Aniek Hebinck Senior researcher

Through her work, Aniek tries to create a better and actionable understanding of transformative change. How is it framed across diverse communities? What triggers and hinders it? And how does it link to justice? She explores these mechanisms of change by building on diverse schools of thought, foremost through critical foresight, transition thinking, resilience theory, and development sociology. Her main areas of expertise are food systems change, governance of sustainability transitions, spaces of co-production, and critical food futures.

Aniek is currently involved in and/or leading a range of research projects, including the EU-funded project BIONEXT (2022-2026) to explore transformative change in the biodiversity nexus, SHARED GREEN DEAL (2022-2027) to understand how local practices link to the European Green Deal, and the European Topic Centre (2023) to map the European policy mix and how it links to a just transition. Aniek also supervises students and teaches in the Master Societal Transitions, leading the course confronting (un)sustainabilities.

She started her time at DRIFT working on the urban food focused project SIRIUS (2018-2022). But has also contributed to the European Topic Centre (2022) to explore the transformative potential of the EU food policy mix, the COSAI task force on principles and metrics for innovation in sustainable agri-food systems, and the CGIAR to critically assess research on food futures. Before coming to DRIFT she finished her PhD in sustainability science at the Stockholm Resilience Centre and did a MSc and BSc at Wageningen University.

In her spare time, Aniek likes taking her dog for nice walks or to go camping with her tipi. She also enjoys clearing her mind through DIY and is currently learning pottery – and can by now create a pretty decent cup!