dr. SCO (Sigrid) Wertheim-Heck

Sigrid Wertheim-Heck is associate professor in global food system sustainability at the Environmental Policy Group of Wageningen University, and professor Food and Healthy Living at the Aeres University of Applied Sciences both in The Netherlands. With a master in history, a master in Russian and Eurasian Studies, both from Leiden University, and a PhD in sociology from Wageningen University, Sigrid is interested in processes of societal transformation.

As a consumption sociologists Sigrid takes an ‘everyday fare’ perspective on advancing global food system sustainability. Her research departs from situated perspectives on socio-technical transformations in which evolving practices and arrangements locally are tightly interlinked with the national and global scale.

Her interest in urban food systems informs her agenda on the relationship between urbanization, food provisioning and food consumption. Projects across Asia, Africa and Europe bring together three areas of research, namely sustainable food consumption, governance practices and global-local dynamics.

Key areas of interest include: everyday consumption practices and social equity in access to sustainable, safe and healthy foods.

“To find solutions and directions for making the food system more sustainable requires a global perspective. I believe that a true global perspective can only be obtained when local, contextualised dynamics are well understood.”

Sigrid is Principle Investigator in urban food system transformation at the Amsterdam Institute of Advanced Metropolitan Solutions.

Sigrid is Member of the Board of TABLE a global platform for knowledge synthesis, for reflective, critical thinking and for inclusive dialogue on debates about the future of food.

Leading various research programs, Sigrid stimulates interdisciplinary and cross contextual learning on sustainable food security for metropolitan areas. As such she is also a strong advocate WUR Challenges and advisory committee member of the Urban Green House Challenge.

Before joining WUR, Sigrid had 20+ years international agro-food experience in the private sector ranging from business development to market/consumer research, and marketing/distribution strategy. She has been strategic policy advisor for different governments on issues related to food security in the emerging markets of SEA.

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