In memoriam - Kris van Koppen

Kris studied environmental sciences at Wageningen University and philosophy in Nijmegen. After a few years as a lecturer at the universities of applied science in Groningen and Deventer, he joined the Environmental Policy chair group at Wageningen University in 1992 where he spent the rest of his career. From 2010 to 2014 he was also appointed professor of Nature and Environmental Education at Utrecht University. Kris’s academic ambition was driven by a combined and deep interest in nature, philosophy, sociology and their interdisciplinary application to environmental studies. His ambition also transcended the university through his substantial involvement in public debates, and advisory boards for both the municipality Deventer and Dutch nature organisations such as Natuurmonumenten. He showed how the everyday values people assign to their surrounding nature can be combined with biodiversity science to support conservation. Connecting Romanticism with Enlightenment, Kris would say.

Kris was an all-round, internationally oriented academic pur sang. Without pretence, he was a true ‘leermeester’ - a mentor who, by example and subtle guidance, helped colleagues and students chart a course for both their academic work and the wider challenges of life. From this perspective, academia was a calling more than a profession or vocation. He saw higher education as far more than the accumulation of knowledge. For Kris, education was a process of ‘Bildung’ – intellectual growth that enables understanding and insight for the greater good. He believed that debate rather than correcting or judging was core to the growth of his students and colleagues alike. With endless patience and an unwavering good spirit, he trained and shaped countless cohorts of students until his very last day with us at Wageningen.

Kris was a creative and sharp thinker, who embodied academic values with respect, passion and enthusiasm. He was empathetic for another’s point of view when in debate but was also steadfast when confronted with nonsense. And then there was his music, which he used to educate, inspire and connect students, colleagues and friends alike. He did this with his folk music band De Maatjes in his student years, by humming and singing Bach through the corridors of the university, composing and conducting songs for more than eighty PhDs graduates, and moving people with annual performances of the Matthäus Passion in Deventer. Science and art to disarm, connect and shape understanding.

Our chair group last saw Kris in full flight giving a lecture only days before falling ill on the recently deceased German philosopher/sociologist Jürgen Habermas. It will be lasting memory – balancing an introduction to his ideas for young colleagues, and with expert nuance to senior colleagues. He was both appreciative and critical, and above all, he shared his joy of knowledge. As he always wished for, Kris was an active and valued colleague to the very last – engaged not only in a profession but his calling.

With Kris’s passing we have a lost a great ‘leermeester’ and a beautiful and dear person. His memory will remain dear to us all.

On behalf of the Environmental Policy group WUR,

Simon Bush, chair