My role is senior lecturer within the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences of the University of Queensland with focus on extension and rural development. I hold a PhD from Wageningen University where I have also held previous appointments.
I am an interpretive researcher with an interest in the relationship between people and their environment in agriculture and natural resource management. My current research explores how a broader account of community - one that recognises the active participation of non-humans - might challenge understandings of how innovations can be co-designed and co-produced. In my work, I draw on insights from interpretive policy analysis (interpretation and meaning), communication & innovation studies (co-innovation and co-creation), anthropology (multispecies ethnography) and science & technology studies (post-humanism and performativity). In combination these generate opportunities for moving from human-environmental conflict to negotiation and co-existence in complex socio-ecological systems.
I have more than 15 years of experience of research in Europe, Africa and Latin America. I have published on topics such as multi-stakeholder negotiation, boundary work, co-production of knowledge, circulation of meaning, landscapes of practices, multi-species ethnography as well as interpretive methods and methodology. My publications include the co-edited books Forest-People Interfaces (Wageningen Academic Publishers 2012) and Forest and Nature Governance: a Practice based Approach (Springer 2013).
My teaching involves various interdisciplinary and social science based courses (Participatory research, Development and Extension practice; Rural Community Development, Stakeholder Engagement; Working with Groups and Teams) and postgraduate supervision.
I am part of various international networks such as the Interpretive Policy Analysis network (IPA), International Farming Systems Association (IFSA) and the Australasia-Pacific Extension Network (APEN).
Journal Article: Reconstructing collective identity for peacebuilding: the indigenous guard in Northern Cauca - Colombia
Chaves, Paola, Aarts, Noelle and van Bommel, Severine (2019) Reconstructing collective identity for peacebuilding: the indigenous guard in Northern Cauca - Colombia. Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies, 27 4: 463-485. doi:10.1080/13569325.2019.1574728
Journal Article: Discursive translations of gender mainstreaming norms: The case of agricultural and climate change policies in Uganda
Acosta, Mariola, van Bommel, Severine, van Wessel, Margit, Ampaire, Edidah L., Jassogne, Laurence and Feindt, Peter H. (2019) Discursive translations of gender mainstreaming norms: The case of agricultural and climate change policies in Uganda. Women's Studies International Forum, 74 9-19. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2019.02.010
Journal Article: What does it Mean to Make a ‘Joint’ Decision? Unpacking Intra-household Decision Making in Agriculture: Implications for Policy and Practice
Acosta, Mariola, van Wessel, Margit , Van Bommel, Severine, Ampaire, Edidah L., Twyman, Jennifer, Jassogne, Laurence and Feindt, Peter H. (2019) What does it Mean to Make a ‘Joint’ Decision? Unpacking Intra-household Decision Making in Agriculture: Implications for Policy and Practice. Journal of Development Studies, 1-20. doi:10.1080/00220388.2019.1650169
A Theory of change for inclusive value chains in the Philippines
(2019–2020) Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
Agricultural Value chains and social capital ¿ a gendered approach
Doctor Philosophy
Developing sustainable mango value chains: A look at incentive mechanisms and private governance as key entry points
Doctor Philosophy
Learning how to manage for resilience - strategically monitoring for adaptive governance of social ecological systems
Doctor Philosophy
Forest and nature governance. Edited by Bas Arts, Jelle Behagel, Severine van Bommel, Jessica de Koning and Esther Turnhout Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, 2013. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-5113-2
Forest-people interfaces: Understanding community forestry and biocultural diversity
Arts, Bas, Van Bommel, Séverine, Ros-Tonen, Mirjam and Verschoor, Gerard Forest-people interfaces: Understanding community forestry and biocultural diversity. Wageningen Academic Publishers, 2012. doi:10.3920/978-90-8686-749-3
Interpretive policy analysis in the Netherlands
Van Bommel, Severine, Van Hulst, Merlijn and Yanow, Dvora (2014). Interpretive policy analysis in the Netherlands. In Policy Analysis in the Netherlands (pp. 69-86) : Policy Press.
van Bommel, Severine and van der Zouwen, Marielle (2013). Creating scientific narratives: Experiences in constructing and interweaving empirical and theoretical plots. In Bas Arts, Jelle Behagel, Séverine van Bommel, Jessica de Koning and Esther Turnhout (Ed.), Forest and Nature Governance: A Practice based Approach (pp. 217-239) Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-5113-2_11
Prelude to practice: Introducing a practice based approach to forest and nature governance
Arts, Bas, Behagel, Jelle, van Bommel, Severine, de Koning, Jessica and Turnhout, Esther (2013). Prelude to practice: Introducing a practice based approach to forest and nature governance. In Bas Arts, Jelle Behagel, Séverine van Bommel, Jessica de Koning and Esther Turnhout (Ed.), Forest and Nature Governance: A Practice based Approach (pp. 3-21) Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-5113-2_1
Behagel, Jelle, Arts, Bas, van Bommel, Severine, de Koning, Jessica and Turnhout, Esther (2013). The promise of practice: The value of the practice based approach for forest and nature governance studies. In Bas Arts, Jelle Behagel, Séverine van Bommel, Jessica de Koning and Esther Turnhout (Ed.), Forest and Nature Governance: A Practice based Approach (pp. 243-255) Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-5113-2_12
Forest-people interfaces: From local creativity to global concerns
Arts, Bas, Van Bommel, Severine, Ros-Tonen, Mirjam and Verschoor, Gerard (2012). Forest-people interfaces: From local creativity to global concerns. In Forest-people Interfaces: Understanding Community Forestry and Biocultural Diversity (pp. 15-26) : Wageningen Academic Publishers. doi:10.3920/978-90-8686-749-3_1
The (onto)politics of classifying biocultural diversity: A tale of chaos, order and control
Van Bommel, Severine and Turnhout, Esther (2012). The (onto)politics of classifying biocultural diversity: A tale of chaos, order and control. In Forest-people Interfaces: Understanding Community Forestry and Biocultural Diversity (pp. 223-238) : Wageningen Academic Publishers. doi:10.3920/978-90-8686-749-3_14
Chaves, Paola, Aarts, Noelle and van Bommel, Severine (2019) Reconstructing collective identity for peacebuilding: the indigenous guard in Northern Cauca - Colombia. Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies, 27 4: 463-485. doi:10.1080/13569325.2019.1574728
Acosta, Mariola, van Bommel, Severine, van Wessel, Margit, Ampaire, Edidah L., Jassogne, Laurence and Feindt, Peter H. (2019) Discursive translations of gender mainstreaming norms: The case of agricultural and climate change policies in Uganda. Women's Studies International Forum, 74 9-19. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2019.02.010
Acosta, Mariola, van Wessel, Margit , Van Bommel, Severine, Ampaire, Edidah L., Twyman, Jennifer, Jassogne, Laurence and Feindt, Peter H. (2019) What does it Mean to Make a ‘Joint’ Decision? Unpacking Intra-household Decision Making in Agriculture: Implications for Policy and Practice. Journal of Development Studies, 1-20. doi:10.1080/00220388.2019.1650169
Chepkwony, Richard, van Bommel, Severine and van Langevelde, Frank (2018) Citizen science for development: potential role of mobile phones in information sharing on ticks and tick-borne diseases in Laikipia, Kenya. NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences, 86-87 123-135. doi:10.1016/j.njas.2018.07.007
de Vries, Jasper R., van Bommel, Séverine and Peters, Karin (2018) Trust at a distance-trust in online communication in environmental and global health research projects. Sustainability (Switzerland), 10 11: 4005. doi:10.3390/su10114005
De Vries, Jasper R., Van Bommel, Séverine, Blackmore, Chris and Asano, Yoshiko (2017) Where there is no history: how to create trust and connection in learning for transformation in water governance. Water, 9 2: 130. doi:10.3390/w9020130
van Bommel, Séverine, Blackmore, Chris, Foster, Natalie and de Vries, Jasper (2016) Performing and orchestrating governance learning for systemic transformation in practice for climate change adaptation. Outlook on Agriculture, 45 4: 231-237. doi:10.1177/0030727016675692
Sherwood, Stephen, van Bommel, Severine and Paredes, Myriam (2016) Self-organization and the bypass: re-imagining institutions for more sustainable development in agriculture and food. Agriculture, 6 4: 66. doi:10.3390/agriculture6040066
Blackmore, Chris, van Bommel, Severine, de Bruin, Annemarieke, de Vries, Jasper, Westberg, Lotten, Powell, Neil, Foster, Natalie, Collins, Kevin, Roggero, Pier Paolo and Seddaiu, Giovanna (2016) Learning for transformation of water governance: reflections on design from the climate change adaptation and water governance (CADWAGO) project. Water, 8 11: . doi:10.3390/w8110510
Inside environmental auditing: effectiveness, objectivity, and transparency
Cook, William, van Bommel, Séverine and Turnhout, Esther (2016) Inside environmental auditing: effectiveness, objectivity, and transparency. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 18 33-39. doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2015.07.016
A practice based approach to forest governance
Arts, Bas, Behagel, Jelle, Turnhout, Esther, de Koning, Jessica and van Bommel, Séverine (2014) A practice based approach to forest governance. Forest Policy and Economics, 49 4-11. doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2014.04.001
Gandiwa, Edson, Sprangers, Sylvie, van Bommel, Severine, Heitkönig, Ignas M. A., Leeuwis, Cees and Prins, Herbert H. T. (2014) Spill-over effect in media framing: representations of wildlife conservation in Zimbabwean and international media, 1989-2010. Journal for Nature Conservation, 22 5: 413-423. doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2014.03.009
Framing climate change: new directions in Dutch and Danish planning strategies
Jensen, Anne, van Bommel, Severine, Pedersen, Anders Branth, Nielsen, Helle Ørsted and Kuindersma, Wiebren (2013) Framing climate change: new directions in Dutch and Danish planning strategies. Planning Theory and Practice, 14 2: 233-247. doi:10.1080/14649357.2013.784347
Wiersum, K. F., Humphries, S. and van Bommel, S. (2013) Certification of community forestry enterprises: experiences with incorporating community forestry in a global system for forest governance. Small-scale Forestry, 12 1: 15-31. doi:10.1007/s11842-011-9190-y
Klerkx, Laurens, van Bommel, Severine, Bos, Bram, Holster, Henri, Zwartkruis, Joyce V. and Aarts, Noelle (2012) Design process outputs as boundary objects in agricultural innovation projects: functions and limitations. Agricultural Systems, 113 39-49. doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2012.07.006
Mauz, Isabelle, Peltola, Taru, Granjou, Céline, van Bommel, Severine and Buijs, Arjen (2012) How scientific visions matter: insights from three long-term socio-ecological research (LTSER) platforms under construction in Europe. Environmental Science and Policy, 19-20 90-99. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2012.02.005
How participation creates citizens: Participatory governance as performative practice
Turnhout, Esther, Van Bommel, Severine and Aarts, Noelle (2010) How participation creates citizens: Participatory governance as performative practice. Ecology and Society, 15 4: . doi:10.5751/ES-03701-150426
Van Bommel, S., Röling, N., Aarts, N. and Turnhout, E. (2009) Social learning for solving complex problems: A promising solution or wishful thinking? A case study of multi-actor negotiation for the integrated management and sustainable use of the drentsche aa area in the Netherlands. Environmental Policy and Governance, 19 6: 400-412. doi:10.1002/eet.526
A Theory of change for inclusive value chains in the Philippines
(2019–2020) Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
Agricultural Value chains and social capital ¿ a gendered approach
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Developing sustainable mango value chains: A look at incentive mechanisms and private governance as key entry points
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Learning how to manage for resilience - strategically monitoring for adaptive governance of social ecological systems
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Smallholder Farmers' Decision Making in a Developing Country: The Case of Sumbawa District, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors: