Henny van der Windt


Hendrik Johannes van der Windt is a Dutch associate professor at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, specialized in the relationship between sustainability and science, in particular the relationship between nature conservation and ecology and between energy technologies, locale energy-initiatives and the energy transition.

Youth and study

Van der Windt grew up in Vlaardingen where he went to high school. He was active in the regional environmental group Centraal Aksiekomitee Rijnmond and various student committees on environmental protection. After high school he studied biology at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.

PhD and academic position

He received his doctorate in 1995 with his PhD dissertation "En dan: wat is natuur nog in dit land?: natuurbescherming in Nederland 1880-1990", with chapters on the rise of nature conservation, tensions between agriculture and nature conservation, forestry, ecological restoration and the management of the Wadden Sea.
At that time he worked as a junior scientist and lecturer at the Biology Department of the University of Groningen. After his doctorate, he worked several years as a researcher in Groningen within the Ethics and Policy research programme of NWO Around 2000 he became associate professor at the Science & Society Group of the University of Groningen.

Research and education

He studied science-society interactions concerning genomics, food, ecological restoration, energy and sustainability, combining approaches and insights from biology, environmental science, environmental history and science and technology studies.
His education tasks include various courses such as second year Bachelor programmes Science & Society, the minor Future Planet Innovation and courses of the mastertrack Science, Business & Policy and the master Energy and Environmental sciences.

Publications

In addition to scientific papers, journalistic articles and policy reports Van der Windt was author or editor of several books or chapters. A selection:
  • 1995. En dan: wat is natuur nog in dit land?: natuurbescherming in Nederland 1880-1990. Boom.
  • 2001. Een Spiegel der Wetenschap: 200 Jaar Koninklijk Natuurkundig Genootschap te Groningen. With Adriaan Blaauw, Bert Boekschoten, Ulco Kooystra, Dick Leijenaar, Franck Smit, Kees Wiese & Marten van Wijhe. Profiel.
  • 2005. Harmony or diversity? In: Nature and Art: The Hoge Veluwe. Waanders.
  • 2006. Een groene voorzitter, raadheer en bruggenbouwer: prof. H.J.L. Vonhoff als voorzitter van NP De Hoge Veluwe en de Natuurbeschermingsraad. With Elio Pelzers. Waanders.
  • 2008. Tussen dierenliefde en milieubeleid. Academia Press.
  • 2012. Knocking on Doors: Boundary Objects in Ecological Conservation and Restoration. With Sjaak Swart. In: Sustainability Science, The Emerging Paradigm and the Urban Environment, Springer.
  • 2012. Parks without Wilderness, Wilderness without Parks? In: Civilizing Nature, National Parks in Global Historical Perspective. Berghahn.
  • 2019. Community Energy Storage: Governance and Business Models. With Binod Koirala, Rudi Hakvoort & Ellen van Oost. In: Consumer, Prosumer, Prosumager, Elsevier.
  • 2021. New Pathways for Community Energy and Storage. With Ellen van Oost, Binod Koirala |& Esther van der Waal. MDPI.