Biofuel governance in Brazil and the EU

Abstract

This PhD is the end of a long journey. The project started in 2009 and over the course of writing this thesis, many people in different ways have helped and supported me. Not only with the research, interviews and contacts at various times and locations, but also with background support for a process that took longer and was more complicated than I originally anticipated. I would like to take this opportunity to say thanks to many of them. My interest for the topic originated from looking for a subject for my MSc thesis in 2007. During a debate in 'Hotel de Wereld' in Wageningen, I met Prem Bindraban who (quite spontaneously) invited me to join his research sabbatical in Brazil. Just two-and-a-half weeks later our adventure in Brazil began. During this trip we visited many people and projects varying from farmers, researchers, government officials and multi-stakeholder initiatives. We discovered the broad variety of the country and its very kind people. Therefore, thank you Prem for this amazing opportunity! It has been the basis of insights and information that has been invaluable in the whole process. Also, muito obrigada, Catarina Pezzo. We met during my first trip when you were appointed to show me around the WUR campus in Piracicaba and were finishing your own thesis. I am glad we have stayed in touch and met each other again in Brazil and the Netherlands where I could return the favour of hospitality. I would like to continue by expressing my gratitude to my promotors Arthur Mol and Aarti Gupta for their continuing support and persistence. Arthur Mol gave me the chance to pursue my research interest as a PhD student at the Environmental Policy group. His supervision and feedback always improved the quality of my work and in spite of a bumpy road, he has remained patient and allowed me to finish this thesis in my own time. I am also incredibly grateful to Aarti Gupta, because she has kept me going (one way or another). Without her guidance and support this project would probably never have been finished. Thank you! Many thanks also to ENP colleagues and fellow PhD candidates. You inspired me during many presentations and countless hallway discussions. Therefore, I would like to thank: