Birgit Elands Award committee on look-out for outstanding MSc theses

The competition is open to students at Dutch universities and universities of applied sciences who contribute to our understanding of the human-nature relationship and pathways to strengthen this relationship to contribute to transformative change and inclusive nature-positive futures. These studies can be related to nature and health, nature-positive design, green activism, cultural practices, humans and forests, nature-based learning, transformative research etc.

The award is organised by the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group of Wageningen university, Staatsbosbeheer and Natuurcollege. The price consists of a tree to be planted at the Wageningen Food Forest, and € 1000.

Since the first award was given in 2022, the competition has attracted interest from more and institutions of higher education.

Criteria for submission:

1. The thesis should be finalised, evaluated and graded between 1 September 2024 and 1 September 2025.
2. Only MSc theses from Dutch universities and BSc theses from universities of applied sciences are accepted for submission.
3. The thesis should have a formal grading of 8.0 or higher.
4. The supervisor of the thesis writes a A4 letter of recommendation (including the grading) and a statement on the contributions to the relevant field of research.
5. Either the student or the supervisor can email the letter of recommendation and the MSc thesis to office.fnp@wur.nl before 30 September 2025. Indicate 'Birgit Elands thesis award' in the mail heading.

Click here to see past winners.