter was settled in the traditional manner: the scientists were given funding for additional research. Every word is weighed carefully when there are big interests at stake. A study in 2007 on the possible health effects of organic feed for chickens had repercussions five years ago, when the TV programme Zembla revealed a dispute among the researchers about whether organic feed is healthier. Here too, the commotion led to a decision to carry out a new study. The results will become available next year. The dispute between Rummenie and WUR was also resolved by commissioning a follow-up study. Not by WUR but by a third party. It seems you pay a price for standing up for science. That WUR should support its scientists and their research is only normal. That it should do so publicly and in such sharp words is not. Perhaps it could do so more often when clients or other stakeholders misuse the results of WUR’s research.
This Comment presents the views and analyses of the editorial board, formulated following discussions among the editors.
Double message for WUR in THE ranking
WUR rose from 67th position to 66th in the World University Rankings of the Times Higher Education magazine. Wageningen is the third highest Dutch university, after Delft and the University of Amsterdam.
The underlying numbers show education at WUR is doing better. The evaluation has improved by 12 points since 2018, with a score of 58.6 out of a maximum of 100. However, the assessment of the quality of the research has fallen by seven points. Even so, WUR still achieved a respectable score of 90.4 out of 100.
So the improvements in the education have offset the declining performance in scientific research. President of the Executive Board Sjoukje Heimovaara concludes the figures show ‘the first effects of the cuts in education. Nearly all Dutch universities have gone down the rankings. This is really harming the international position of the Netherlands as a centre of knowledge. The cuts need to stop.’
Against the trend
But WUR is still the third Dutch university in the ranking, notes Heimovaara. ‘And the fact that we have even risen one position, against the trend, is a huge compliment to our staff, in particular the teachers and their support staff. While the result for research had fallen slightly, that score is still very high. Given the impending cuts, we will need to work hard together over the next few years to keep up the high standards.’
Eight of the twelve Dutch universities dropped in the rankings, the same number as last year. The year before that, seven fell down the rankings. According to THE, the quality of research at Dutch universities is declining and their publications are less likely to be cited. rk
The quality of research at WUR according to THE. See more at Resource-online.nl.
6,105
Sporty members of Ceres have raised 6,105 euros with their annual ALS run. The participants ran a route of 6 or 10 kilometres around Wageningse Berg to raise money for the ALS Foundation. The student society started the annual run a while back after a former member was diagnosed with the fatal muscular disease. Ceres is considering making the event open to all Wageningen students in future. lz
Street harassment again
There have been a number of incidents recently on and around the campus where WUR folk have been harassed by Wageningen youths. The perpetrators have mainly targeted people who look Asian, spitting at them and hurling racial abuse. Both WUR and the police are aware of the incidents, says spokesperson Jan-Willem Bol. He stresses that incidents should always be reported to the police, in addition to informing WUR’s Social Safety Contact Point. The police report can be made online at politie.nl and can be done in English. ‘That is crucial for the investigation, which is the task of the police, although WUR can help sometimes by sharing camera footage.’ Wageningen municipality has now set up a special hotline for street harassment. me
Read more at resource-online.nl
Major revamp of Bachelor education
The Executive Board is planning a major revamp of the Bachelor degrees offered by Wageningen over the next few years.
‘We will look at how we can combine or redesign our BSc degree programmes’
One of the most striking proposals is to reduce the current number of 21 degree programmes – which can overlap quite a bit and compete for the same students – to between 12 and 16 broader degrees, within which students can specialize in a range of areas. In addition, the degree programmes in Tourism and Communication & Life Sciences will be abolished. Both programmes have consistently attracted fewer than 25 new students in recent years. The plans come from the Portfolio Analysis working group. The group looked at how Wageningen’s Bachelor’s programmes could still thrive in times of falling student numbers, increasing competition from other universities and
greater pressure on education funding. The Executive Board agrees with the working group’s conclusions, says Dean of Education Dick de Ridder. ‘We will be working out the details of the plans set out in their advisory report and we will look at how we can combine or redesign our BSc degree programmes.’
Five main areas
The plan is to divide all the degrees into five main areas (called ‘subsets’): Biological Sciences; Food Nutrition and Health; Earth and Environmental Sciences; Technology and Engineering; and Sustainable Transitions for Society and Business. ‘Each degree fits in with one or more subsets,’ explains De Ridder. ‘For each subset, we’ll discuss with the degree programmes affected how we can arrive at broader programmes.’ A steering group will guide the process.
According to the report, the current level of government funding means a programme needs at least 63 students to break even. Last academic year, the
average intake was 67 students per WUR degree, but the intake for some degrees has been substantially lower for years. To put this in perspective, the average intake nationwide for a Bachelor’s degree is about 140 students. ‘We want to shift to having fewer degree programmes that are also stronger, broader and future-proof,’ says De Ridder. The aim is therefore for an intake of at least 80 students per degree per year. lz
See page 24 for reactions to the plans.
To read more about the plans, scan de QR code
letter to the editor
Bread roll not from Gelderse Vallei
‘Following in the footsteps of cities such as Utrecht and Nijmegen, now Wageningen has its own bread rolls with locally sourced and sustainable ingredients, named the Gelderse Vallei roll’. Thus begins an article in Resource online. It sounds like a great initiative − until you read on and realize almost none of the ingredients are from the Gelderse Vallei. Not even the eggs! That is despite this being the poultry centre of the Netherlands with more than enough organic poultry farms (I cycled past one on my way to campus). The ingredients come from all over Gelderland, for example the Achterhoek, Ooipolder, Betuwe and Land van Maas en Waal. I know some of the producers and they
are sustainability pioneers, but they are not based in the Gelderse Vallei. A more honest name would be the Gelderland bread roll (analogous with the Utrecht roll). The Gelderland And Rest Of The Netherlands bread roll would be even more honest as the meat comes from Utrecht and the organic cheese from elsewhere in the Netherlands. But why?
The Gelderse Vallei produces the best organic cheese.
Why am I so bothered by this? An important reason for using local products is to give local farmers the opportunity to make their business more sustainable. The Gelderse Vallei, in WUR’s back yard, faces a major challenge making the transition from intensive livestock farming to a
more nature-inclusive approach. Some producers have already made a start, but they are finding it difficult. How can they find local buyers for their sustainable products who are prepared to pay that little bit more? If you include these products in your bread roll, you would not only be helping the producers but also encouraging new regional supply chains that other initiatives can benefit from too. You strengthen one another. Who could possibly be against bread rolls made from locally produced, sustainable ingredients? Not me for sure, but let’s make it a proper Gelderse Vallei roll.
Marcel Vijn, Agriculture & Society researcher
Diet makes a difference with night shifts
People who work night shifts or rotating shifts deviate from the traditional cycle of sleep and wakefulness. This disrupts their internal biological clock, with negative consequences for their health. PhD candidate Perdana Suyoto (Human Nutrition and Health) investigated whether and how nutrition can protect against these disruptive effects. He got his PhD for this in early September.
Text Dominique Vrouwenvelder
Photo Shutterstock
The human body has an internal biological clock that is set to a 24-hour cycle. Biological processes – such as your glucose metabolism – work faster during the day and slower at night when you are supposed to be sleeping. If this biological clock, known as the circadian rhythm, is disrupted for a long period of time – for example, by night shifts – the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease increases. That is because the body has to work harder to maintain blood sugar levels after meals eaten at times that are unusual. The right diet can help limit these health risks. Suyoto: ‘It’s not just about what you eat, but also how much and when.’
Nurses
Suyoto studied female nurses working night shifts at a hospital. He had them eat zero, one or three meals with a high or low glycaemic index, i.e. containing food with sugars that are digested quickly or slowly. For example potatoes and cornflakes contain sugars that are digested quickly, while dairy products, pulses and fruit contain sugars that are digested slowly. ‘Meals with a high glycaemic index caused significant blood sugar fluctuations, regardless of the number of meals. We saw this not only during the night shift itself, but also the following morning.’ If the meal had a low glycaemic index, these fluctuations disappeared. ‘This shows that the type of meal is more important than the frequency. Meals with a low glycaemic index are a good alternative to fasting during night shifts.’
Suyoto also discovered that these blood sugar fluctuations reduced sustained alertness. ‘These results show that it is important to avoid high blood sugar
‘It is important to avoid high blood sugar spikes in order to stay alert’
spikes in order to stay alert. So it’s better to avoid meals with a high glycaemic index during night shifts.’
Even people who don’t work night shifts can have a disrupted biological clock, as it can become disrupted when bedtimes change. This happens with social jet lag: when a person’s social obligations don’t match their natural rhythm. Social jet lag is the difference between hours spent asleep during the week and at weekends. ‘That is the case for night owls who have
to get up early for work, for example,’ explains Suyoto. ‘The greater the difference between hours spent asleep and awake on workdays and days off, the greater the social jet lag.’
High social jet lag – a difference of two hours or more – increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by 45 per cent. Suyoto found that this is partly related to diet. ‘People with high social jet lag eat less healthily: they consume more alcohol, sugary drinks and processed foods. Their higher fat and sugar intake increases the risk of diabetes, while plant-based proteins actually provide protection.’
Disruptions to the circadian rhythm lead to an impaired glucose metabolism and increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. ‘The hopeful news is that with the right nutrition, you can help control the blood sugar fluctuations that arise from circadian rhythm disruptions.’
Live&Learn
A botched experiment, a rejected paper: such things are soon labelled as failures in academia. As for talking about them — not the done thing! But that is just what WUR scientists do in this column. Because failure has its uses. This time, it’s Water Technology & Metropolitan Solutions professor Adriaan Mels. Text Nicole van ’t Wout Hofland Illustration Stijn Schreven
‘I was appointed to a chair in Environmental Technology this year and I coordinate a research group. I’ve had to learn over the years how to manage professionals, with the inevitable failures along the way. My first managerial position, a long time ago, was a big jump. I went from being a member of a small, egalitarian team to manager of that same team. As one of the managers, I had to defend the board’s decisions but at the same time I felt loyalty towards my former co-workers. I felt trapped between my team and the management.
‘That became evident for example when the management decided to revise the employment terms & conditions. Individual agreements were replaced by a uniform policy. When I told my team about this, there was a lot of resistance. That wasn’t surprising because some team members would lose out in the long run. I could understand their misgivings so I suggested perhaps some exceptions could be made. That was a mistake. It was going against the decision taken by the board and so I couldn’t make good on my promise. In the end, I had to tell my team it wasn’t possible. That was a real blow to
their trust in me as a manager.
‘Something similar happened when a new IT system was introduced. I went too far in trying to accommodate my team’s objections, even though the decision had already been taken. I see those incidents as failures. I didn’t set a clear direction with respect to my team or the management. It was only later that I learned in a training course how you can deal with resistance as a manager. Let people express their emotions, but stick to your position.
‘In the end, I had to tell my team it wasn’t possible. That was a
real
blow to their trust in me as a manager.’
It’s also important to involve people in decisions from an early stage to create broad support. I still apply those lessons. I schedule time for one-on-one chats and I prioritize open communication and clearcut agreements with my team. My mistakes then have helped me become a better manager now.’
Bees give away use of pesticides
Bees unintentionally collect all kinds of material when flying around, such as pesticides that stick to their bodies. That makes these insects potential biomonitors. A study using beekeepers in all the EU countries has shown this works well.
The method basically involves hanging up strips of hard plastic in the hive. The strips have a layer of Tenax that binds volatile substances. 315 beekeepers in the 27 EU countries took part in the experiment. The hives were sampled throughout the summer of 2023 and tests were carried out for over 400 different pesticides. A total of 188 pesticides were detected and none of the strips were without pesticide traces. It is not really surprising the bees carried so much material, says researcher Ivo Roessink. ‘If a bee flies onto a crop that has just been treated with a pesticide, it’s only to be expected you’ll see that on the strips. To a large extent, the products we found match what is known to be used in agriculture.’
Banned
But that was not always the case. The bee killer imidacloprid was found in one in three hives across Europe. With some exceptions, its use in field crops was banned ten years ago. Banned insecticides such as thiacloprid and chlorpyrifos were found in one in five hives.
The bee monitor shows whether a pesticide is present, but not in what concentrations. Roessink: ‘You only measure the amount of the substance on each strip. That substance comes from all the surrounding area and could have been brought in by a couple of bees or by thousands. So you can’t deduce from this what the exposure is in the environment. The bee monitor provides qualitative information, which can supplement the existing monitoring projects.’ rk
Size, size, size
Bees, butterflies and other pollinators are struggling in the farmland-dominated countryside. Attempts to make the countryside more appealing by planting more flowers can help, but has far less effect than thought. Expanding the area of suitable habitat helps pollinators most.
Text Roelof Kleis Photo David Kleijn
That is the crux of an international study headed by WUR that was published recently in Science. ‘Summarizing, the message is: size, size, size,’ says professor of Plant Ecology & Nature Conservation David Kleijn. ‘Invest in the size of the habitat. Investing in the quality isn’t a quick fix if the size is too small.’
The article quantifies the effects of the size and quality of semi-natural habitats on pollinator numbers. Semi-natural habitats are non-productive sections of land in agricultural areas, such as ditch edges, brushwood banks, hedgerows and
‘You can stop bothering about measures on farmland to improve the quality for pollinators’
copses. ‘When comparing habitats, we normally look at differences in insect density,’ explains Kleijn. ‘We forget about the size of the habitat, but that’s an omission.’
His group therefore developed a statistical method to distinguish between
the effects on insects of the size and quality of a habitat. The calculations show which of the two factors has more effect on the insect population size. The method was applied to datasets from around the world.
Turning point
The results are an eye-opener for nature conservationists. The size of a habitat is far more important than was previously thought, until a certain point is reached, after which the quality becomes more important. But this is not a one-sizefits-all relationship, as the turning point depends on the pollinator.
The turning point for solitary bees, for example, is 16 per cent of the land. When the extent of the semi-natural habitat exceeds that point, quality starts to matter more than size. The turning point for hoverflies is reached at around 5 per cent. Butterflies are most ‘sensitive’ to size, as their turning point is found when semi-natural areas make up 37 per cent. The turning point for butterflies is never reached in practice in farming areas. However, Kleijn says that doesn’t mean butterflies don’t have a future
in agricultural areas. Kleijn: ‘For these insects too, more habitat means more butterflies. But improving the quality of the habitat only makes sense if there is a large area of such habitat.’
Important pollinators
Kleijn was also surprised by the results. ‘This research shows that quality improvements won’t have much effect if the size of the habitat is less than the turning point. You can basically stop bothering about measures on farmland to improve the quality for pollinators. Measures such as herb-rich grassland on dairy farms and greater crop diversity on arable farms are much less effective than simply reserving a bit more land for nature and compensating farmers for the loss.’
An important caveat is that the turning points don’t tell you how much pollinator-friendly land is needed. Kleijn: ‘We indicate the point up to which it pays to invest in increasing the size of the habitat. We can determine the turning points, but not the absolute lower limit for what is needed. That limit depends on how many pollinators you want.’
A carder bee feeds on a devil’s bit flower.
PhD theses in a nutshell
Mixed farms
Are mixed farms (combining livestock, crops and agroforestry) better for the environment than intensive farming in Europe? Can they cope better with extreme weather? No, shows research by Guy Low from Britain. Farmers who switch from livestock farming to mixed farming do less well financially than before, while both types of farm suffer equally from extreme droughts. However, the results would look different if the environmental and ecological benefits of mixed farms were valued better rk
Perspectives on the Economic Performance of Mixed Farming and Agroforestry Systems in Europe. Guy Low Supervisor Miranda Meuwissen
Do it yourself
Children aged three to seven eat half as much veg again if they can choose between more different vegetables. They also eat a bit more veg if they can make their own decisions, rather than being pushed by a parent. This is shown in research by Femke de Gooijer. She developed snack boxes, a kind of scales for accurately measuring eating behaviour. The snack box can replace the often inaccurate self-reporting method in nutritional research rk
From Self-report to Sensors. Femke de Gooijer Supervisor Edith Feskens
THE PROPOSITION
PhD candidates explain their most thought-provoking proposition. This time it’s Maaike Besteman, who received her PhD on 11 September. Her study was about syntrophic interactions between fatty-acid-converting bacteria and methaneproducing archaea in anaerobic digestion systems. Text Ning Fan
Breaking down plastic
Plastic items of all types and sizes end up in the environment. Are there microorganisms that can break down these plastics? Davi Munhoz from Brazil tried out numerous bacteria, on their own or in combinations, in various conditions and with a range of soil types. The results were not great. And even when the plastics were broken down, it was often a case of the plastic fragmenting into smaller pieces. His conclusion is therefore that preventing the plastic pollution in the first place is better. rk
Piece by piece, plastics in soil ecosystems Davi R. Munhoz Supervisor Violette Geissen
‘Science and sourdough both require creativity and optimization of personal protocols’
In the fourth year of my PhD research, I got a sourdough starter from my colleague and office mate. Since then, I’ve been fascinated by baking sourdough. It’s tricky to master because sourdough baking requires fermentation by a mix of bacteria and yeasts. There are endless recipes and tutorials, but real learning comes from practice. You must learn to read the dough and know when and how it needs adjusting.
That’s how I saw the connection with science. In my PhD, I worked with microorganisms that are difficult to cultivate. My experiments were all about trial and error and learning to feel a microbiological culture’s needs. I had the same experience when baking sourdough. My first loaves were basically inedible, but I continued
practising and gradually learnt how to read and handle the dough.
Baking is also about planning ahead, because a single loaf can take up to two days. Like a long lab protocol, you need to manage your time well and wait for the results to be revealed.
Sometimes it’s a failure and you start all over again, but a good loaf will make you truly proud. It’s also about creativity. Adding nuts, seeds or cheese can change the dough, so you have to make adjustments. That makes baking sourdough a trial and optimization process, just like science.
Baking bread also helped me de-stress and get away from my computer. The only problem is that I enjoy it so much that I often end up baking too much, but luckily my colleagues, friends, and family don’t mind that at all!
New leaders, new WUR?
Over the past year, we’ve witnessed a changing of the guard with new leaders: a new Dean of Research, a new AID Project Manager, a new Dean of Education, and soon, a new Executive Board member who will take charge of the Finance, Business and Service portfolio. Not to forget several other departmental appointments that have quietly taken place, often missing out on the spotlight.
‘Are the new leaders paving the way for progressive change, or merely reinforcing the status quo?’
But what do these leadership shifts signal? Are they paving the way for progressive change, or merely reinforcing the status quo? Having had the privilege of working closely with many of the former holders of these leadership roles, I can attest to their dedicated outlook towards progressive and responsible change. Unfortunately, I have had limited interaction with the Dean of Research office – a situation that is difficult to explain. Maybe the singular focus of improving the quality and efficiency of research, coupled with delays in addressing inequitable PhD student remuneration, creates an unwelcoming environment for
students, further restricting its accessibility. This disconnect is evident in the recent WUR 2025 PhD survey. Despite its comprehensive scope, the survey failed to include even a single question about the unfair and unequal remuneration of non-contract PhD students. Instead, it focused on procedural awareness, the research environment, the relevancy and role of graduate schools, supervision and associated challenges. While the anonymous data will be analysed and the information used to improve the WUR PhD programme, the real and deeper structural issues remain untouched and far from being included in a critical agenda.
While there has been a changing of the guard, if WUR is truly committed to shaping responsible change then leadership transitions must be accompanied by genuine engagement with those most affected – especially PhD students navigating systemic challenges. Anticipated change must be more than symbolic; it must be inclusive, responsive, and rooted in lived realities. Without that, the status quo will be the order of the day.
Joshua Wambugu
Joshua Wambugu (41), from Kenya, is a PhD candidate in the Marine Animal Ecology and Environmental Policy groups. He is a Social Safety Guide and loves cooking, hiking and birdwatching.
LIVING WITH WOLVES
We could accommodate far more wolves. In fact, we need to because the population is still too small.
Most Dutch people have never seen a wolf except in a zoo. And they probably won’t either, because wolves are shy creatures that hunt at night. According to the latest count, there are 13 packs in the Netherlands and a total of over 100 wolves when you include lone wolves.
The wolf is attracting a vast amount of attention. There is widespread public concern about wolves that cause problems, and calls to take measures are getting louder. But the scope for action is limited, according to a recent advisory report from the Council of State. It is difficult to intervene as long as the wolf population does not yet have a ‘favourable conservation status’. To put it in layperson’s terms, the population needs to be up to strength first. What that means is made clear in the recently published report Favourable Reference Values for the Wolf in the Netherlands . This report, with Animal Ecology researcher Fabrice Ottburg as the lead author, looks at how many
wolves need to be in the Netherlands as a minimum, according to European regulations, in order to meet the criteria for favourable conservation status. To get straight to the point: at least twice as many wolf packs are needed as at present.
German wolves
The cover of the report shows three young cubs. That’s a deliberate choice, says Ottburg. ‘This report is about the favourable reference values for wolves, in other words how many wolves there is room for. Young wolves symbolize growth.’ Incidentally, the conclusion that there is room for growth is not new. Eighteen months ago, WUR researchers calculated that the Dutch countryside
‘Having fewer than 50 packs will affect the sustainability of the population’
can support 23 to 56 packs. These numbers come from a model study based on data on Dutch landscapes and the territory sizes of German wolves fitted with transmitters. It had to be done that way because there isn’t any historical data for the Netherlands. The big range reflects differences in the calculations depending on how fussy wolves are about their habitat, from very fussy (23 packs) to flexible (56 packs). Assuming five wolves per pack, that gives between 115 and 280 wolves in total, excluding the lone wolves.
But those 23 to 56 packs are not nearly enough for a sustainable wolf population. The theoretical minimum for that is 500 packs, explains Ottburg. ‘That is what is necessary in genetic terms to reduce the likelihood of extinction in the next 100 years to less than 5 per cent.’ If those numbers shocked you, the 500 packs are for the entire central European wolf population, which includes the Netherlands along with Poland, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic. There are currently 322 packs, with the majority by far living in Germany (209). That is not surprising. Germany is a large country full of forests, which means –ecologically speaking – that it has room for 700 to 1,400 packs, more
Text Roelof Kleis
than enough for an independently sustainable population. That raises the question of whether the other countries could take fewer wolves. ‘No,’ says Ottburg. ‘That’s not how it works. Each member state is required to determine the favourable reference value and comply with that.’
The principle is that the Netherlands, as a small country, should accommodate 23 to 56 of the target of 500 packs. According to Ottburg, 50 is the minimum for a genetically effective population. ‘If you go below that, it will be at the expense of the sustainability of the population as a whole. If the government decides 23 packs are enough, the other member states will have to accommodate more packs. That is possible, but it would have to be discussed with those countries.’
Strong growth
The fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 let wolves roam free. Until then, Polish wolves had faced an impenetrable wall
‘Unusable’
The wolf report led to a brief quarrel between WUR and state secretary Jean Rummenie (of the farmers’ party BBB) at the Ministry of Agriculture, the client. He called the report ‘unusable’, saying it failed to look at the economic and social consequences of a growing number of wolves in the Netherlands. WUR responded unusually sharply to this negative qualification: the assignment had been explicitly limited to the ecological and legal aspects. The other aspects are now being assessed in an additional study — not by WUR. Furthermore, WUR has been engaged by the Ministry of Agriculture to look at the economic impact on the agricultural and tourist sectors. Then it will be up to politicians to decide on the number of wolves that the Netherlands should accommodate.
dividing Eastern and Western Europe. Things changed rapidly. Wolves settled in Germany in the early 1990s. The first wolf was spotted in the Netherlands in 2015; we now have 13 packs and that number is growing. ‘No one expected it to change so quickly when we did a theme issue on the wolf in nature journal
Vakblad Natuur Bos Landschap in 2013,’ says Ottburg. ‘There weren’t any wolves in the Netherlands at all at that point, but we knew they were coming. It’s really interesting to see how this develops, but it’s a shame everything to do with the wolf has become so polarized. The wolf is here to stay now so we will have to learn to live with wolves without them causing too much damage to farm animals. But no one knows exactly how to achieve that. We need more in-depth research on this topic.’ ■
Illustration Valerie Geelen
‘When I get an invitation from students, I always try to come’
There were a few raised eyebrows when he was appointed. What was a member of the right-wing liberal party VVD doing as the mayor of left-wing Wageningen? But Floor Vermeulen soon grew to become a familiar face in the town by turning up everywhere with infectious enthusiasm. He joined the protests against the Schoof government’s cuts in education and has highlighted the issue of youth welfare. We talk to him about safety in the streets, the taboo surrounding depression and his socialist family background.
Text Luuk Zegers Photos Duncan de Fey
Floor Vermeulen started his first term of office as mayor of Wageningen in June 2021, aged 36. His first real contact with WUR students was in August that year, during the AID introduction week. ‘At the AID, I welcome the new students to Wageningen. I always do that together with the rector. It’s an opportunity for me to look everyone in the eye for a moment. It’s great because you will bump into nearly all of them again in the town, especially if they do both their Bachelor’s and Master’s here.’
During his welcome speech, Vermeulen always invites students to get actively involved in town life. ‘Don’t just be a visitor, be part of the town. A lot of students do indeed do that, with projects like Grandma’s Soup where students and senior citizens make soup and play games together, or by helping with a sports day for people with a disability or volunteering on Liberation Day.’
FLOOR VERMEULEN
1984 Born in Boskoop
2004-2007 Bachelor’s in Politics, Leiden
2007-2015 Member of the Provincial Council
2015-2021 Member of the Provincial Executive of Zuid Holland
Since 2021 Mayor of Wageningen
Equally, Vermeulen tries to be there for Wageningen’s students. ‘If students organize something, if a student society wants to make its premises more sustainable or if they have something to celebrate and invite me, I always try to turn up. That can be tricky for the work-life balance and it can be a headache for the secretaries, but there you go.’
What kind of a student were you?
‘I got my Bachelor’s in Politics in Leiden in the set number of years, while doing all kinds of extracurricular activities such as serving on the programme committee and faculty council. But I got stuck doing the Master’s and I never actually completed it. It’s the classic problem: I passed all my courses but never handed in my thesis. By then I was the party leader in the Provincial Council so I simply didn’t have time any more.’
You became mayor at age 36 and before that you were involved in provincial politics for 14 years. So you started young. How did that come about?
‘I come from a politically engaged family. My father was one of the first tree nurserymen to get involved in the Ornamental Plant Environmental Project, where they tried to reduce the environmental impact of the sector by using natural pest control methods such as parasitic wasps. My mother was a teacher. She was involved in the PSP, a predecessor of GroenLinks, the Dutch Green party. My grandmother’s family had been supporters of Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis,
the first anarchist in Dutch politics. My grandmother was my biggest fan: she would never have voted for my party, but she did vote for me when I was on the list. When I became a member of the Provincial Executive of Zuid-Holland, I bought a statuette of Nieuwenhuis as a souvenir. It is still in my office and keeps an eye on me to make sure I don’t forget my socialist family roots.’
How did you end up in the VVD?
‘When I was young, I read a lot about liberalism, which stresses the importance of freedom and the responsibility of the individual. To be open about my situation, my father died when I was 11 and we didn’t get a widow’s pension or orphan’s pension because my parents weren’t married. The law was changed one month later — rightly so — but our family had to make do as best we could. The three of us worked hard and survived. That gave me the firm conviction that in the end you have to be able to look after yourself in life.’
‘When I see the tall blocks of flats, I feel I am back home’
You lived almost your entire life in Boskoop, Zuid-Holland, and now you have been mayor of Wageningen for four years. Do you feel at home here yet?
‘Definitely. When I drive into Wageningen from Ede and see the tall blocks of flats and the campus, I feel like I’m back home. The town has everything: a cinema and a theatre, markets twice a week, good shops, friendly cafes and lots of volunteers who keep the place going. There is a lot of churn — 10 per cent of the residents are new each year — but there is still a sense of community. That’s only possible because people are welcoming to one another.’
‘Major innovations in the past weren’t achieved through cutbacks’
Safety in the streets has become a hot topic recently, both nationwide and in Wageningen specifically.
Last year, a PhD candidate was assaulted on campus, which made a lot of international students no longer feel safe in Wageningen. There have been stories of harassment in the streets more recently too (see page 5).
‘Awful. Fortunately, three people were detained for that assault and two received sentences (the third suspect was a minor and was acquitted by the juvenile
court, ed.). It shows perpetrators won’t get away with it: they will be punished and get a criminal record.
However, I think the victims often have to wait too long for a verdict. There aren’t enough judges, detectives or public prosecutors. That is worrying. This case took longer than one year. I can imagine the victim thinks: deal with those guys! But in the Netherlands you’re only a suspect until you have been sentenced.
‘In view of the concerns of some of the international students, we organized a meeting about safety together with the police and the university. We also explained there how the Dutch legal system works. Perhaps we should do that more often given that there are so many international students, who are often used to different legal systems. And perhaps we should reflect as a country on whether our approach to ensuring safety is still appropriate in modern times.
‘I’m worried about the lack of police capacity. I was told two years ago that I would be getting fewer police officers. There is a shortfall of 800 million euros nationally. OK, but what if things get out of hand here? Then we’ll automatically get more police, they said. But of course then it’s too late. That makes no sense. As a country, we should invest more in law and order.’
You chair NKN, the network of university towns, where you aim to put the theme of youth welfare on the agenda. Why is that important?
‘Since I became mayor, there have been four student suicides. I am deeply affected by that, at the personal level too because that’s how I lost my own father. I am impressed with how students are taking the initiative to break the taboo on depression. For example, Ceres organized the symposium on suicidal thoughts last May in the Grote Kerk. That very week, someone took the decision to end their life, which was so sad. But the symposium still went ahead. I am really proud of how Ceres dealt with that. That applies to the other societies that have had to confront this as well.
‘We find mental health a difficult subject in the Netherlands, but that makes it all the more important to talk about it. You might have a heart attack or you might suffer from depression. The question is how you recover from that. If someone has a heart problem and they have an operation, we accept the recovery will take time and we ask how things are going. But if
someone has mental problems, we find it all a bit complicated. But depression is just another illness, one we should take equally seriously and talk about with the same concern and openness, and give people the time they need to recover.’
In that area too, we see the national government wanting to do less.
‘Everyone says they find youth welfare important, but we are still seeing cuts to the funding of the Trimbos Institute, which plays a key role in stopping excessive use of drink and drugs. We will see the consequences of that in a few years’ time. Then the municipalities will be told to sort it out.’
Last year, you spoke out against the cuts in higher education in various ways, for example in an interview in the NRC newspaper and by taking part in a protest in The Hague.
‘The university is incredibly important to Wageningen. Students make up a quarter of our population, and then there are the staff on top of that. In addition, the major innovations made in the past weren’t achieved through cutbacks. Smart countries invest in knowledge, innovation and education. The current government is cutting back on these areas and is trying to restrict the influx of highly skilled migrants even though we need them for the future of our country.
‘I try to get that message across, even if I sometimes feel like I’m talking to a brick wall. Fortunately, companies such as ASML are able to get through to the government sometimes. But there other sectors we should be proud of and that need investing in. So I will continue to speak out. If nobody is listening now, they might in the future because there will eventually be a new government.’
How do you feel about the relationship between the town and the university?
‘The relationship is good; we take one another seriously. We have regular meetings with the Executive Board, so we will always be able to discuss things if there ever is an issue. Every week, we discuss matters such as student welfare, the cuts, real estate and the business climate. There are also nice initiatives such as
‘We find mental health a difficult subject in the Netherlands’
‘Victims have to wait too long for a verdict’
Scientists at the Market, which brings WUR people into contact with locals, or Wageningen 2120, the vision for the town’s future drawn up by Tim van Hattum.’
The elections are soon. You mentioned a lot of areas where more investment is needed, from education and innovation to youth welfare and safety. What should be the new government’s first task?
‘We live in times where there is an unprecedented lack of trust in national politics. I hope the new government will restore calm and take a long-term perspective. Invest in the future of the country, in innovation and education and in sectors where we lead the way to make us even better. What are we waiting for? Other countries and continents aren’t hanging around. We have a Delta Programme Commissioner to protect the country from flooding. Now we need an Innovation Commissioner who transcends individual ministries and can say what needs doing to keep the Netherlands innovative.
‘At the same time, we need to invest in security and defence. That too costs money. But investments in innovation help strengthen the economy, and then you have more money to spend on defence. You should be doing both.’ ■
If you have suicidal thoughts or are worried about someone else, talk about it. The 113 helpline is staffed 24/7. You can phone 0800-0113 or chat via 113.nl. It’s free of charge and completely anonymous.
TUFTING AND QUILTING
You will probably have noticed the wall tapestry measuring five by two metres in Forum. It is impressively large, but it’s not the whole thing by a long way. The tapestry is part of a much larger artwork entitled Threads of Our Dutch History of Slavery, which depicts the regional history of colonialism and slavery. The artist Richard Kofi created the design. Now it is up to the residents of Gelderland to help make the tapestry in a process that gets them talking with one another. Anyone can help. If it's your first time, you can get instructions between 12:30 and 14:30, and on Thursday evenings between 19:30 and 21:30.
Photo Guy Ackermans
From
COP30: Pointless or crucial?
In November, 193 countries will be in Belém, Brazil, discussing climate measures again during the 30th COP (Conference of the Parties). Professor of European Forests Gert-Jan Nabuurs called it a pointless exercise in an opinion piece for the Dutch newspaper Trouw last summer, but Global Environmental Governance professor Aarti Gupta thinks the COPs are in fact crucial. A discussion about the usefulness or otherwise of major climate conferences.
Text Dominique Vrouwenvelder Photos Guy Ackermans
Nabuurs: ‘COPs aren’t the right instrument for combating climate change. Fewer people each year attend the COP for the negotiations, while ever more people take part in the side events. It seems more like a trade fair where the negotiators on behalf of the 193 countries try to reach agreement on each individual word in the final statement. We don’t need this circus — we now have so much scientific knowledge that we can make major progress anyway.’
Gupta: ‘The fact that so many countries come together is something to be cherished. All those countries are trying to find a way of jointly tackling this complex, global problem, with all the associated enormous political and economic interests.’
Nabuurs: ‘The energy and urge to combat climate change that I saw in the 1990s have gone. The Paris Agreement, which was reached in 2015 at COP 21, was a minor advance but that agreement is based on voluntary undertakings made by countries and it isn’t legally
binding. The outcomes of the COPs have only got weaker since then.’
Gupta: ‘I don’t deny that, but in my opinion the COPs and other UN institutions are absolutely crucial. They set the global course for climate policy. No other platform does that. And we need a global approach because climate change is a global problem.’
Nabuurs: ‘Countries abuse the negotiations to finalize the IPCC summaries (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of experts who summarize the latest scientific literature for policymakers, ed.) on which the COPs are based: they adapt texts to suit their political interests. That’s what you get when 193 countries come together and try to reach agreement on every single word.’
‘We don’t need this circus’
Gert-Jan Nabuurs, professor of European Forests
‘How could pressure be put on countries to take measures other than through the COPs?’
Aarti Gupta, professor of Global Environmental Governance
Gupta: ‘It’s not the platform that is failing, it’s certain countries. For example, the countries that are traditionally the biggest polluters refused to accept a clear statement about financing at the last COP in Baku in Azerbaijan, so that COP was seen as a failure.’
Nabuurs: ‘I agree we need to point the finger at the countries that have traditionally been responsible for the most emissions. They hide behind COP and the UN institutions. They like these COPs because the COPs hold things up and lead to the postponement of measures. Those countries seem to think they don’t have to do anything as long as no agreement has been reached. That’s why I believe more in bilateral agreements rather than multilateral ones.’
Gupta: ‘In your opinion article, you propose replacing the COPs with a small climate group, or continuing bilateral negotiations with the big polluters. If you do that instead of the COPs, the less powerful countries will no longer have a voice. That’s why I don’t see bilateral approaches as the solution.’
Nabuurs: ‘The real issue is the emissions produced by the US, EU and a few other major polluters. If they get together, you have covered about 80 per cent of the problem. I’m not making this proposal because I want the large, powerful countries to take decisions for everyone,
but action is needed urgently. The EU and the US need to start reducing their emissions instead of hiding behind the COPs with the associated non-binding agreements.’
Gupta: ‘Any selection of countries is cherry-picking. In your opinion piece in Trouw, you mentioned the EU, Brazil, China and African countries. Someone else could propose a different list, and this demonstrates the political nature of the issue. Who gets to decide the fate of the planet?’
Nabuurs: ‘If selecting a smaller group of countries could lead to action on the climate, we should do it. The time has come for stringent climate legislation introduced by the countries themselves, rather than imposed on them by others.’
Gupta: ‘The problem is they aren’t doing that. Why would the EU behave altruistically in a smaller climate group as you suggest?’
Nabuurs: ‘Of course it’s not straightforward, but the way the UN and COP function with all these massive conferences is not getting results.’
Gupta: ‘But it is. We have a global temperature target. We have the NDCs, the Nationally Determined Contributions.’ Nabuurs: ‘All non-binding — vague promises.’
Gupta: ‘Again, that’s a sign of the failure of the individual countries, not the platform. How can pressure be put on them other than through the COPs? The world wouldn’t be in a better position to tackle climate change without the UN. I agree the COPs need reforming, but we need to strengthen them, not abolish them.’ Nabuurs: ‘Anyway, I’m not expecting a
major breakthrough at COP 30.’
Gupta: ‘The COPs are still the only place where smaller countries have a voice and where the EU can show leadership. If we reject this global process, with countries having to make bilateral agreements instead, we will end up with a much more chaotic world. COPs are not just a talking shop — there is a lot of pressure to take action. The question is whether countries want to act. Ultimately that’s a political issue.’ ■
The WUR workshop
‘WE MAKE WHATEVER YOU CAN’T BUY’
Extension cables dozens of metres long for exam rooms, microscope light filters or parts for synthetic meat machines: the Wageningen Technical Solutions workshop makes whatever researchers need but aren’t able to buy anywhere. Including a special placemat to go under a tray for nutritional research, named after Taylor Swift.
Hans Meijer has been working in the university workshop for more than 30 years. He started out as an expert in electronics and technical automation, but these days his skills extend to 3D printing and cutting plastics with lasers. ‘We work for the research and education sides of WUR, making all the things you can’t buy,’ he says as he picks up a thin, silvery rectangle from his desk. It is the third version of the ‘smart tray’, something he developed with the client, Human Nutrition & Health lecturer Guido Camps. This clever piece of tech is used in nutritional research. You put it underneath a tray, like a placemat, and it lets you measure how test subjects eat and how much — accurate to the nearest gram.
The metal mat Meijer is showing as an example of his work is completely different to the first version he made in 2018. In that model, the sensors were embedded in the tray itself rather than in the placemat. ‘The sensors in the tray had to be very thin,’ recalls Meijer. ‘Normal sensors for scales didn’t fit. We found what we needed from specialized force sensor manufacturers. The smart tray had three circular compartments and each compartment needed three weighing sensors, so we needed almost 30
‘I HAD TO PROVE WE WEREN’T BUILDING ROCKETS’
Text Dominique Vrouwenvelder
for the three trays we were making. When we ordered the sensors, we had to answer all kinds of complicated questions because the sensors can also be used in weapons systems. I had to prove we weren’t building rockets.’
Dishwasher
The smart tray has undergone a substantial transformation. The research dieticians, who use it a lot, didn’t like the fact that it couldn’t be put in the dishwasher. Camps and Meijer discussed possible solutions and came up with a smart placemat that you put the tray on. Meijer: ‘It’s much more user-friendly because now you can mess up the tray, as it goes in the dishwasher, but the mat underneath doesn’t get dirty.’
In the transformation from smart tray to smart placemat, another technological issue arose that Camps’ PhD candidate Florian Walter is now working on. Camps: ‘The tray rests on the weight sensors. For accurate weight measurements, you need three points of contact, forming a triangle, to prevent potential wobbling. When the switch was made from the tray to a placemat underneath it, calculations showed that the mat had to be one metre by 50 centimetres to include all the sensors.’ That’s impractical – it wouldn’t even fit on a normal dinner table. Now they work with four sensors in a mat measuring about 50
by 30 centimetres. Walter: ‘The fact that it’s rectangular introduces calibration challenges, though – for example caused by wobbling, because plastic trays warp easily and are then no longer properly in contact with all four weight sensors. That’s the problem I’m now trying to solve.’
Trial and error
The workshop staff are always making things that don’t yet exist, so it’s not surprising they don’t always get it perfect. ‘For example, you realize afterwards another approach would have been much easier, or you would have made different choices with hindsight,’ explains Meijer. Camps agrees. He is now working on the third generation of his smart measuring instrument.
After the initial version in 2018, Meijer, Camps and his PhD candidates continued making both minor and major modifications to improve the device. The first version sent the data to a server, but today’s faster processors mean that the current model can store all the data on its local minicomputer. The mat is made from aluminium and stainless steel, which is tougher and more stable than the original plastic tray. That means less noise in the data collected by the device. All the teething troubles seem to have resolved now and the current mat looks to be a lasting solution. Camps: ‘The series of mats we have now is modular so we can continue adapting and repairing them. We have 16 mats
‘New’ location
The workshop officially reopened on campus at the start of October. Until this summer, WUR had two workshops: the Technical Development Studio for Agrotechnology & Food Science and Tupola for the Plant Sciences people. The two merged and moved into shared accommodation in Innovatron following some major renovations.
at present. Initially, we gave each one a number but the PhD candidates in my group recently organized a competition to name them. That resulted for example in TRAYlor Swift.’
Meijer and his colleagues in the workshop don’t only make new instruments, they also keep old equipment alive. ‘Sometimes equipment gets so old that the suppliers no longer provide spare parts. That happened for example with a special grinder. It worked fine except for that one part. It would have been a shame to have to throw it away and buy a new one, especially now the university has to be so careful with its costs. We designed a new part and printed it on the 3D printer, and now the grinder is as good as new.’
When asked whether they can really make absolutely anything, Meijer replies: ‘Yes, except for glass instruments. WUR used to have its own glassworks where they made the glassware for the practicals, among other things. But we no longer have people with that knowledge and those skills. We can still cut glass sheets and we have contact details for a glassworks that we collaborate with regularly.’ ■
Hans Meijer in the Wageningen Technical Solutions workshop in Innovatron.
Photo Guy Ackermans
REVAMP OF BACHELOR’S PROGRAMMES : GOOD OR BAD IDEA?
Wageningen has to cut its BSc degree programmes from 21 to between 12 and 16 by 2030. All programmes will have to assess whether they can merge to form a broader programme with multiple specialisms, capable of attracting an annual intake of at least 80 students. Tourism and Communication & Life Sciences are being abolished. Resource asked people what they think of the plans. Text Luuk Zegers Photo shutterstock
‘I don’t see our degree programme merging with programmes that take a less fundamental approach’
Ingrid Lubbers Lecturer in Soil Geography and Landscape
‘It is a good idea to see whether we can offer the same content bundled into fewer degrees because at present there is too much choice. Degree programmes that overlap and don’t attract many students could be merged to create a broader programme.
‘However, we shouldn’t be fixated on numbers, such as requiring a minimum of 80 students per degree. I personally am involved in Earth System Sciences (what used to be called Soil, Water, Atmosphere, ed.), a programme that takes a fundamental look at the landscape. It will never attract 80 new students, but I don’t see it merging easily with programmes that take a less fundamental approach. Degrees such as Forest & Nature Conservation, Landscape Architecture and Marine Sciences have their own niches and attract enough students. I think it would be better to keep them as independent programmes.
‘In short, it’s basically a good plan but we should be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.’
‘I understand the decision but I think it will be a difficult process’
Julia Diederen Lecturer in Food Technology
‘The intake for Food Technology is relatively stable, but in recent years we have had more and more international students and fewer Dutch students. Apparently, we are no longer offering what Dutch school leavers want. Other universities offer broader degrees — and are doing well. Imagine we were to have a broad programme with Biotechnology, Nutrition & Health and Food Technology combining, for example. Students would do courses in a variety of areas to start with and then make a choice based on what they discovered they really like.
‘But a broader degree would then still need to go into more depth. We are the only university offering a degree in Food Technology in the Netherlands. If you can no longer get a degree certificate saying Food Technology, it will hurt.
‘There are a lot of shared courses in the degree programmes in Wageningen, and it’s already a massive challenge if you want to reschedule a course at a different time. It means a big change for all the other programmes that offer that course and the chair groups that teach the course. So you can imagine how difficult it will be if you decide to merge two, three or four degree programmes and create a new curriculum. In short, I totally understand the decision to merge degree programmes but I think it will be a difficult process.’
‘The decision to pull the plug on Communication & Life Sciences was an unpleasant surprise’
Rens Vliegenthart Professor of Strategic Communication
‘Student numbers are falling and there is increasing competition from elsewhere in the traditional Wageningen domains. It is only logical that action should be taken, and I can understand it too, looking at the BSc portfolio. But the decision to pull the plug on Communication & Life Sciences was an unpleasant surprise.
‘Sanne Kruikemeier (professor of Digital Media & Society, ed.) and I came to Wageningen in 2022 in part to give teaching in that field a boost. We worked hard on new courses that were taught for the first time last year. Some of that work turns out to have been for nothing, which is very frustrating.
‘We also have our doubts about the process. Our BSc programme is the cheapest in Wageningen, with lots of shared courses and students doing elective subjects. Why decide now to stop rather than first looking at whether a shared future is possible with other degree programmes?
‘Communication plays a crucial role in issues such as biodiversity, climate change and healthy diets. It would be a real shame if there is no separate degree for that in the future.’
‘If we bolster the degree programmes and make them future-proof, that’s to the good’
Renske
van
Dijk
Student Recruitment team leader
‘I think it is important to assess our degree portfolio critically. We have a lot of degrees compared with the number of students. Some degree programmes are small and getting smaller, even when we put an extra effort into them at Student Recruitment. The number of school leavers entering university is also declining and their interests are changing.
‘Students who do Communication & Life Sciences are choosing a relevant, valuable degree subject, but there is a lot of competition from other universities, and school leavers are less interested in communication degrees in general these days.
‘We also have multiple degrees targeting the same group. If we can combine them to bolster the degree programmes and make them future-proof, that’s to the good.’
‘Other than the decision to stop with Communication and Tourism, there is nothing dramatic about it’
Rolf Marteijn Nutrition & Health programme director
‘Over the past 20 years, we have mainly focused on what could be added. Sometimes you need to take a step back and assess whether the portfolio still fits with who we are and what prospective students want.
‘It is important to be viable, but I think the cited minimum of 80 students is too unnuanced. If you have a few thriving degrees with lots of students, you could also have some others with lower intakes if those are topics we find important.
‘Other than the decision to stop the degrees in Communication and Tourism, there is nothing really dramatic about it. It’s good that the programme organizers are being invited to contribute ideas. The plan talks about aiming for 12 to 16 broad degree programmes, but if they end up with 18 viable programmes, I’m sure that will be OK.’
Have your say at
resource-online.nl
Three Gelderse Vallei rolls
The Gelderse Vallei region recently got its own bread roll: the Gelderse Vallei roll. The roll is made from sustainable, locally produced ingredients and is available in three variants: with lupin, cheese or a meatball. The bread rolls went on sale in the WUR canteens at the start of October. The regional roll will also be used as an object of study in research and education.
Text Dominique Vrouwenvelder Illustration Mathijs Megens/SeaBlueBird Studio
Agrosystems researcher Marjolein Elings says the bread roll is a good example of the kind of developments prompted by the projects she and her colleagues work on. ‘We try to figure out the key factors that make such local initiatives a success and use that information to strengthen regional food systems. Examples are having a solid network with the right parties, or a clear message for consumers.’
WUR students doing the Consumer Studies course will work on that message, looking at how consumers can be persuaded to buy such a product made entirely of regionally sourced ingredients.
Regional
Incidentally, a broad definition of the ‘Gelderse Vallei region’ is used for the roll: the seasonal vegetables come from
near Nijmegen, the cress from the Achterhoek area and the onion chutney from the Betuwe village of Beesd. But the other ingredients come from closer by. ‘One of the aims of the bread roll project is to shorten the supply chains,’ explains WUR contract manager Marcha Sperna Weiland. ‘The ingredients are procured from the producers by a single collective purchaser and go directly from there to the caterers. In future, we want to get more purchasers, producers and farmers involved. That will let us extend the assortment and raise the profile and accessibility of nature-friendly agriculture.’ ■
For more info on the bread rolls and research, see www.resource-online.nl
These are the three rolls
Vallei roll with lupins: a crusty Veluwse Twister roll with curry-lupin spread, fermented seasonal vegetables, cress, and nut & seed mix.
Vallei roll with cheese: a roll with organic Dutch cheese, organic boiled egg, mustard, and nut & seed mix.
Vallei roll with meatball: a roll with mince, Mediterranean lupin spread and onion chutney.
WUR scientists on and in politics
Election fever
The elections for the Dutch Parliament are at the end of this month. They are being called ‘the most polarized ever’. Two Wageningen colleagues are standing for election. How thick a skin do candidates need?
Text Marieke Enter Photos Guy Ackermans
At the end of September, four PhD candidates from the Wageningen School of Social Sciences (WASS) organized the seminar From Pillarization to Polarization on the dynamics and rhetoric in the Dutch elections. What can history tell us about the current political landscape? And what does Wageningen’s research into polarization tell us? Is it really as extreme as people claim? (Spoiler: no.)
Koen Vossen, an assistant professor in Political Sciences at Radboud University, was invited to give an explanation of the parliamentary history of the Netherlands since the Second World War. When talking about the highly segregated Dutch society of the post-war period (divided into Catholic, Protestant, socialist and liberal ‘pillars’ in a system known as pillarization), he quoted the Yale political sciences professor Robert Dahl: ‘In theory, your country shouldn’t exist’. That is because a country with multiple religions that is so segregated that the different communities ‘live separate lives in something verging on apartheid’ (in Vossen’s words) is almost always a recipe for civil dissent and instability. ‘But pillarization actually brought the Netherlands social and political stability for a long time,’ said Vossen. ‘The post-war hegemony of the Christian parties lasted longer than the Soviet Union.’ That stability ended at the turn of the century, according to Vossen mainly because the political establishment was unable to respond appropriately to the social malaise after the 9/11 attacks and the murders of the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn and the outspoken filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Since then, the Netherlands has seen numerous new political parties appear, some of which have sunk back into oblivion. The large number of political parties has sometimes been interpreted as a sign
of polarization, but Vossen disagrees. ‘The Netherlands has always had a lot of political parties. It is important to realize that the differences between the parties are often very minor.’
Polarization
The perceived polarization is also an aspect covered in the Wageningen Election Study, a long-term panel survey carried out by the Strategic Communication chair group on the influence of social and traditional media on political preferences and phenomena such as populism and polarization. The provisional research results give a different picture of polarization than the one the respondents themselves have, concluded Strategic Communication assistant professor Emma Turkenburg: ‘Most respondents see a highly polarized country and are very worried about it. That could be related to the changing media environment, with people becoming more exposed to extreme points of view. It could also be because politicians like to emphasize differences: it can be strategically smart to sketch a picture of a divided society as a way of gaining votes.’ Turkenburg noted that having the wrong impression of polarization can be a risk. ‘If people think society is incredibly divided and different groups hate one another, they may act accordingly. The perception of extreme polarization can then become a self-fulfilling prophecy.’
Resource found two Wageningen colleagues on the lists of candidates for the Parliamentary elections: Judith Westerink (CU) and Simone Ritzer (Volt). See the following pages for more about what motivates them.
‘I don’t mind speaking out’
Judith Westerink, senior researcher in Landscape Governance in the Biodiversity & Policy team at Wageningen Environmental Research and in the Land Use Planning Group. She is number 15 on the list for the Christian party ChristenUnie.
‘Idon’t mind speaking out. If everyone stays on the sidelines, nothing will get done. I got involved in politics because I care about nature, rural areas and agriculture – topics I’ve been working on for years at WUR. If I can have an impact too through politics, I’m happy to do that.
‘There is a lot of polarization in “my” areas, such as pesticides, wolves, and nature and agriculture in general. I’m proud of how my party has managed to bring a wide range of people together with different views on these complex themes to have a proper discussion. I believe we need that in politics. It shouldn’t be a question of mudslinging; you should listen to one another and try to find a solution together. ChristenUnie often has a connecting role and I tend to do that too.
‘This is my second time on the list of candidates for Parliament, after
I represented ChristenUnie at the provincial level for a while. I’m unlikely to be elected as ChristenUnie has never won as many as 15 seats. But never say never. If I am elected, of course I will take up my seat in Parliament — you can’t let your voters down.
‘It’s worrying to see even fewer women candidates for this election than last time. That has a lot to do with the political climate. I think it’s scandalous that women in politics are hounded so much that they are starting to have second thoughts. I haven’t had too many problems with this yet on a personal level. Provincial politics is much more amicable and I’m not high enough up the list to be in the firing line in national politics.
‘ChristenUnie often has a connecting role and I tend to as well’
‘Now more than ever, it is important to come together and do the right thing. There are a lot of different parties in Dutch politics, so they have to cooperate. If you aren’t prepared to do that, you won’t be able to achieve change at all. Fortunately, there are a lot of parties that do want to cooperate. Not all though, as we are well aware. But there are enough that do and I hope voters will cast their votes for those parties.’
‘Politics is not a marketing exercise’
Simone Ritzer, Wageningen Dialogues programme leader and number 4 on the list of candidates for Volt.
‘Ialways wondered why anyone would want to go into politics because there are so many other ways of making an impact. But the Volt party leader in the previous election, Laurens Dassen, got me thinking. He said that if you look at politics from the outside, it appears to be a nest of vipers, but Parliament also does some really good things.
‘When I was asked to stand for this election, I had just been to a talk by Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand. She said that politicians are expected to have thick skins and not show too much empathy because that could break them. But she called for exactly the opposite: more empathy in politics as a way of bringing people together. I was moved to tears as I sat there, busily taking notes.
‘So right, it’s all very well me shouting from the sidelines that things need to change but I can also try to bring about those changes from within... although I’m not underestimating how tough that is. Politicians and scientists who enter the public arena have to put up with similar treatment. Lesson number one: don’t read the comments on your socials. You need a filter, even if as a politician you should still listen to people.
‘My motivation for getting involved in politics can perhaps be traced back to my degree in Consumer Studies. I see politicians using almost every trick in the behavioural psychology book to get
‘Lesson number one: don’t read the comments on your socials’
votes. I think that’s wrong. I realize parties need votes, but this is a recipe for populism. Our democracy will no longer function if politics becomes a marketing exercise.
‘I felt quite nervous about announcing my politics because I always try to be as neutral as possible in my role as a facilitator at Wageningen Dialogues. But I was really pleased to see the many positive reactions. I have chosen to go on leave until a week after the elections as I will obviously be taking a stand on various issues. That will let me focus completely on the campaign, both mentally and in practical terms.
‘Of course it’s nerve-racking waiting for the results. But it’s a winwin for me. Either Volt gets a lot of seats, which is good for the future of politics, or it doesn’t and I can return to WUR and carry on with my wonderful job.’
board fatigue (noun)
<Situation in which members of
student
societies and study associations are no longer interested in board/committee positions >
Last summer, national student organizations wrote an urgent letter to the minister for Education complaining about ‘board fatigue’. It is getting hard to find people in Wageningen too, we discover when we ask around. ‘By the first deadline, only one person had applied for our seven-member board.’
The Batavia Race, a classic student relay race from Nijmegen to Enschede, had to be cancelled for the first time in 50 years.
The fact that Groningen’s introduction week went ahead at the last minute was ‘a minor miracle’, the chair of the student committee told the Dutch TV news broadcaster. In Leiden, five study associations were discontinued last year because they couldn’t find anyone to run them.
In an urgent letter to the minister for Education, various national student organizations pointed to a survey showing that students see a year on a committee or board as a ‘financial risk’. Pressure to perform and the fact that students often take longer to graduate and end up with bigger student loans if they do committee work are also mentioned as reasons for the lack of interest. This needs to change, say the student organizations, because ‘student associations are crucial to university life’.
What is the situation in Wageningen?
When we asked around, the larger student societies told us they were still able to find enough people for their committees. KSV Franciscus had ten people apply for the current eight-person board. Chair Matthijs Heutinck: ‘Fortunately, we are still in a position to turn people down as we have enough candidates.’ Ceres managed to get enough applicants too, says its president Daan Smit, but he recognizes the problem: ‘There were a lot of people who were interested but didn’t apply in the end. That was often because they were worried about getting behind or about building up more student debt. It will only become more difficult to fill committees in future with falling student numbers.’
Student debt
SSR-W is also one of the larger societies but it still had difficulty finding people for the board this year, says its chair Sarah Vegter. ‘Our board has seven members and people had to apply in February. In the past, we’d have had 10 to 12 applicants, but this time only one person had applied by the first deadline.’
Even she had her doubts at that point. ‘It’s difficult financially. My first year was still under the student loan system.
Text Luuk Zegers
A committee year means you take at least one year longer to graduate and you have a bigger student debt. You get FOS support (470 euros per month for full-time committee members, ed.), but that doesn’t compensate for all the extra costs.’
After extending the deadline for applications twice, they got nine candidates and were able to form a board after all. Vegter too decided to go for it: ‘I feel an intrinsic urge to do something for SSR-W. I’m also expecting the experience I acquire to outweigh the costs and the delays in graduating.’
Nji-Sri is a somewhat smaller student society and therefore has a smaller pool to fish from. Chair Tom Seijsener: ‘This year, we had four candidates for six posts. So we approached people in person to fill all the posts on the board. Fortunately, we have a lot of active members, which lets us survive despite being a smaller society.’
The sports association Thymos was unable to find enough board members, so they are making do with four mem-
‘A committee year means taking at least one year longer to graduate plus more student debt’
bers this year instead of the six they wanted. Secretary Matthijs Wimmenhove: ‘The four of us should be able to carry out the core tasks, but we’ll probably have to say “no” more often to new ideas. We’ll see how it goes.’
Doomsday
Then there are the study associations. Their committee posts can often be filled on a part-time basis, letting the students continue with their degree. Does that make it easier to find candidates? Not necessarily, shows Genius Loci, the study association for Landscape Architecture & Spatial Planning. Chair Pieter de Leede: ‘We put a lot of effort into finding committee members but we were still only able to fill four of the six posts. We tried everything, from lunches and drinks events to videos on the life of a committee member. We also approached people we saw as serious potential candidates personally. We even put up a Doomsday
poster with a warning for our members: no society without a committee.’
A new committee will be appointed in February. ‘That will be interesting.’ De Leede says other study associations are having difficulties too. He thinks a bigger financial allowance would help encourage more people to come forward. ‘If you spend a year on a committee, you can’t do all the courses and so you inevitably get behind. That means more tuition fees, more rent and more grocery bills. Extra compensation in the form of FOS support, or assigning credits for committee work, would help make it more appealing.’
Intrinsic motivation
As the coordinator of student facilities at the Student Service Centre, Rutger Kroes has a lot of contact with the societies and associations, including about the FOS support. He can understand the societies seeing a bigger allowance as a way to encourage more people to do committee work. ‘But in the end it’s about your intrinsic motivation. You get an allowance, but that’s not the same as
‘Assigning
credits for committee work
might help’
a salary and it never will be. Anyway, the FOS allowance was increased two years ago from 350 euros to 470.’
Kroes doesn’t expect more money to be made available given the higher education cuts. Even so, he sees a glimmer of hope: ‘We are now into the third year of the basic grant, so there are fewer active students who have to worry about the student loan system. The slow student fine is no longer an issue either, so doing a year on a committee should now be pretty manageable.’ It is still an investment, he says. ‘But one that’s worth it. The vast majority say afterwards they are delighted they did it.’ ■
Getting freshers enthusiastic about student society life at the info market in the Arboretum, AID 2025. Photo Yijun Zhu
Limelight
Politie Warnsveld may translate as ‘Warnsveld Police’ but they won’t be handing out fines or enforcing law and order — they prefer chaos. This ska-punk band from Nijmegen, who have previously performed at the major venues Doornroosje and Melkweg, will be at Unitas youth club as part of Popronde. Text Coretta Jongeling
Politie Warnsveld (Popronde)
Popronde is like a touring circus crisscrossing the Netherlands from September to November, with performances in cafes, libraries and shops. The bands selected for each town are always a bit different but what they have in common is that they are not well known. Politie Warnsveld have been around for a while and performed at venues including Melkweg (in Amsterdam) and Doornroosje (in Nijmegen). The band plays poppy
ska-punk with ‘super-hard tunes and awesome lyrics’, according to their bio. Stage committee member Kaelen Koops is pleased the band will be playing at Unitas. ‘They sold out at Doornroosje, which is pretty good for a relatively unknown band.’ There will be three more acts performing at Unitas that evening. ‘Jackie and the Facts play upbeat, energetic dance punk
THU 30-10-25
At various venues in the town centre from 19:30
Free entrance
and their singer is amazing. Then we have Inherited, a groove-metal band who have won all the Dutch Metal Battles, which got them a place at Wacken Open Air, Europe’s leading heavy metal festival.’ The final act is a live dance duo, M2K. And if you’re still wide awake then, a Unitas DJ will host an after-party until 4 am.
‘It’s a really diverse line-up, with something for everyone,’ says Koops. ‘We have female-fronted punk, heavy metal and ska, which we don’t often have these days, and a really loud group to finish.’
You can find the entire Popronde programme at popronde.nl. The music is free. ‘You can just wander in and out everywhere. The only restriction is you can’t go back in during a performance. It is always really packed so if you want to see a particular band, don’t be late!’
TIPS
Friday 17 October
Wageningen beer festival • beer tasting • Ceres Society
Thursday 23 October
Dinner on the Rhine with The Meeting • dinner and live music • Restaurant de Blaauwe Kamer
Thursday 6 November
Room service • Student room festival • Throughout the town
Shaemless during a previous Popronde at Unitas Photo Unitas
LOOK!
You can spot great-looking people and cool outfits on Wageningen campus. This column highlights some of them. This time, meet Food Technology Master’s student Anna Suze Faya Hettema (22) Text and Photo Eva de Koeijer
‘Recently, I’ve started wearing outfits that are more “business casual” but with a student touch.
I just bought these boots and thick tights, so I’ll be doing skirts this autumn. I like to wear scarfs, outsized blazers or a shirt that I tie up. I really enjoy adding that extra touch to an outfit.
‘I get my clothes from all over the place. I always buy my shawls from Bar’s Bargain Vintage in the high street and my blazers from NA-KD. I don’t go shopping much apart from that; I just see things from time to time.
‘I’ve always enjoyed having my own style ever since I was a kid. Even when I was young, I was interested in how to combine different items of clothing. My style has gone through various phases. At secondary school, I went through a real emo phase with red hair, black hair, a fringe I cut myself and so on. When I went to university, I started trying all kinds of things out: bright prints, cool tops... basically figuring out what would work.
‘Now I reckon I’ve found my style, although it is obviously still evolving. The good thing is I always feel in the mood to do stuff when I’m wearing great gear: a nice outfit is always good for your motivation!’
You find all the flavours of the world in Wageningen. Hazel Htun, a Food Technology student from Myanmar, shares a recipe for rice noodles.
Flavours of WUR
Nan Gyi Thoke
‘Nan Gyi Thoke is a classic breakfast item from back home. It is a thick rice-noodle thoke with chicken curry. The recipe is simplified but this should still have a hint of home.’
1 Boil the chicken thighs with garlic, ginger and fish sauce until cooked. Save the stock, separate the meat from bones and finely shred the chicken.
2 Heat oil in a pan and fry the chopped shallots and minced garlic until golden brown.
3 Add turmeric and paprika powder, then add shredded chicken and mix evenly. Season with fish sauce and add 2 tbsp of the chicken stock. Boil for 5 minutes to reduce the liquid.
4 Separate the curry oil from the chicken and set aside. Cook the noodles.
5 Fry chickpea flour over medium heat until golden.
6 Heat oil and fry minced garlic until golden brown. Remove pan from heat and add dried chili flakes. Stir well and set aside.
7 Reheat the cooked udon noodles in boiling water for 2-3 mins and drain well.
8 In a bowl, toss the noodles with the curry oil from step 4, chickpea flour and chicken. Season with fish sauce, lime and garlic chilli oil.
9 Serve with sliced hardboiled egg and coriander.
Ingredients (3-4 portions):
For shredded chicken
- 650g chicken thighs (or oyster mushrooms)
- 5 garlic cloves
- 2cm ginger (sliced)
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 cups water
For sauce
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup chopped shallots
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 3 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
For garlic chilli oil
- 5 tbsp dried chilli flakes
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
For noodle mix
- 600g Japanese udon noodles
- 7 tbsp curry oil
- 7 tbsp chickpea flour
- 1½ tbsp fish sauce
- 1½ tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp garlic chilli oil (see above)
Garnish
- Handful of chopped fresh coriander
- 3 hardboiled eggs (sliced)
Hazel Htun Student of Food Technology
Meanwhile in… France – Protest!
WUR is incredibly diverse, with hundreds of internationals working and studying here. In the Meanwhile In column, we ask one of them to comment on events in their home country. This time, exchange student Dorothée Bellégo (20) shares her thoughts about the ongoing protests in France in reaction to the political instability. Text Machteld van Kempen
‘When the French strikes started in September I was already here in the Netherlands. I’m a bit ashamed to say, I didn’t really care too much. People kept saying, oh I’m so sorry France is on strike, but I was like, okay, what’s new? Striking is a national sport. France is always a mess when it comes to the government. Over here in the Netherlands, your government failed twice, so that’s bad, but somehow in France it seems worse since people react to it so passionately. And also because it’s been a sort of struggle for years. At this point I don’t even ask what it’s for. Maybe I should pay more attention, but in France we have a big culture of not being put down by any higher forms of power. And just the fact that we protest doesn’t mean it’s not worth protesting. I think the government forgets that as well and sort of sees us as a population throwing a tantrum every once in a while without actually listening to what we’re saying.
Column Willy Contreras-Avilés
Cruel reality of a tapestry
Wageningen University recently got a wonderful piece of immersive art: a tapestry that has to be made by students and staff. The initiative is a national project aiming to remember and connect the history of slavery and the colonial heritage of Gelderland. The tapestry will be displayed on the wall in the Forum for the coming weeks. The work we have in Wageningen is only one part of the 35 metres-long artwork; the other pieces are currently being completed by inhabitants in the rest of the province of Gelderland. I too spent a day participating in the making of the tapestry. I asked the responsible staff about the participation of students in general. I must admit that the answer was rather discouraging: ‘simply not much’.
‘The news usually wants to make protesters look bad by saying they’re unemployed or young people that have nothing better to do. But we young people are the ones who are going to have to resolve the debts and who are affected most by the laws, because everything that’s voted for we are stuck with. Young people are frustrated, because they are more left-wing than right-wing, unlike most older people. And since there are a lot more older people than there are younger people, it’s very difficult to be heard. Younger people have their studies and are trying to find a place in the world so they don’t always have the time to listen to the politicians and vote, which means that they’re not listened to at all. And then they get frustrated with the policies that are made, so they protest.
‘I think the way forward is for the government to be more decisive. Otherwise we can’t resolve anything. Especially today, with all the ongoing wars and more and more governments going towards the far right in Europe and in America. Now is probably the worst time to be so indecisive.’
I’ve seen crowds sitting next to the tapestry, and somehow there is no curiosity and a saddening indifference to the intricacies of the tapestry and its message.
I can’t help but think this is a smaller-scale reflection of our societies. It seems as if everyone is so invested in their busy lives and their individualism, making us forget about the importance of community and mutual support.
Wageningen is a bubble within a bubble of privilege. We all enjoy the fortune of our geographical circumstances, yet is that still a reason to be apathetic and disdainful towards the history of slavery, genocides, and the oppression of other without the same good fortune as us?
Willy Contreras-Avilés (36) from Panama, is a last-year PhD candidate in the horticulture and biochemistry of medicinal cannabis. He likes to dance (perreo), cook Italian food and swim.
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WUR from within: straight, sharp, transparent
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Resource is the independent medium for students and staff at Wageningen University & Research. Resource reports and interprets the news and gives the context. New articles are posted daily on resource-online.nl. The magazine is published once a month on a Thursday.
Contact Questions and comments for the editors: resource@wur.nl | www.resource-online.nl
Editorial staff Willem Andrée (editor-in-chief), Helene Seevinck (managing editor), Roelof Kleis (editor), Luuk Zegers (editor), Marieke Enter (editor), Coretta Jongeling (online coordinator), Dominique Vrouwenvelder (editor).
Translations Clare Wilkinson
Design Alfred Heikamp, Larissa Mulder
Overall design Marinka Reuten
Cover illustration Valerie Geelen
Printing Tuijtel, Werkendam
Subscription A subscription to the magazine for one academic year costs 59 euros (135 euros if abroad). Cancellations before 1 August.
ISSN 1874-3625
Publisher Corporate Communications & Marketing, Wageningen University & Research
LESS IS MORE
The planned reduction in Bachelor’s degrees has started a trend: less is the new more.
With the announcement of the major revamp of the Bachelor’s programmes — also called Operation Degree Zero — the new Dean of Education Dick Knight seems to be paving the way for a big clear-out. There are suddenly lots of new initiatives for making do with less.
Rector Caroline Cruise is seizing the moment to review the number of professors with a chair. WUR has about 90 of them at present. ‘I’m not sure what the exact number is, and that in itself says it all,’ says an enthusiastic Cruise. ‘We can manage with fewer professors. They’re a dime a dozen, and too many cooks spoil the broth anyway.’
Having had success with the Bachelor’s degrees, now Knight has his eye on the 44 Master’s. ‘That is a ridiculous number for an institute that claims to be One Wageningen.’ Knight is taking his time to get it right, though. ‘First, a working group will consider the feasibility of a committee, which if approved will have the mission of setting up a Less Is More Taskforce.’
But is less really more? And is less better? A group of critical students are questioning the radical reduction
‘It could still be a lot lower so we need to persevere’
ideology. ‘Reduction is intrinsically incompatible with diversity and inclusion,’ says activist Barry Cade. ‘Less of something is simply a cut, no more and no less than that. We mustn’t settle for less.’
But elsewhere in the country, the idea of less, less, less is catching on. The latest enrolment figures show a substantial fall in the number of students choosing Wageningen. ‘That is encouraging, but we have a way to go,’ warns Minske Halfwerk of Student Information & Recruitment. ‘The intake could still be a lot lower, so we need to persevere.’
Student accommodation provider Idealis sees big benefits in the new trend on campus. ‘We always make a promise that every student will have a room by April,’ says director Art van Bas. ‘But that can be sooner if we have fewer students. Perhaps we can even eventually reach the ideal situation where there are no room shortages at all. What’s not to like?!’
