With Ilse Voskamp (WUR)

What might the landscape of a region like Eindhoven look like if we fully embrace biobased construction? And what will it take to turn that vision into reality?

In this podcast, we talk with Ilse Voskamp, Assistant Professor at Wageningen University & Research, about the development of biobased construction value chains and the crucial connection between cities and their surrounding rural areas.

Biobased construction means building with renewable materials such as timber and fibre crops, which can be used for insulation, structural components and other building applications. But behind these materials lies a much bigger challenge: how do you organise the entire value chain?

Through a new research initiative in the Eindhoven metropolitan region, Ilse and her academic and regional partners are exploring what a future biobased value chain could look like. Central to this work is the physical landscape itself: which crops can be grown where, and how much building material can they provide? How can cultivation create win-win outcomes for biodiversity, climate adaptation and spatial quality?

The project also focuses on the “decision-making landscape”: which stakeholders are involved, what steps need to be taken, where are the barriers, and how can sustainable choices be made collectively?

Together with partners including the Eindhoven Metropolitan Region, the National Knowledge Centre for Biobased Building, municipalities, farmers’ organisations, water authorities and other regional stakeholders, this complex puzzle is being explored step by step. The project builds on questions emerging directly from the region and is supported by EWUU seed funding through the Circular Society initiative.

In this conversation, we discuss circularity, landscapes and systems change. We explore why biobased construction value chains can add value to our environment, and how researchers can contribute not only by generating knowledge, but also by connecting perspectives, disciplines and people.

A conversation about transdisciplinary collaboration, systems thinking, and the question of how we can shape a sustainable living environment together — from land to building.

Ilse Voskamp

Ilse Voskamp is an assistant professor at Wageningen University & Research, where she studies the relationship between material flows, land use, and landscape design. Her work focuses on how spatial planning choices can contribute to more sustainable systems, with a special emphasis on the connection between agriculture, circularity, and the built environment. In transdisciplinary collaborations, she brings together science and practice to jointly explore complex societal challenges in concrete terms. She is affiliated with the EWUU Institute for a Circular Society

With Klaske van Norren (WUR)

In this EWUU Science Bites podcast we will explore with researcher Klaske van Norren (WUR), how scientific insights into nutrition, health, and resilience contribute to a better understanding of our bodies and well-being.

Klaske van Norren is affiliated with the EWUU Institute for Preventive Health.

With Lisette van Bruggen (UMC Utrecht) and Charlotte Koster (WUR)

Explaining complex research is not always easy. Whether you are collaborating with colleagues outside your own discipline, teaching students, talking with professional partners, or trying to explain at home what you actually do.

In this live episode of EWUU Science Bites, two researchers from very different disciplines explore a shared challenge: how do you make complex ideas understandable, engaging, and relevant?

Charlotte Koster is a WUR microbiologist working on synthetic cells—operating in a world of invisible processes and fundamental research with highly concrete applications, from more sustainable biofuels to new medicines. Sitting alongside her is Lisette van Bruggen, whose work focuses on how people learn, process information, and stay engaged.

Together, they discuss what it takes for people to truly understand something. From storytelling and visualisation to education, art, and personal relevance: what makes a message stick? And what happens when it doesn’t?

Expect an accessible and interactive conversation about communication across disciplinary boundaries, with room for live questions and communication challenges from the audience. Because whether you are a researcher, student, teacher, or campus professional: making complex ideas clear is part of the job.

Charlotte Koster

Charlotte Koster is a postdoctoral researcher at Wageningen University & Research, working on synthetic cells and microbial systems. Alongside her fundamental research, she is actively engaged in science communication, with a strong drive to make complex science accessible and relevant to a broader audience.

Lisette van Bruggen

Lisette van Bruggen is an educational researcher at UMC Utrecht, focusing on how people learn, process information, and become engaged. In her role as theme leader Transdisciplinary Learning for the EWUU alliance, her work centres on educational innovation, motivation, and transdisciplinary learning, with particular attention to how complex knowledge can be made meaningful and understandable for different audiences.

by EWUU Education & EWUU Living Technologies