Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
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The nature-culture dichotomy in Western cities, has negative effects on the acceptance of nonhumans in those spaces, because it perpetuates the boundary between humans and animals. This is further...Show moreThe nature-culture dichotomy in Western cities, has negative effects on the acceptance of nonhumans in those spaces, because it perpetuates the boundary between humans and animals. This is further reinforced by notions of human mastery and superiority, stemming from the Anthropocene. Those concepts, instead of acknowledging multispecies entanglements, influence the categorisation and hierarchisation of nonhumans between pets and pests, based on how they serve and profit humans. This thesis explores these dynamics and answers the research question: ‘How do ideas of human mastery influence notions of nonhuman animal usefulness in Western modernist urban centres?Show less
This thesis used content analysis to focus on the challenges experienced during the greening of industrial estates, with a specific focus on the case study done on the Grote Polder in Zoeterwoude,...Show moreThis thesis used content analysis to focus on the challenges experienced during the greening of industrial estates, with a specific focus on the case study done on the Grote Polder in Zoeterwoude, Netherlands. An interview and policy documents were used on top of this. The study categorizes the challenges into economic constraints, regulatory challenges, and stakeholder engagement. It analyzes the implications that these factors have on sustainable transformations. Firstly, economic constraints such as expensive and time-consuming procedures, Economic constraints such as expensive and time-consuming procedures conflict with the majority of business models and hinder voluntary corporate social responsibility. Secondly, the regulatory challenges originate from fragmented policies, a lack of national frameworks, and legal hurdles, limiting the potential contributions of industrial estates to sustainability goals. And finally stakeholder engagement, that is complicating collective green investments, encountering obstacles in the form of collaboration, divergent interests, and inadequate representation. The study concludes that to promote lasting changes in industrial estates, tackling these complex issues requires a coordinated strategy at the levels of stakeholders, regulations, and the economy. Future directions for study include effect evaluations, policy analyses, stakeholder engagement tactics, and cross-national comparative studies.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
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In times of climate change on a worldwide scale, weather patterns are rapidly changing. Entire ecosystems and their characteristic landscapes are affected, changing the life-worlds of animals,...Show moreIn times of climate change on a worldwide scale, weather patterns are rapidly changing. Entire ecosystems and their characteristic landscapes are affected, changing the life-worlds of animals, plants and humans. One of the areas that is most affected is the Arctic region, including countries such as Canada, Lapland, Russia and the US (Alaska). Due to climate change and melting ice, humans and nonhumans are forced to find different ways of surviving, not only physically but also emotional. As of today, the Arctic region forms the stage for geopolitical and economic developments. Human and nonhuman populations in the Arctic region are faced with an incoming stream of climate scientists, tourists and investors that all have a particular view of the Arctic. In this research project, I aim to find out how the systematic objectification and romanticization that depicts the Arctic region as a secluded wilderness, creates certain affective states within Arctic communities. In turn, I examine how this imagery relates to the construction of multispecies life-worlds in times of climate change. I look at how entanglements between humans and nature are influenced by changing discourses, including media representations, oral storytelling and political debates. Concurrently, I attempt to see how processes of oral storytelling relate to dealing with emotions within a society. The main research question of this project is: ‘How do discourses in and around Arctic communities and their implicated affective states relate to multispecies life-worlds in times of climate change?’Show less
Many cities are opting to implement urban nature into their cities with the ambition of becoming more sustainable. The implementation of urban nature into urban design comes with many benefits,...Show moreMany cities are opting to implement urban nature into their cities with the ambition of becoming more sustainable. The implementation of urban nature into urban design comes with many benefits, such as improving air quality, improve water quality, and reducing the urban heat island effect. However, it is unclear whether the implementation of urban nature affects the sense of safety for individuals in the city. Some studies argue that increased urban nature reduces the sense of safety, while other studies argue that it increases the sense of safety. Urban planners must understand how urban nature may influence the perceived safety of their city. This study is based on a previous study done in Oslo that investigated how urban tree cover affects the perceived safety of individuals in Oslo. The same study suggested that future studies should focus on other European cities. Following this previous research, the paper aims to investigate whether the presence of tree cover affects the perceived safety of neighbourhoods in The Hague. The paper uses secondary data collected by governmental agencies to determine whether there is a correlation between tree cover and perceived safety in The Hague. The results show that there is a moderate correlation between tree cover and perceived safety, also after controlling for confounding variables such as social cohesion and neighbourhood deprivation index.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
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Human activity's imprint on the earth has marked the Anthropocene. Due largely to Western imperial expansion, this time period has been defined by industrialization and capitalism which we are now...Show moreHuman activity's imprint on the earth has marked the Anthropocene. Due largely to Western imperial expansion, this time period has been defined by industrialization and capitalism which we are now dealing with the consequences of in the climate crisis. Indigenous Peoples have especially experienced irreparable damage to their societies and environments, amounting to what scholars suggest is cultural and environmental genocide or ecocide. This thesis will investigate the profound impacts corporations, governments, and nation-states have had on communities holding opposite ontological multispecies views, and how those have seeped into the foundational narratives these societies pass down. Métis scholar Max Liboiron is careful to remind settlers that the future actors of environmental movements must act in “solidarity without a universal We” (Liboiron 2021: 24). This statement recognizes the continued need for an intersectional approach to assess the biological and social damage inflicted on whole communities. Applying this framework will reduce the ongoing violence against Indigenous Peoples and Land and “promote healing by uncovering links between trauma to the environment and [...] situated (racialized/gendered) bodies” (Harrison 2019: 3). Using an analysis of literature and stories, the project seeks to illustrate the environmental injustices caused and spotlight decolonization efforts for preventing extinction. I will highlight the voices of Indigenous scholars in North America especially, and their methods for living through this destruction and moving forward to answer the question; how can changing narratives serve as tools for self-preservation and prosperity against threats of continued genocide, ecocide and assimilation? This exploration will detail methods of mobilizing grief for political aims like those of storytelling and cartography.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
closed access
This thesis looks at the power relations present within environmental organizations IPCC and IPBES in terms of how these institutions in which knowledge systems are used to generate climate policy....Show moreThis thesis looks at the power relations present within environmental organizations IPCC and IPBES in terms of how these institutions in which knowledge systems are used to generate climate policy. It researched wether or not justice is being done to indigenous and local knowledge holders as their knowledge has become more popular recently in trying to combat climate change.Show less
Due to anthropogenic practices and behaviours, the environment had been negatively affected, resulting in consequences for both nature and humans. In order to prevent further harm, emphasis has...Show moreDue to anthropogenic practices and behaviours, the environment had been negatively affected, resulting in consequences for both nature and humans. In order to prevent further harm, emphasis has been laid upon behaving sustainably and spreading awareness. Environmental education is one of the methods that is able to spread awareness. The main objective of this thesis is based on creating a framework with recommendations in which environmental education is used to motivate people to perform sustainable behaviour. With a study done on three schools who are involved in sustainability and implementing environmental education, real life examples have been used to bring forward recommendations to other schools in the Netherlands.Show less