Jan J. Boersema

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Leiden University

In this article, I will show how the two major environmental issues of our time, man-made climate change and biodiversity decline, are connected to Christian thought about creation and history. Views on the character of time and related notions of progress and growth are relevant to the first issue; views on changes in creation as a result of the f...

The core question of this article is: how can we take account of the future and future generations if our knowledge of the future is so sparse? The importance of the future is discussed within the framework of our (linear) concept of time. After that it is argued that future generations do not constitute a new, let alone unique, element in the deba...

Today, sustainable development is generally accepted as a guiding principle. The present relation societies have with the natural environment is considered as being not-sustainable. However this presupposes some idea about the quality of the environment and of activities affecting the environment and, as a consequence, of the quality of life. In th...

In the late afternoon of 5 April 1722, Easter Sunday, crew members on board the Afrikaansche Galey sighted an island in the Pacific. The discovery was greeted with joy. Could this be the sandy island off the coast of the long-sought Unknown Southland, mentioned by Edward Davis in 1687? They signalled it to the Arend and the Thienhoven, the other tw...

A recent paper in The Anthropocene Review introduces an ‘Anthropocene equation’, which is assumed to model the Anthropocene. While welcoming mathematical treatment as such, we criticize the specific approach for being sloppy, wrong and empty. While the use of mathematics in the criticized paper suggests a high level of scientific rigor, it actually...

Contemporary societies are rapidly changing demographically and culturally. This raises new challenges regarding support for and engagement in nature conservation. Our paper discusses differences and similarities between young adult non-immigrants and immigrants in how they understand and value nature, based on group interviews and a survey conduct...

Studies on immigrants' recreational use of greenspace have tended to focus on ethnic groups as homogeneous entities. In a qualitative study based on group interviews, this article focuses on the cultural diversity among and within ethnic groups. We used an identity perspective to study outdoor recreation of young Dutch adults with Chinese, Turkish,...

The achievement of sustainability and health objectives in Western countries requires a transition to a less meat-based diet. This article investigates whether the alleged link between meat consumption and particular framings of masculinity, which emphasize that ‘real men’ eat meat, may stand in the way of achieving these objectives. From a theoret...

In this book, Jan J. Boersema reconstructs the ecological and cultural history of Easter Island and critiques the hitherto accepted theory of the collapse of its civilization. The collapse theory, advanced most recently by Jared Diamond and Clive Ponting, is based on the documented overexploitation of natural resources, particularly woodlands, on w...

Natuurorganisaties vermoeden dat allochtone Nederlanders minder in de natuur komen dan autochtone Nederlanders. Er waren tot nu toe echter weinig harde cijfers over het natuurbezoek van allochtonen. Is een wandeling in de natuur inderdaad een ‘witte’ aangelegenheid, en hoe kunnen natuurorganisaties ervoor zorgen dat hun vrijwilligersbestand meer kl...

br/> Immigrants are often described as ‘under-participating’ in non-urban outdoor recreation. Our quantitative study among 1057 young adults of Chinese, Turkish and non-immigrant descent in the Netherlands, however, showed strong differences in outdoor recreational behaviour between and within ethnic groups. Participation frequency, participation r...

Food production, especially meat, is one of the main pressures on the environment and experts agree that diets have to change into a more sustainable direction. The present paper examines whether Self-Determination Theory (SDT) can be of help in fostering more sustainable food choices by taking a closer look at the relationship between food-related...

Food consumption has been identified as a realm of key importance for progressing the world towards more sustainable consumption overall. Consumers have the option to choose organic food as a visible product of more ecologically integrated farming methods and, in general, more carefully produced food. This study aims to investigate the choice for o...

This paper addresses the relationship between meat eating and climate change focusing on motivational explanations of environmentally-relevant consumer behavior. Based on a sample of 1,083 Dutch consumers, it examines their responses to the idea that they can make a big difference to nature and climate protection by choosing one or more meals witho...

This paper addresses the relationship between meat eating and climate change focusing on motivational explanations of environmentally-relevant consumer behavior. Based on a sample of 1,083 Dutch consumers, it examines their responses to the idea that they can make a big difference to nature and climate protection by choosing one or more meals witho...

The recently developed Food Choice Motives (FCMs) questionnaire was used in a survey among a sample from the general population in the Netherlands (n = 1083) to examine the relationship between motivational differences in food orientation and the choice of snacks made from environmentally-friendly proteins (i.e. lentils, locusts, seaweed or "hybrid...

Food production and consumption is one of the main pressures on the environment. The fact that diets have to change into a more sustainable direction is generally agreed upon. There is, however, no shared vision of a sustainable and desirable society to support these changes. This paper aims to develop a framework that can account for value plurali...

The shift towards a more sustainable diet necessitates less reliance on foods of animal origin. This study presents data from a representative survey of Dutch consumers on their practices related to meat, meat substitution and meat reduction. The practices reflected a cultural gradient of meat substitution options running from other products of ani...

Relations between greenspace, immigration and society are emerging issues in policy and science. However, up to now research has been fragmented and no overview of approaches exists. This review describes concepts and approaches in Northwest European research on immigrants’ recreational use and perceptions of nature, rural landscapes and urban park...

The present paper analyzed the motivational orientations of consumers who choose to eat (1) small portions of meat or (2) ethically distinctive meat, such as free-range meat, in relation to the motivational orientations of their opposites. Going beyond the conventional approach to consumer behavior, our work builds on recent insights in motivationa...

The present paper analyzed the motivational orientations of consumers who choose to eat (1) small portions of meat or (2) ethically distinctive meat, such as free-range meat, in relation to the motivational orientations of their opposites. Going beyond the conventional approach to consumer behavior, our work builds on recent insights in motivationa...

This chapter examines the contribution of environmental sciences and scientists to the fi nding to solutions to environmental problems. It defi nes and describes important concepts, highlights methods used to analyse human impacts on the environment, and it discusses the ways in which sustainability can be measured. The chapter is subdivided into t...

In the preceding chapters the term 'integration' was used many times, but what is in fact meant by integration, or integrated, as in 'integrated policy instruments' or 'integrated environmental management'? According to the dictionary, to integrate means 'to combine parts into a whole', 'to complete by the addition of parts', or 'to bring into equa...

Principles of Environmental Sciences provides a comprehensive picture of the principles, concepts and methods that are applicable to problems originating from the interaction between the living and non-living environment and mankind. Both the analysis of such problems and the way solutions to environmental problems may work in specific societal con...

We tested how consumers recognize, understand and value on-package information about food production methods that may contribute to a more sustainable agriculture. Nine copy tests were formed, each containing one out of three products and one out of three panels of information. The products were (1) fillet of chicken, (2) semi-skimmed milk and (3)...

This paper aims to improve our understanding of food choices that are more sustainable in terms of moral and health aspects of eating. The aim of sustainability may require that people in Western countries choose to eat smaller quantities of meat as well as types of meat that are produced in a more responsible way. Focusing on mediators of the rela...

Current patterns of meat consumption are considered to be unsustainable. Sustainable development may require that consumers choose to eat smaller quantities of meat as well as meat that is produced in a more sensible way. A policy tool directed at consumer behaviour is that of enhancing consumer-oriented transparency of the production chain. Transp...

The core question of this article is: how can we take account of the future and future generations if our knowledge of the future is so sparse? The importance of the future is discussed within the framework of our (linear) concept of time. After that it is argued that future generations do not constitute a new, let alone unique, element in the deba...

Today, sustainable development is generally accepted as a guiding principle. The present relation societies have with the natural environment is considered as being not-sustainable. However this presupposes some idea about the quality of the environment and of activities affecting the environment and, as a consequence, of the quality of life. In th...

Lead is a natural constituent of the soil in an average concentration of about 15 mg.kg-1. In Dutch agricultural soils and natural areas contents of 3–200 mg.kg-1 have been measured, averaging out at 50 mg.kg-1.

This paper aims to improve our understanding of more sustainable food choices - in terms of moral and health aspects of eating. The aim of sustainability may require that people in Western countries choose to eat smaller quantities of meat as well as types of meat that are produced in a more responsible way. Focusing on mediators of the relationshi...