The divide between us and the rest of nature has been attributed to various root causes: the growing disenchantment of the world, the loss of direct experience and lately the replacement of the real with simulations of it. Modernity's move away from the natural world has also generated countervailing …

Germany has been an influential member state in the European Union, but how influential has Germany been in shaping EU-policies? What domestic policies did Germany upload to shape the EU-policies and what major EU policies did it download to shape domestic policies? This dissertation has researched Germany’s …

While the notion of autarky is often contested in terms of feasibility and desirability, art and design projects that deal with autarky seem to moreover suggest positive socio-cultural and ecological effects of autarkic living. A social network model of autarky is introduced to unify these seemingly …

This working paper is the introduction and exploration of the theme 'Value of waste' for the Energize festival 2015. What is the value of waste? Based on ideas concerning the lifecycle of materials it depends on where you are in this cycle: have you consumed material, then what remains is usually waste …

This books describes the content, goals and methods used in the course Research & Development/New Media Art Practices. ‘It opened up research terrains, and confronted me with art practices I had never even thought of’ said a university student when asked what she had gained from the course Research & …

This bachelor thesis reports on a study conducted at the research institute IMARES in the Netherlands. It focused on plastics ingested by northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) around the North Sea region as a contribution to a better understanding of the fulmar in its role as an indicator for marine …

To effectively grasp and address sustainability challenges, this chapter argues that we need to expand our predominantly logocentric and linear ways of knowing with more presentational, embodied and sensory means. The chapter traces an exploration of this position through a dialogue between four academic, …

For centuries the Netherlands had struggled against water. After years of struggle the Netherlands had turned from a swampy and unstable river delta into an orderly country with a strong agricultural image. Since 1990, however, the Netherlands are no longer primarily known as the country that reclaimed …

Development aid is a sector that raises many discussions on whether it stimulates a developing country, or holds back economic progress. Most discussions are about bilateral aid, aid given from the government of a donor country, for example the Netherlands, to a government of a partner country, for example …