The Science Cafe about ‘science for a circular economy‘ will be on Thursday May 23rd in Café Loburg, live music by VreemdeStreekjes starting at 19.45, speakers at 20.15. Entrance is free, a small donations is welcome.

Natural resources are under pressure, yet the world population grows. How are we to supply future generations with the resources to support a happy and healthy life? These questions have inspired many to conceive alternative economies, where the production-consumption-waste chain is broken. One of these novel ideas which is formulated as the “circular economy” radically changes the concept of “resource” and “waste”. In this edition of Science Cafe Wageningen, Louise Vet will place this concept as well as the concepts of blue economy, biomimicry and green chemistry in a theoretical framework and discuss how such alternative economies could function.

Societal changes, such as the move to another production-consumption-waste chain, require individuals and corporations to make deliberate choices. Social psychologist Michel Handgraaf will discuss the change towards a circular economy from a decision-making perspective.

Prof.dr.Louise E.M. Vet is a Professor of Evolutionary Ecology at Wageningen University and director of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO), the largest institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). She is a biologist with a broad interest in ecology and evolution of multitrophic interactions. She is an elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Vet was awarded several international prizes for her research. In addition to her professional interest in high quality ecological scientific research, she has a special interest in communicating the importance of ecology to the general public. Her recent outreach focuses on achieving a positive interaction between ecology and economy. Practice what you preach: she was the driving force behind the realization of the highly innovative and sustainable laboratory/office complex of the NIOO in Wageningen.

Dr. Michel J.J.Handgraaf is Associate Professor at Wageningen University (Economics of Consumers and Households). He is a Social Psychologist / Behavioural Economist with strong interest in Judgment,Decision Making and Interdependence. His main areas of research are bargaining, interdependence and the psychological aspects of economical and environmental decision-making by individuals and groups. He is also principal investigator at the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions of Columbia University NY.

April 18th, 19.45 music, 20.15 speakers, Café Loburg

The contribution of a balanced diet to human health has been long recognized, and there is general agreement about which foods and supplements are “good” and “bad”. Most of our knowledge though, is based on the response of the average person, and likewise, policy, legislation and insurance are rooted in the concept of “public health”. In the last decades, technologies in genomics have spurred research into the genetic basis for differences in the response to foods and supplements among the human population. Hence, the health paradigm is shifting to “personal health”. In this edition of Science Cafe Wageningen, prof. Michael Müller will discuss the concepts and developments in Nutrigenomics, the field of research that studies the genetic and genomic basis for individuality in nutrition and health. Interestingly, with the notion of individual differences in the nutritional needs and risks come important questions related to responsibility for a healthy lifestyle. Prof. Hedwig te Molder will discuss the consequences of nutrigenomics tools for public and personal responsibility and guilt.

We start with live music at 19.45, and the speakers will start at 20.15.

Michael Müller is full professor in Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics within the Human Nutrition Department at Wageningen University. He received his PhD in biochemistry from the Albert-Ludwigs Universität in Freiburg. As a Postdoc, he worked on the biochemistry of tumors in the German Cancer Research Centre. Later, he became an assistant professor in Groningen University Medical Centre. He is specialized in nutrigenomics, investigating relations between nutritition and gene expression. He is also director of the Netherlands Nutrigenomics Centre and a visiting professor of Nanjing Agricultural University in China. Michael Müller is known for his intensive use of the social medium Twitter to reach a broader audience.

Hedwig te Molder is full professor in Science Communication at the University of Twente and associate professor at the Strategic Communication Group of Wageningen University. She received her PhD in Social Sciences from Wageningen University and Lougborough University (UK). She studies everyday talk on science and technology issues. She has a special focus on expert-citizen interaction and nutrition discourse, for example on the impact of nutrigenomics in everyday life. She studies these phenomena in ‘natural’ settings such as online forums on food and health. In 2007, she received the Distinguished Book Award from the American Sociological Association for Conversation and Cognition (with Jonathan Potter).

Squire or Squirrel will entertain you with live music, after we unfortunately had to cancel their performance last time due to the cancelled Science Café. Squire or Squirrel, a brand new band from Wageningen, challenges you with weird rhythms, diverse sounds, and profound lyrics. Let your night of science begin with the brain racking ‘Squire or Squirrel’ to uncover the bands’ philosophy. Try to count 1, 2, 3, 4 and you will see…. that not all songs are what they seem… A little bit of pop, a little bit of rock, a little jazz and a lot of funk!

URGENT: Tonight’s Science Cafe (28th of March) is cancelled because our speakers are illl! This is a pity, but the next Science Cafe will be soon: Nature and Nurture in Nutrition, on Thursday April 18th With Michael Müller and Hedwig te Molder as our speakers.

In our society we are confronted with all kinds of risk, just think of terrorism, criminality, nuclear disasters, traffic accidents, natural disasters or dangerous human viruses. One cannot open a newspaper without reading about these risks. But the chances for a lot of these risks are rather small, and still they often dominate discussions in media and politics. How do societies perceive risks, what are factors determining what risks cause a lot of fear and attention in society? Why do we dis cuss a lot about the risks of terrorism, which hardly killed any people the last decades in the Netherlands? And why do we discuss less about the risks of for example air pollution, that causes many deaths each year.

The speakers

Elke Geraerts and Beatrice de Graaf will discuss issues like these from both a psychological and historical perspective. What is the role of fear and stress of individuals, related to the role the government, media and science in coping with societal risks? Both researchers are part of the Young Dutch Academy of Sciences. Together, they initiated a project to determine the connection between communication, security policy and fear within society. Within this project, they focused on the case of mass murder by Tristan van der Vlis in a shopping mall in Alphen aan de Rijn, the Netherlands in 2011.

Elke Geraerts (1982) is associate professor in clinical psychology at Erasmus University Rotterdam. After studying and receiving her PhD in psychology from Maastricht University, she worked at Harvard and St. Andrews University. She is leading the Clinical Cognition Laboratory in Rotterdam. In short time, Elke Geraerts acquired an international reputation regarding the workings of the memory after traumatic events such as child abuse. She recently initiated a new line of research focusing on the development of new cognitive therapies for depression and anxiety disorders, and works with clinical specialists who put these treatments into practice. In 2011, Elke was voted ‘smartest woman in the Netherlands’  in the women glossy Viva and in 2012, she took part in the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Beatrice de Graaf (1976) is professor in ‘conflict and security in a historical perspective’ at Leiden University. Beatrice de Graaf studied Modern History and German at Utrecht University and in Bonn. She received her PhD from Utrecht University, and later moved to Leiden University. She is a leading pioneer in national security and international relations. She contributed to the creation of the Centre for Terrorism and Counterterrorism Studies at Campus The Hague. With the aid of a VIDI grant, she is researching the creation of a national security state in the western world: how does something become a national security issue and end up on the political agenda? As a NIAS fellow, she initiated a research group focusing on the impact of terrorism trials.

Live music

Live music will be performed from 19.45 onwards by Squire or Squirrel. Squire or Squirrel, a brand new band from Wageningen, challenges you with weird rhythms, diverse sounds, and profound lyrics. Let your night of science begin with the brain racking ‘Squire or Squirrel’ to uncover the bands’ philosophy. Try to count 1, 2, 3, 4 and you will see… that not all songs are what they seem… A little bit of pop, a little bit of rock, a little jazz and a lot of funk!

The lectures by our speakers will start at 20.15.

The following list features the upcoming Science Cafés with their (tentative) subjects and speakers:

• Thursday, the 28th of March, the Risk Society, with Elke Gerearts & Beatrice de Graaf
• Thursday, the 18th of April, Public vs. Private Health, with Michael Müller & Hedwig te Molder
• Thursday the 23th of May, Cradle to Cradle, with Louise Vet