Sander is an international expert in the participatory design, governance and mainstreaming of nature-based solutions for sustainable and just cities.

He has held leading roles in several large EU-funded projects on this topic. As part of the Horizon 2020 research project CONEXUS, he coordinated a multidisciplinary team in developing a participatory assessment framework for nature-based solutions in Latin American and southern European cities. In the Horizon 2020 project NATURVATION, he led a Work Package on pathways to mainstreaming nature-based solutions in seven countries across Europe and mobilized over 200 professional stakeholders in Urban-Regional Innovation Partnership meetings. In the FP7 GREEN SURGE project, he directed the establishment of Urban Learning Labs across seven cities discussing approaches to innovative planning and governance of urban green infrastructure.

He has a track track record of well-cited peer-reviewed articles and teaching in this area, with particularly strong experience in transdisciplinary science. In recognition of his societal impact, he and his team won the first Utrecht University’s Pathways to Sustainability Award in 2020. Sander holds a PhD in Environmental Psychology (University of Aberdeen), an MSc (Distinction) in Social and Organizational Psychology (Leiden University) and a BSc in Psychology (Leiden University).

I am interested in understanding the potential of nature-based solutions to create more sustainable and just cities. I firmly believe in the importance of nature nature for human health and wellbeing and urban sustainability more broadly. My goal is to help understand how urban systems can be transformed to give higher priority to greening and inclusivity in urban planning and development. I am also interested in studying environmental stewardship and people-environment relationships as system change is related to individual change  I like to work at the science-practice interface, e.g., by co-developing innovative solutions with built environment professionals and communities in living labs, to ensure my research has high societal impact. My main research themes are nature-based solutions, participatory governance, sustainability transformations and knowledge co-production.

Research:

• PhD supervisor of Hanna Rauf, Jivantika Satyarthi, Koorosh Aghabozorgi and Stacey Marko

Teaching:

• Course coordinator for Urban Design for Health and Wellbeing (D41UD)
• Course coordinator for Nature-Based Solutions in the City (D49NB)
• Dissertation supervisor for the MA Geography, Society and Environment, MSc Urban Strategies and Design, and MSc Spatial Planning and Real Estate Development

Other:

• SGSSS (Scottish Graduate School for Social Sciences) PGR Lead for Architecture, Built Environment and Planning
• Institute PGR Coordinator