De collegereeks werd ontwikkeld voor studenten ecologie of aanverwante richtingen maar iedereen met interesse in rewilding kon aanschuiven. Van studenten filosofie tot boswachters, van landschapsarchitecten tot beleidsmedewerkers op het gebied van natuur en klimaat: maar liefst 700 mensen gaven zich op voor deze reeks.
De veertien colleges zijn nu terug te kijken, speciaal voor iedereen die zijn of haar kennis over rewilding wil vergroten.
Onderwerpen die in de Capita Selecta Rewilding aan bod komen zijn onder andere: wat is rewilding en op wat voor schaal kan je rewilden? Wat zijn (shifting) baselines, hoe zag de wereld eruit voordat de mens invloed ging uitoefenen? De verspreiding en (pre-)historie van grote dieren in Europa. En, niet onbelangrijk: wat ís natuur eigenlijk in Nederland? Is hier wel ruimte voor wildernis en wildheid? Welke natuurlijke processen zijn er en hoe kan je ze toelaten in een Nederlandse context?
Je kan de collegereeks over rewilding hier terugkijken (playlist Capita Selecta najaar 2025 op het You Tube-kanaal van ARK Rewilding Nederland).
Bij rewilding gaat het onder andere over de drie C’s: van Cores, Corridors en Carnivores. Je maakt kennis met het rewilding framework van Perino et al 2019, natuurlijke processen zoals het effect van grote herbivoren en de rol van predatoren, ‘disturbances’ vuur, storm, insectenplagen, (co-)evolutie van plant-dier en plant-plant, dier-dier interacties, rewilding in verschillende habitats, de praktijk van rewilding, rewilding en de wet, samenleven met wilde dieren en wat kan je doen met rewilding?
Met onder andere: prof. Liesbeth Bakker, Judith Slagt, Leo Linnartz, prof. Patrick Jansen, prof. Arie Trouwborst, Hugh Jansman, Wouter Helmer en Frans Schepers.
De colleges zijn in het Engels.
Inhoud collegereeks:
- College 1: Liesbeth Bakker, Wageningen University/NIOO-KNAW. What is rewilding. Liesbeth Bakker is a professor in rewilding ecology. She introduces the rewilding concept, what rewilding is and what the principles of rewilding are.
- College 2: Liesbeth Bakker, (WUR, NIOO-KNAW) How wild?Liesbeth addresses the baselines of rewilding, restoration, and conservation aspects of rewilding and the rewilding scale, expressing how wild we (can).
- College 3: Leo Linnartz ARK Rewilding NL, Natural processes. Leo Linnartz is a rewilding practitioner. He will address how rewilding is all about natural processes and which processes this involves, with an emphasis on the role of large herbivores.
- College 4: Leo Linnartz (ARK) Natural processes. Leo continues on the role of natural processes in rewilding.
- College 5: Patrick Jansen Utrecht University, Circle of Life. Patrick Jansen is a professor in wildlife ecology and nature restoration. He will address the concept of life after death, how dead animals and trees provide food for scavengers and become part of the nutrient cycle.
- (not online yet) College 6: Marjolijn Christianen Wageningen University, Seawilding Marjolijn Christianen is an associate professor in marine ecology. She presents how rewilding can be applied to marine ecosystems, with examples, introducing seawilding as a new concept to enrich the rewilding framework.
- College 7: Wouter Helmer. Rewilding Pioneer. Rewilding in practice: Gelderse Poort floodplain rewildingWouter Helmer is one of the founders of ARK Rewilding NL and Rewilding Europe and one of the initiators of the iconic Dutch rewilding project Gelderse Poort. He shares his vision, experiences, the successes and failures during the development and the resulting benefits for nature and people.
- College 8: Judith Slagt, ARK Rewilding NL. Rewilding in practice: working with wildlife and peopleJudith Slagt is a rewilding practitioner. She addresses how to rewild in practice and shares her experiences on the ground, such as the reintroduction of European bison and the roles that wildlife and people play in this work.
- College 9: Arie Trouwborst, Tilburg University, Obligations to rewild from international nature policies. Arie Trouwborst is a professor of nature conservation law. He makes law exciting by explaining how the obligations from international policies advocate wildlife comeback beyond expectations, including lions in Europe and hyenas in The Netherlands.
- College 10: Judith Slagt ARK Rewilding NL. Rewilding practice versus policy. Judith addresses the role of policy for rewilding practice by going from the desk policies to actual implementation of rewilding in practice and the instances that policies support or constrain rewilding implementation.
- College 11, Hugh Jansman (Wageningen Environmental Research) on human-wildlife coexistence: comeback of wolves in the Netherlands. Hugh Jansman is a wildlife ecologist. He shares his experiences with ecology, people and policy related to the return of wolves in the Netherlands, and addresses how to learn to live with wolves again.
- College 12, Britt van Zelst (Wageningen University) follows up on human-wildlife coexistence, but then from the perspective of the comeback of beavers in the Netherlands. Britt van Zelst is a beaver researcher. She studies human dimensions of wildlife comeback in relation to the return of beavers in the Netherlands, and the services and disservices they provide.
- College 13, Frans Schepers, Rewilding Europe, Rewild the world, opportunities for rewilding in Europe. Frans Schepers is one of the founders and the director of Rewilding Europe. He shares his vision and experiences with rewilding at the European scale and addresses opportunities to upscale rewilding across Europe.
- College 14, Liesbeth Bakker Wageningen University/NIOO-KNAW, Rewilding synthesis. Liesbeth will synthesize the rewilding concept, including examples of rewilding cases and integrate the practical and theoretical rewilding aspects that were introduced in this course, with an outlook on the future of rewilding.
