I am Associate Professor (with IUS Promovendi) at the Chairgroup Health and Society of Wageningen University and Research (WUR). I take on a sociological perspective to study the healthy living environment. My work – in research, managerial and teaching roles – is underpinned by the values of care, participation and justice. I work together with landscape architects, social geographers, plant scientists, public health nutritionists, health promotion professionals, policy makers and citizens. My overall research focus is to analyse and contribute to the development of inclusive healthy settings: contexts in which people engage in daily activities and in which environmental, organizational and personal factors interact to affect health and wellbeing. Examples of settings are cities, neighbourhoods, communities, workplaces and families. I love working around the theme of nature and wellbeing: green citizen initiatives, liveable cities and green care. Most of my work is inspired by systems thinking and salutogenesis.

I am also Scientific Director of the Centre for Space, Place and Society of WUR and coordinator of the European Training Consortium in Public Health and Health Promotion (ETC-PHHP), formed by ten public health schools and institutions, which organizes annual training courses on developing tools for health promotion strategies in Europe.