Personal information
Biography
My research and teaching is on the social organization of innovation in agriculture, and is informed by diverse theoretical perspectives, such as Innovation Systems, Knowledge Management, Social Capital, Institutional Development, Sustainability Transitions, and focuses on different topics:
Institutional change in research and advisory organizations;
Roles and positions of organizations that broker multi-stakeholder networks for innovation;
Implementation of transdisciplinary science and co-innovation approaches;
Dynamics an politics of research and innovation agenda setting;
Advisory service innovation and professional development;
Division of public, private and industry roles in innovation;
Internationalization of research and innovation;
Digital agriculture innovation;
Transformative innovation in agri-food;
Agricultural innovation system development;
Innovation policy.
My research takes place in several countries, such as The Netherlands, England, Norway, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia. In recent years this research is done increasingly in collaboration with international colleagues and the PhD students and postdoctoral researchers I supervise. I have (co-)authored over 180 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. The scientific impact of my work is evidenced by a substantial number of citations. In terms of scientific impact, depending on the database used, I have an H-factor of 49 (Web of Science) and 7,914 citations in Web of Science (on 8 January 2021), and H Factor of 54 (Scopus) and 9764 citations in Scopus, and a H Factor of 72 and 19304 citations in Google Scholar (on 7 December 2023).
In my teaching I draw on my own research on innovation systems, transitions, and the role of knowledge systems in innovation, to give students a broader appreciation of how their own scientific discipline is part of a broader dynamic which shapes innovation. I aim to teach them that innovation is a co-evolutionary process between technological, social and institutional change and is much more complex and less steerable as they typically assume, and also requires transdisciplinary collaboration (between different science disciplines and with societal actors). I also reflect on the ways science can have impact on innovation processes and the future role the students can take as scientists, advisors, entrepreneurs or policy makers in view of supporting transitions towards sustainability transitions and food systems transformation. I aim to engage students by offering lively lectures with a lot of current examples to place the abstract dynamics of innovation in their lifeworlds, and by offering groupwork with topics of their own interest. By interweaving application of concepts and theory with real life applications in which analysis and solution design are intertwined (through groupwork), and individual reflection on other people’s work (peer review) and theory (critical reading assignments) I aim to stimulate them to think independently and critically.
Besides being active in academic research and teaching, I aim to achieve societal impact of my work by informing and interacting with policy makers, through contributions to policy oriented publications, oral presentations and consultancies for organizations like the World Bank, the European Commission, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the United Nations Commission for Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Furthermore, I frequently interact with practitioners through presentations and workshops on systemic perspectives on innovation and the implications for research, extension and development professionals, and contributing to development of practical guidebooks for innovation systems analysis.