I am a sociologist with special interest in actor-network theory. I have executed research and educational projects in countries like Thailand, Nepal, Costa Rica, Tanzania, Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Portugal and the Netherlands.  In the last ten years my research focused on tourism, conservation and development, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. From 2009 to 2014 I have been a Special Professor in Tourism and Sustainable Development. In  March 2015 I have been  appointed as Personal Professor. In April 2020 I retired and I am now Emeritus Professor .

Tourism is increasingly put forward by international, national and local nature conservation and development organizations, governments and the tourism industry as a promising mechanism to resolve societal problems related to the conservation-development nexus. As a consequence new institutional arrangements, policies and practices emerge at different levels of scale (from the local to the global) in various developing countries. However, many of these are neither theoretically nor empirically judged on their merits and contributions to sustainable development. This research is a collaborative effort to address current knowledge gaps in sustainable tourism development in a number of developing countries (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Namibia) as well as European countries (the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal).

For more information see: https://www.wur.nl/en/Persons/prof.dr.-VR-Rene-van-der-Duim.htm