Onderwerp scriptie

Science and Expertise in Forest and Nature Conservation

This research field concerns the relations between science and non science in the fields of nature conservation, biodiversity, natural resource management and environmental governance.


Possible topics for MSc and BSC thesis research or internships:

  • Lay knowledge and public participation. For example: Voluntary biodiversity recording
  • National and international biodiversity databases, their construction, their power relations and politics and their implications for how we know and represent nature
  • Environmental, nature conservation and biodiversity discourses and the power relations they imply. Including the emergence of the concept of ecosystem services
  • The role of scientists, scientific organisations and scientific knowledge in policy, (global) politics and management. For example: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Natura 2000 and the International Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
  • The role and local consequences of standards, criteria and indicators, including monitoring, evaluation and auditing. For example: sustainability standards and certification schemes.