Klaas van Egmond
Prof. Ir. Klaas van Egmond
As emeritus professor of Environmental Science and Sustainability, I am still active within the university with regard to (guest) lectures, research in all areas of the sustainability issue and until recently as 'patron' of the Storm Study Association. By working with several generations of students over the years and in particular with the successive Boards of Storm, I have experienced both the vitality and the relevance of the Storm association. It motivates my continued support of Storm whenever possible and necessary as a member of the Committee of Recommendation. We, as an older generation, can help students find their way inside and outside the university. This is particularly relevant because environmental and sustainability sciences, by their very nature, need to cover almost all disciplines. So while students still need to learn how to specialize, they also increasingly need to learn to receive and process specialized information from others, inside and outside the university. But given the nature of the sustainability problem itself, they also need broad, overarching insights into social, economic and political developments. Storm plays an important role in this, by organizing meetings and conferences and by creating more general educational activities that place the various disciplines in a broader context. Such a broader context is difficult to learn from a textbook; it ripens only gradually over the years. And that is why an older, emeritus professor and the Committee of Recommendation can contribute to the many organizations and institutions that are active in the broader field. All the more so now that 'sustainability' has become a serious topic in all social and political domains. The problem is here to stay for generations to come. Much will depend on the current generation of students. They must have the full support of the previous one.
(Emeritus) Professor of Environmental Sciences & Sustainability; Utrecht University
