Susan van 't Klooster

Dr. Susan van ‘t Klooster was trained as a cultural scientists at Maastricht University. During her studies, she specialized in ‘political cultures’ and the politics of European Integration in particular. After her graduation she was a junior researcher at the International Centre for Integrative Studies (ICIS) at Maastricht University and was involved in a number of scenario studies for the development of robust water management strategies for the Rhine and Meuse river basins.

In 2002 she became a PhD student at the Science, Technology and Society Research Unit at Maastricht University. In the summer of 2005 she was a visiting scholar with Professor Susan Leigh Star and Professor Geoffrey Bowker at the Institute of Science, Technology and Society (STS) at Santa Clara University in California. During her research she analysed several work practices of professional futurists at the Netherlands Institute for Spatial Research (RPB) in the Netherlands. Her research focused on the question of how professional futurists produce future knowledge. In her thesis she describes and analyses several pitfalls related to foresight exercises and the production of future knowledge.

Since October 2006 Susan van ‘t Klooster is a researcher at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at the VU University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her research concerns methodology of futures studies, the role of knowledge and expertise in policy processes and public participation in knowledge production. She is currently involved as a scenario expert in the multi-institute research project ‘Safety First’ (see www.adaptation.nl for more detailed project information). She is also involved in several public participation projects and is project leader of the project ‘Limits to Participation’. She is correspondent of the European Foresight Monitoring Network (www.efmn.eu) and member of the editorial board of www.toekomstverkenning.nl; an independent website with information about futures research.

Since July 2008 she is a research fellow at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Her research focuses on the mobilisation, development and use of knowledge and expertise in actual regional planning practices. This research is part of the NOW-GaMON project, funded by NOW, the Ministry of OC&W, VROM and LNV.

 

Selected publications

Articles (peer reviewed)

Asselt, M.B.A. van, Mesman, J. & Klooster, S.A. van ‘t (2007). Dealing with prognostic uncertainty, Futures, 39(6).

Asselt, M.B.A. van & Klooster, S.A. van ‘t (2007). Toekomstscenario’s: een kijkje achter de schermen. Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Medische Microbiologie, themanummer ‘Toekomstscenario’s’.

Klooster, S.A. van ‘t & Asselt, van M.B.A (2006). Practising the scenario-axes technique. Futures, 38(1), 15-30.

Middelkoop, H., Asselt, M.B.A. van, Klooster , S.A. van ‘t, Deursen, W.P.A. van, Kwadijk, J.C.J. & Buiteveld, H. (2004). Perspectives on flood management in the Rhine and Meuse rivers. River Research and Applications, 20, 327-342.

Asselt, M.B.A. van, Klooster, S.A. van ‘t & Notten, Ph.W.F. van (2003). Verkennen in onzekerheid. Beleid en Maatschappij – Themanummer Toekomstscenario’s en beleid, 30, 230-241.

Klooster, S.A. van ‘t, Asselt, M.B.A. van & Koenis, S. (2002). Beyond the essential contestation: construction and deconstruction of regional identity. Ethics, Place and Environment, 5(2), 109-121.

 

Books

Klooster, S.A. van ‘t (2008). Future telling: ambitions and practice. An ethnographic study into the production of future knowledge at the Netherlands Institute for Spatial Research (RPB). Eburon, thesis.

 

Chapters

Asselt, M.B.A. van, Huijs, S. & Klooster, S.A. van ‘t (2003). The intriguing relationship between uncertainty and normativity: The need for pluralistic assessment. In Gottschalk-Mazouz, N. & Ma-zouz, N (eds.), Nachhaltigkeit und globaler Wandel. Integrative Forschung zwischen Normativität und Unsicherheit (pp. 61-86). Campus, University of Stuttgart, Germany.

Klooster, S.A. van ‘t (2003). Een pleidooi voor herwaardering van de pre-socratische tragische cul-tuur. In Asselt, M.B.A. van & Petersen, A.C. (eds.), Niet bang voor onzekerheid. (pp. 51-61), Den Haag, RMNO/Lemma.

Carton, L., Karstens, S., Rozemeijer, M., Asselt, M.B.A. van, Goosen, H., Greeuw, S., Haasnoot, M., Klooster, S.A. van ‘t, Ruijgrok, E., Tanczos, I., Valkering, E., & Visser, P. (2002). The W4R Game: Exploring the future consequences of water management. In Mayer, I. & Veeneman, W. (eds.), Games in a World of Infrastructures. Simulation-games for Research, Learning and Intervention. (pp. 85-105). Delft: Eburon.