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UPDATE News in brief about research and developments at Wageningen University & Research
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AGROFOOD MEETS HIGH-TECH Wageningen is investing heavily in linking agrofood with data science, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology.
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CLOSING CYCLES TOGETHER The circular agriculture approach will be developed in a patchwork of initiatives in which farmers, conservationists and scientists work together.
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HEADS TOGETHER ON SUSTAINABLE FOOD PRODUCTION The first Wageningen Business Day is intended to mark the start of an annual tradition.
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MIXING SCIENCE WITH INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE Philosopher David Ludwig is documenting the biological knowledge and spiritual beliefs of local communities in Brazil, and looking for ways of integrating them with Western know-how.
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LURING THRIPS WITH LED LAMPS Rob van Tol has designed a trap that used LED light to catch thrips.
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LIFE AFTER WAGENINGEN Gerjan Snippe heads an organic vegetable company with 2000 hectares. What the customer wants is key at Bio Brass.
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UNIVERSITY FUND WAGENINGEN Virologist Annemarie van Zaayen has included the L. Bos Fund for plant virology in her will. ‘I want to leave my money to a good cause.’
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ALUMNI News for and about Wageningen alumni.
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PERSONALIA Information about the lives and fortunes of Wageningen alumni.
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KLV Announcements from the KLV Wageningen Alumni Network.
PHOTO GUY ACKERMANS
EDITORIAL
Time for climate action ‘I remember very clearly telling my dad to turn off the car engine because it would harm the seals at the North Pole. I was about eight years old; now I am 26. Meanwhile, the Arctic ice coverage has shrunk by roughly a million square meters. Sea levels are rising faster than expected, putting my hometown in a vulnerable position. Despite this, my parents and many of their generation do not seem to feel the same urge to act on the climate and ecological crisis as I do. My dad still drives his diesel car. It is, however, the youth who will have to live with the consequences of climate change – without having had a meaningful say in the negotiations that are shaping the future. I am disappointed that Nature-based Solutions (NbS) receive only two per cent of the global funding for tackling the climate breakdown. I think NbS involve people like my dad in climate change adaptation in a beautiful way. That’s why I joined the organization Youth4Nature, which aims to mobilize youth to advocate for NbS to combat the climate and ecological crisis. To raise our voices, we attended the UN Climate Action Summit last September. Meanwhile, with COP25 in Madrid just behind us, there have been countless high-level events like this since the Club of Rome sounded the alarm in 1972. I question how these events have helped the world. And yet I am optimistic. For the first time, millions of people all over the world have been taking part in climate strikes and are demanding that their political leaders act. Sometimes what we learn, discuss and are driven by in Wageningen seems in stark contrast to what keeps the outside world busy. But this is our chance to open up Wageningen’s inspirational atmosphere! Talk to people you don’t normally talk to. Connect, share your knowledge and ideas, and act! The challenges are enormous, but if we continue to raise our voices as one, we will be effective.’ Amanda Krijgsman, a researcher at Wageningen Environmental Research, represented Europe at the UN Climate Summit in New York.
WAGENINGENWORLD | 4 | 2019
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