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Appointment of Jan van Tatenhove as professor holding a personal chair: “Deltas are complex and dynamic systems”
“Developing and connecting knowledge is key to achieving a safe, sustainable and future-proof Zeeland delta,” says Jan van Tatenhove. Wageningen University & Research has appointed him as a professor holding a personal chair from 1 October 2023. He will work two days a week with the Social Sciences Group (ENP and WEcR). There, he will conduct research and lecture on marine and delta governance. He will also be involved with the Delta Climate Center (DCC) in Vlissingen for three days a week.
More than 500 million people worldwide live in deltas, areas where rivers fan out towards the sea. This is where several issues converge. Deltas are attractive and prosperous regions because the land there is fertile and the environment is abundant in water. But deltas are also high-risk areas due to the chance of flooding. “Climate change and rising sea levels are jeopardising the quality of life in these areas,” says Jan van Tatenhove, now professor holding a personal chair in Marine and Delta Governance. “As a professor holding a personal chair, I will contribute from a social sciences point of view to the setting of the research and education agenda of the Delta Climate Center in Vlissingen.”
Knowledge about the Zeeland delta
The new Delta Climate Center is a partnership between WUR, Utrecht University, the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, University College Roosevelt, HZ University of Applied Sciences and MBO Scalda. “The centre develops and connects knowledge about the Zeeland delta so that we can create sustainable, climate-resilient and prosperous deltas,” explains Van Tatenhove. “The DCC brings together a lot of expertise related to deltas, from different disciplines, such as knowledge concerning food from the sea, offshore wind energy, innovative coastal protection, circularity and climate-resilient spatial planning. My research, from a delta governance perspective, will focus on understanding, analysing and contributing to the sustainable transitions in the Zeeland delta.”
Delta governance, according to Van Tatenhove, refers to how policies for the delta are made and executed as a result of interactions and negotiations between government bodies, the business community and interest groups. “Deltas are complex and dynamic systems, where social, administrative, economic, ecological and technological processes and structures are interrelated and influence each other. My research will focus on those factors, among others. I will look at the relationship between stakeholders and the legislation and regulations issued by government bodies, which either enable or in fact hinder the transitions to sustainable and climate-resilient deltas.”
Learning from each other in education
Van Tatenhove is enthusiastic about WUR’s involvement in the DCC. “I am also looking forward to contributing to the DCC’s educational ambitions: developing a continuous learning trajectory for secondary and higher vocational and traditional university education in the field of sustainable delta transitions as well as mentoring Wageningen students in Zeeland.”
Van Tatenhove is returning to Wageningen University & Research after five years. He previously served as a professor holding a personal chair in Marine Governance at WUR. Van Tatenhove has spent the last 20 years specialising in marine policy and planning processes, focusing on the development and execution of marine spatial planning, within the territorial waters of countries and at the level of regional seas (such as the North Sea and the Baltic Sea). He has also researched Arctic shipping and the regulation and governance of deep-sea mining.