News

Prof. Dave Huitema appointed as chair of the Public Administration and Policy Group

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September 2, 2022

The Executive Board of Wageningen University & Research has appointed prof. dr. Dave Huitema as chairholder of the Public Administration and Policy (PAP) group. Huitema has assumed his new position per 1 September 2022 and will succeed prof. Katrien Termeer, who held the chair for almost 17 years. Termeer will continue working at PAP as personal professor.

Dave Huitema: ‘It is an honour to be appointed in this position. I have always thought that Wageningen was a great place to work and I am really excited to start. I look forward to working with the very strong group built by my predecessor. I know quite a few people already in Wageningen, but will be on the lookout for many new connections. We have a role to play in the various crises facing the globe and I am sure Wageningen will be in the lead when it comes to addressing them’.

Prof. Huitema (Leeuwarden, 1968) specializes in public policy, and has some 30 years of experience of working on sustainability issues. His key interest is in the role that the state can play in sustainability transformations. He has for long sought to understand what motivates governments to change their policies to make such transformations possible. In line with this, Huitema has studied the role of experiments in showing alternative pathways, the learning effects of novel interaction methods such as serious games, and he studied the strategies of individuals who seek transformative change in policies.

Educational background

Huitema earned his master’s Degree in Administration and Policy at the University of Twente, and he received his PhD degree from the same university. Huitema has won multiple publication awards, notably the Brasz prize, the Van Poelje prize, and the Lasswell award. Since 2002 Huitema worked at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam (VU), combining his position there with the role of Professor of Environmental Policy at the Open Universiteit (OU) since 2012. He was Vice-Dean for Research at the OU Faculty of Science during the past three years.

Teaching and networking

Teaching is something Huitema has done for 30 years and he thoroughly enjoys the interaction with students. He has developed several (online) courses, modules and programmes on public administration and policy. He looks forward to bring along his strong global network to further expand PAP’s current portfolio of activities. He has had leading roles in several interdisciplinary research projects, including COST Action INOGOV (Innovations in Climate Governance), which was recently selected as one of the four most impactful COST actions ever funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology. Currently Huitema is one of the coordinators of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Training Network NEWAVE, which seeks to create a global impact on our ways of thinking about water governance.

Dave Huitema lives in Utrecht with his partner and two children.