Koen Arts
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Sciences
BSc and MSc (cum laude) in Forest and Nature Conservation (Wageningen University). BA and MA (cum laude) in Philosophy (Radboud University Nijmegen). Interdisciplinary Honours Programme (Radboud University Nijmegen).
Personal Details
Email: k.arts@macaulay.ac.uk
Address: The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, (Socio-Economic Research Group), Macaulay Drive, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, UK.
Tel: 01224 395289
Research Interests
Social aspects of nature conservation
Philosophical and anthropological aspects of nature conservation
Ecological restoration and rewilding
Current Research
Cultural aspects of rewilding and wilderness
This PhD uses different theoretical frames and methodologies to study the concepts of rewilding and wilderness. The first part is a cultural-historical exploration of a Dutch national park, in which a frame is developed to approach the concepts of rewilding and wilderness in today’s increasingly paradoxical conservation contexts. In the second part, a discourse analysis is used to study the arguments and rhetoric of policy-guiding expert documents supporting the reintroduction of wild animals to Scotland (particularly looking at white-tailed eagle, beaver, and – as a future potential – lynx). The third part tries to complement the second by looking at socio-political processes of reintroductions. This is done on the basis of in-depth interviews with key people involved in reintroductions to Scotland (again taking the three mentioned species as case studies). The final part intends to be a philosophical exploration of boundaries of the wild.
Supervisors: Dr Anke Fischer (The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute), Dr René van der Wal (UoA).
Research Grants
This project is jointly funded by The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and ACES.
Publications
Wilderness: between the promise of paradise and hell; A cultural-historical exploration of a Dutch national park., Arts, K.; Fischer, A.; van der Wal, R., (In press) Landscape Research.
