NIAS Fellow Dr. Eric Mijts is back on Aruba

The return of Dr. Eric Mijts to the Island and University of Aruba after a 5-month fellowship at NIAS in Amsterdam is filled with pride and anticipation of the things to come. It is quite an honor to be invited to a fellowship at NIAS and the University of Aruba(UA) is celebrating the fact that one of its own was chosen. Lessons learned and experiences gained from this fellowship will surely help Eric in his next purpose of setting up the UA’s Research Center, but not before he shares some of the outcomes of his time at NIAS. Dr. Eric Mijts was awarded a fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences. From September 2022 until January 2023, Eric Mijts studied Climate Change and the Governance of Tropical Marine Conservation, together with colleagues from different institutes in the Netherlands and Indonesia in a dedicated NIOO-KITLV-NIAS theme group.

The most prominent globally used area based policy tool to protect marine ecosystems are marine protected areas (MPAs). While oceans play a crucial role in sustainability and resilience, and MPAs are the area-based tool to preserve oceans, their efficiency is often questioned. Controversies span from parks that only exist on paper while not being actively managed, to ecosystems within protected areas deteriorating as fast as outside and ocean grabbing discourses in which MPAs exclude communities from access to resources they depend on for their livelihood. This controversy has only increased as climate change adds additional, external stressors onto marine ecosystems. In December 2022, the UN Biodiversity Conference COP15 held in Montreal came to an end with the landmark agreement to put 30% of the planet, hence also 30% of the oceans under protection by 2030 (the so called 30×30 agenda). The research team’s critical examination of the existing marine protection practices contributes to the development of a framework against which the 30×30 agenda can be interpreted and evaluated.

Part of the fellowship consisted of seminar sessions in which research fellows discussed topics ranging from sociology to digital humanities, historical studies and interdisciplinarity. As part of the public outreach of their research efforts, Eric Mijts and his colleagues also hosted a public event at SPUI25, the academic-cultural hub in Amsterdam and they presented their work to the directors of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences. The research team will produce various academic papers that will present the findings and conclusions of their research.

The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, is one of the oldest Advanced Study Institutes in Europe committed to promoting interdisciplinary and curiosity-driven research in the humanities and social sciences for established and early career scholars. It is an intellectual haven where scholars, artists, writers and journalists come together in an interdisciplinary and collaborative environment. Moreover, NIAS aims to bridge the gap between the research practices of the humanities and social sciences on the one hand and the natural sciences and life sciences on the other hand. In addition, the academic community is enriched by the presence of writers, journalists and artists producing a serendipitous and collaborative work environment, which unlocks imagination and curiosity.

More information on the fellowship, the project and some of the outcomes can be found at:
https://nias.knaw.nl/fellow/29649/
https://nias.knaw.nl/insights/rethinking-human-relationships-with-the-sea/
https://spui25.nl/programma/secrets-of-the-sea-in-times-of-climate-breakdown
https://www.kitlv.nl/research-project-climate-change-and-governance-in-indonesia-and-the-caribbean/