Past events

Paths to a career in conservation Discussion evening On the 22nd of November 2022, two young professionals were invited to share their experiences and things they learned in their “path towards a career in nature conservation”. A large crowd was eager to listen to their stories. One of the speakers was Lydia Cornu, a PhD candidate at Wageningen University, working on biodiversity resilience. The other was Jorian Hendriks, both a partnership developer at Borneo Nature Foundation and a master’s of…

climate anxiety workshop On The 7th of June 2022 students gathered to find ways to better manage their climate anxiety with the help of Wageningen University & Research psychologist Roeland Cloïn. ‘Climate anxiety’ is a concept which lately has been experienced by many young people. We are unsure about the future of our world, i.e. climate and nature and this ‘unknown’ is creating a lot of uneasy feelings. These feelings are particularly strong amongst the students of natural sciences. We…

Communication Workshop You might be one of the many students who have conducted research and learned cool things throughout your studies, but then ask yourself: what can I do with this knowledge and these skills? How do you communicate your findings to a broader public, and how do you engage others in your potential work in conservation? This was exactly what we were addressing in a workshop on communication on Saturday the 21st of January. A cosy group of FFN…

discussion evening on Zoo Research Both Stijn and Zjef gave a small view from insight their day to day life, which mostly involved helping students and researchers working on animal husbandry and fundamental biological questions. The importance of working together, both in sharing knowledge within the EAZA and prioritizing research in partnering zoos was shared by both speakers. After these short introductions, the break was used to have some informal smalltalk and networking, after which the discussion started. By Annet…

Nature photography workshop On the 21st of September Alessandro Oggioni, who studies science communication and society in Leiden, decided to share his passion for Nature Photography with us. Alessandro has been taking photos for fifteen years and this experience was reflected in a very interesting workshop full of details how to make the best photos. Also the role of nature photography within nature conservation was discussed at length. The workshop was held in the Sylvius building in Leiden and consisted…

Beaver excursion in the Millingerwaard The Millingerwaard is situated close to Nijmegen and one great example of nature development. The transformation from agricultural land to a nature area started in 1991 in collaboration of ARK Nature, Staatsbosbeheer, WWF, Dienst Landelijk Gebied, and clay winning businesses. Today, the area hosts a great variety of well-flourishing flora and fauna, which we, FFN Academy Nijmegen, wanted to show to the broader public by organizing an excursion. The focus of the excursion from september…

Alan McSmith is a South African wilderness guide and tracker, which has defined who he is, and why he is. It is a state secret for how many years Alan has been a nature guide, but it clearly has grown on him, and in him. As part of his current European tour, Alan visited Wageningen on the 20th of May to inspire what Alan later on called “a room full of ignition, possibility and infinite commitment to nature conservation. Future captains.” in a live lecture. The latter aspect made Alan’s stories ever more perceptible and deep after what seemed like ages of online lectures.

Fleur’s Pub Quiz As of February, Fleur stopped as coordinator of the Future for Nature Academy. To conclude this, she organized an online pub quiz for all FFNA members on January 31st. In teams of 4, with names such as “Pittige Pepers” and “The Sunbirds”, we battled for the win. There were several rounds with all kinds of questions related to nature. First we started with questions about the FFNA and special nature facts. Did you know that a sloth…

Patricia Davis Lecture On the 5th of October, Patricia Davis inspired us all with an online guest lecture. She won the Future For Nature Award in 2012 and is co-founder of Community Centred Conservation (C3). This is an NGO that focusses on community-based environmental conservation. Since nature conservation is directly connected to the livelihood of local communities, it is necessary to engage these communities in conservation on the long-term. This makes it also more likely that they will comply with…

Do you believe that elephants should have a right to exist, regardless of their value to humans? Do you believe that an elephant that has caused damage to your property should have a right to exist? For many people living in areas where we can still find wild elephants, the answer to the latter question is often: No. Antoinette van de Water, elephant conservationist and founder of Bring The Elephant Home (BTEH), travelled to Wageningen on September 28th, to talk about how her battle to conserve elephants…