The HZ has two new lectorates, made possible by the Delta Climate Center. At the helm are a familiar face and someone with vast experience in arts and education and research. Jean-Marie Buijs has been appointed lector of Governance of regional transitions, Godelieve Spaas is lector of Arts | Culture | Transitions.
Without technological developments, transitions do not take place, but getting them socially realised is at least as challenging. With his new lectorate Governance of Regional Transitions, Jean-Marie Buijs wants to work on the latter challenge. "Governance plays an key role," he says.
Massively dynamic
Jean-Marie Buijs is no stranger to the HZ. He has been working for years at the Resilient Deltas lectureship of lector Teun Terpstra. Besides researcher, he was coordinator and a few years ago he made the step to associate lector. "For a long time, colleagues have been asking me if and when I will become a lecturer. When I began the exploration for this professorship, even more opportunities arose. I had previously expressed the ambition to become a professor, because I think it's a wonderful profession. As a lestor, you connect questions from the professional field with research and education. Working within that triangle is incredibly dynamic. I find that very appealing. However, I know that becoming a professor is not a given. I’m happy that it has now worked out, thanks to the opportunities offered by the Delta Climate Center and the trust from HZ."
Radical changes
Will there be major content changes? "On the one hand, yes; on the other hand, not really. As a professor, you have more responsibilities, but in terms of content, the changes are manageable. Under the banner of Resilient Deltas, I have already developed a research line on governance." He plans to continue that line in his new professorship. "Governance is an important part of regional system transitions. What agreements do we make with each other when it comes to major changes? How do we deal with them? How can we better respond to initiatives from society? Are we including everyone? How do you create space for technological experiments? How can companies and organizations collaborate more effectively to scale up and accelerate where possible? These are the kinds of questions we want to explore."
'For policymakers and future professionals, it is easy to see barriers, but it is good if they are also aware of the opportunities. We want to give them that knowledge'
Water, energy, food
And especially those questions that relate to the transitions important in the Southwest Delta, for example in the areas of water, energy, and food. "You can think of developments in the field of green hydrogen. This is an extremely important topic in our region, with all its industry. The development of green hydrogen as a sustainable energy source and essential building block for the circular industry raises many questions for policymakers at various levels. The new research group offers HZ and the Delta Climate Center the opportunity to bring together governance expertise around these kinds of challenges with similar issues in the areas of water, energy, and food."
The professorship has three research lines:
The professorship has three research lines. First, Jean-Marie and his colleagues focus on institutional analysis and network collaboration. One example is research into a regional water bank, such as the one currently being developed within the NWO project STURDI Water. In this bank, supply and demand, storage, and water treatment must be aligned with one another.
The second line concerns participation and responsiveness, specifically the involvement of residents in transitions. "And especially how professionals can respond to this more effectively. I want to provide them with tools so that, for example, they can work more structurally with residents."
The third and final research line is called evaluation and learning. Jean-Marie wants to work with practice partners to learn from all the experiences gained through these transitions such as how to deal with transdisciplinarity and how to better connect the short and long term.
Getting started
The coming period will mainly be about getting started. Jean-Marie wants to lay a solid foundation for his research group. "During this phase, I’m having many conversations about shaping the professorship. I also want to take the time to further develop the research lines together with fellow researchers."
Delta Climate Center
The two new lectorates within HZ are co-facilitated by the Delta Climate Center (DCC). In Zeeland's delta, researchers from a wide range of disciplines and students from intermediate vocational, higher vocational and academic institutions are developing innovative solutions for regional climate transitions. They do so together with companies, governments, civil society organisations and residents.
To the DCC website