Minister of LOVE in student cabinet

The student cabinet was installed on Monday, 29 March. WUR master student Nutrition & Health and Food Technology Marieke van Vonderen (23) (links to Dutch content) is studentminister of Agriculture, Environment, Food and Energy (Dutch acronym: LOVE).

Tekst Luuk Zegers and Hoger Onderwijs Persbureau

The student cabinet (links to Dutch content) is an initiative of the Dutch Association of Universities (VSNU), in which all fourteen universities contribute a minister for a field fitting within the domain of the university. Van Vonderen: ‘All the ministers detail what they feel the government policy should be like in the future, based on science.’

The ministers in the student cabinet were not elected by students, and therefore, do not necessarily represent the “voice of the students”, prime minister Timon Metz explains. The master’s student Technical Business Management in Enschede adds: ‘We are not political. We simply translate science into policy for the future of the Netherlands in two, three or five decades. We don’t care whether that is left, right or centre.’ The goal is ‘to look towards the long-term future based purely on science’, Metz says. An additional purpose is to underscore the value of excellent education and research.

Coalition agreement

‘My contribution is in the field of agriculture, environment, food and energy,’ Van Vonderen states. ‘With regard to agriculture, I call for circular agriculture, with compensation for farmers who invest in making their business more sustainable. For the environment, I focus on conserving the diversity of landscapes we currently have in the Netherlands. In short: Conservation. No limitless construction. For food, I feel we should move towards high-quality regional production. Products in which both farmers and consumers take pride. Nutritious and tasty.’

I call for mobile solar parks. These could be deployed on unused farmlands.

Marieke van Vonderen, student minister of LOVE

‘More green energy is needed, which means more wind turbines and solar parks. To accommodate this without adversely impacting our landscape, I petition for mobile solar parks. These could be deployed on unused farmlands. This will allow the soil there to recover from intensive farming while energy is produced. Windmills are more challenging, but there too, we must also take the landscape into account when deciding where to place turbines.’

The plans designed by Van Vonderen and the other student ministers have been collated in a “coalition agreement”. This document was handed to outgoing Minister Van Engelshoven (of Education). It is yet unclear what other duties the student cabinet will perform.

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