Hens Runhaar appointed Professor of Sustainable Food System Governance

From 15 February, Hens Runhaar will be appointed professor of Sustainable Food System Governance. Runhaar currently works as Associate Professor of Environmental Governance at the Copernicus Institute. Wilco Hazeleger, dean of the Faculty of Geosciences, is pleased with his appointment: "Sustainability and food systems are closely linked. Connecting real-world practice with academic knowledge and education requires a transdisciplinary approach. Hens Runhaar is pre-eminently a connector who does that from his broad expertise."

"Food systems in Western countries are highly productive due to scale enlargement and agricultural intensification, among other things. But at the same time, food systems face many sustainability challenges. Think of deforestation, water pollution, biodiversity loss, and greenhouse gas emissions," Runhaar says. "There are also huge equity issues. In addition, we face an enormous increase in health problems related to food. In other words, many challenges come together in this chair. There are plenty of alternative food systems, based on agroecology and regenerative agriculture, for example. But these are very difficult to scale up".

Runhaar's appointment gives a boost to interdisciplinary collaboration and helps bridge the gap with real-world practice. "If we look at the Dutch agricultural system, for example, we see it is extremely intensive. That has to change, and practitioners and politicians also know that. Yet we are failing to achieve a real transformation. Why is that? Why is it so difficult to radically change agricultural policies? Together with stakeholders and colleagues from other disciplines, I want to explore which roles of and relationships between farmers, policy makers, business, citizens and NGOs are needed for a more sustainable and fair food system, and which policies and dependencies between actors need to be phased out."

Impact

The newly appointed professor has high hopes for the future: "In a few years, I expect that our Institute and Utrecht University through Future Food Utrecht, will be internationally recognised for our expertise in Sustainable Food with a distinctive profile, complementary to institutions like Wageningen University and Research. This as a basis for our societal contribution to food system transformation through policy recommendations and cooperation with farmers, businesses and NGOs." He also has big ambitions for education: "I want Sustainable Food to become one of the core themes in our education, and for us to realise impact through it as well. And it would be very nice if we start doing more for Education for Professionals. That way we can provide food professionals from the field with the latest insights through master classes and workshops."

Wealth of experience

Hens Runhaar brings a wealth of experience to his new post. He previously worked as Associate Professor of Environmental Governance, is a visiting professor at Wageningen University and Research, member of the core team of Future Food Utrecht, member of the editorial board for the Earth System Governance journal, associate editor of the Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems journal, and convenor of the Earth System Governance Taskforce on the Governance of Nature and Biodiversity. He also has extensive experience in social positions. For example, he is member of the Supervisory Board of the Utrecht Landscape Foundation (Stichting Het Utrechts Landschap) and the social scientific advisory board of BirdLife Netherlands, the Scientific Committee on Nutrient Management Policy, Utrecht University’s Biodiversity Council, and the Deltaplan Biodiversity Recovery working group on Business Models.