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What is your background, how did you get where you are now? |
“I’m from Colombia, where I studied Law. I did my Master in 2004 at the University of Utrecht, in International and European Law. There I met my husband, who is Italian. In 2008, I did a Master in International Relations at Bologna University, Italy. After that, I decided to change my career direction. I was especially interested in sustainable development and I found CSTM’s chair ‘Technology and Sustainable Development in a North-South Perspective’ which was exactly the line of research I was looking for. I presented a research proposal for my individual project in Colombia and I was accepted! I started my PhD research in June 2009, in the programme ‘Innovation and Governance for Sustainable Development’. My background studies (Law and International Relations) are actually coming together in my PhD research programme because the production of biofuels is mainly policy driven. Also in a developing country like Colombia, laws and regulations are being made to promote the use and production of biofuels; there is not a spontaneous market.”
2. What are you doing? Where does your research fit in the overall UT research?
“Energy crops, like oil palm and sugar cane are land intensive, so large spaces are needed to grow them at industrial scale. Besides, specific areas are needed, where climate and soil conditions allow them to grow. Historically, rural communities struggled to have access to land. Today, these large plantations are coming in, which are regionally concentrated because of those specific growing conditions. Then we see conflicts emerging where oil palm plantations are expanding. In Colombia, some plantations have been there for some decades, but in the last ten years, the land cultivated with oil palm almost tripled in size. Small farmers want to preserve their own crops. The big palm oil companies - some of them integrated with bio energy businesses - try to get access to lands used by small-scale farmers. They do this by buying them out - sometimes with governmental money - or integrate them in their large scale plantations.
The point is that in developing countries, there are many social dynamics that are unknown in the European context, like different ways of dealing with land tenure. In West European countries like Germany and the Netherlands, we don’t see much resistance from farmers to grow e.g. rapeseed, because they see it as a new income incentive. But in Colombia, the way of using land is attached to social relationships and people’s identities. People would have to move from their land, as they can’t live all on those large plantations. It’s important to take into account what impact global decisions have on local communities. I’m trying to understand these conflicts and the dynamics behind them. Are they only related to biofuels, or also to history? And what influences does this global market have on decisions of agro industry on the local level?
There are standards for sustainability of palm oil production. Stakeholders agree to those standards and then they are implemented in producer’s contexts. Mostly, it’s a top-down decision making process (globally - locally), but they try to include local stakeholders as well in decision making. I’m trying to figure out whether that works.
In order to do that, I went to Colombia, to do field work for six months. For palm oil production, Colombia is divided into four regions, of which I visited three during the exploratory fieldwork and I focused on one for the more in depth field work. I tried to get in contact with key informants. This wasn’t easy, because of conflicts and therefore difficulties to build trust. I have met people from government, industry, non-governmental organisations, universities and local small scale farmers.”
It’s quite clear that Victoria is working on the Human Touch side of the story; what are the consequences of the cultivation of energy crops for local people? And how can we find alternative approaches to tackle the socio-environmental concerns at the core of conflicts?
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Large scale oil palm plantation |
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3. How will society benefit, on the long term?
“In the coming years, ethanol - from sugar cane - and palm oil based biofuel will be the most important sources for biofuels for transport. These are ‘first generation’ and they are considered the most energy efficient crops. They produce more energy per hectare than others. Supplies come from developing countries in South East Asia, Africa and Latin America. I’m looking at the local situations, how sustainable they are, from a social point of view. We will have to see whether the crops are to be grown on this large scale, as now is the case, or do we have to be more careful and see what is happening on the local scale?
Within the developing countries, there are specific concentrations in regions where the crops can grow. We have to understand the local complexities from the social point of view. How to deal with the consequences. That will help to understand how to make it more sustainable, to help locals to solve their problems and to see ways out and perhaps to find cooperative ways to work. If that’s not possible, we should find other ways of dealing with regulations or policy making. So for these regions, there will surely be opportunities to benefit.”
4. With whom do you work together? (other chairs, companies?)
“I work at CSTM with members of the group that are involved in energy research and development studies, such as my supervisor Dr. Joy Clancy. I have made my own network by participating in workshops and visiting conferences in Europe. I take part in the Land Deal Politics Initiative (LDPI) research network coordinated by The ISS (International Institute of Social Studies - Erasmus University, The Hague) and three other foreign research institutions. Also in Wageningen, I have contacts. I haven’t worked with colleagues of the faculty ITC yet. But it might be interesting using their instruments, to see how expansions have taken place.
The next three months, I will be in Barcelona to do a research visit at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). There is a group there, that works on social and environmental conflicts. I will also be there to exchange analytical approaches. They have published a lot about this topic. I plan to write (parts of) my thesis and get feedback from them.” |
5. Will your research be continued after you’ve finished your PhD thesis?
“I hope so. It is very relevant that the research can continue. I would like to study also other places where the raw materials for biofuels come from. For example, Indonesia is one of the largest providers of palm oil to the Netherlands. During my field work, I saw the labour conditions, which would be an interesting subject for research as well, from the perspective of social sustainability.” |
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