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Thesis research project for and with the organization of Fête de la Nature in the Netherlands

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February 21, 2017
Fête de la Nature is the largest nature grass roots festival in the Netherlands. It consists of several nature events, spread over the country, set up 'by the people, for the people'. It is yearly organized during the 3rd weekend of May (www.fetedelanature.nl). In 2016, 61.000 people attended one or more of the 320 grassroots events. The festival originally started in France, where it has become a widely known tradition. Switzerland has its own Fête too. In The Netherlands, the initiative is quite young; in 2017 it will be organized for the 4th time. The organizers want the festival to become more widely known  and better rooted, so that it can develop into a self-evident, self-organizing event. They invite a Wageningen University thesis student to do research on the festival, to get more insight in how to improve it.

Start of the research: March 2017

The research focus and methods will be determined in mutual consultation by the organization, the supervisor and the student. Possible research questions include:

  • What are motives and expectations of participants?
  • What are their emotional and cognitive experiences at the nature event, with regard to nature and social interaction?
  • What are the impacts of participation on social and emotional learning?
  • Which features of the festival stimulate positive experiences and impacts?
  • How do participant experiences and features of the festival compare to festivals in other countries and to other kinds of nature-related activities?

Possible methods include surveys among participants and qualitative interviews at and after the festival. One of the options is to make comparisons with Fêtes de la Nature in other countries.

If you are interested, please contact Kris van Koppen, Environmental Policy Group (kris.vankoppen@wur.nl).