Humans need to keep moving, and social scientists at WUR in particular. Rumour has it that the heating in non-essential spaces, such as the lecture rooms in the Leeuwenborch, is to be switched off during the day. We are currently in such a lecture room for a presentation on international climate policy. The longer the session takes, the more fingerless gloves, scarves, and beanies appear. A cold wind chills us to the bone. The do-gooders listen to the climate horror stories with their teeth chattering. ‘Okay, get up, everyone,’ the teacher says. ‘Let’s walk for a bit, you are all shivering.’ Is that the result of the Antarctic climate in the Leeuwenborch, or have we been discussing market dynamics in carbon emissions for too long?
Rumour has it that the heating in non-essential spaces, such as the lecture rooms in the Leeuwenborch, is to be switched off during the day
We are gently directed to the hallway, led by the teacher. We bear a striking resemblance to the neighbours’ guinea pigs that used to form a conga line in their backyard. We stomp up the stairs, around the corner, past the cafeteria, and wave at a fellow student who looks up, surprised. We move across to the stairwell on the opposite side, up the stairs and around the corner. We take a five-minute tour of the corridor where the teacher’s group resides and take the same route back: down the stairs, past the cafeteria, wave at our fellow student, down the stairs and back into the icy lecture room, where the lights have timed out. A single fluorescent tube flashes in the hallway, and the familiar icy breeze meets us as we enter. The walk has warmed us slightly, but still, we huddle close together. Rather cosy. ‘Campfire?’ a fellow student suggests.
You get to know each other better in turbulent times
‘Welcome to the Leeuwenborch,’ the teacher says. ‘You are now true social sciences students.’ Here, in our subarctic dark corner, ministers of the future learn how to analyse climate policy. It may have been warmer in Forum or Orion, but those buildings are reserved for the programmes that bring in the big bucks. Still, they are the real softies. The Leeuwenborch buold character. These guinea pigs can handle a little cold.
Ilja Bouwknegt (24, 25 as of next week) is a master’s student in forest and nature conservation. Ilja is interested in the relationship between humans and nature and prefers to try every hobby at least once. Currently, that is crochet, but writing remains the undisputed favourite.
