As Wageningen University & Research, we publish articles, posts, videos, and podcasts every year about research and education. A lot happens in Wageningen that we want to share with the world: important research results, conclusions from reports, appointments, student stories, campus events, and more. In this overview, you will find the most-read and most-viewed stories of 2024.
In 2024, student protests took place on the Wageningen Campus. The updates about these were widely read. The announcement of a long-term project to study the touch sensitivity of plants also drew attention.
- Protest on campus - Latest updates - WUR
- Prestigious grant for research into plant tactile sense - WUR
- Update 3: Collaborating in a complex, shifting and conflicted world - WUR
- Plant-parasitic nematodes on the rise: WUR launches major research project - WUR
- Rector appalled by assault on campus - WUR
Biodiversity: pesticides, grants, jumping genes.
Regarding biodiversity, the article from Wageningen World about the possibilities of reducing pesticide use was widely read. Successful green innovation requires knowledge of plant cultivation, technology, ecology, and behavioral science.
- Cut pesticide use, but how? - WUR
- AI as a driver of agricultural transition - WUR
- European grants of 2.5 million for WUR professors Liesje Mommer and Thijs Ettema - WUR
- Jumping genes determine cabbage's exterior - WUR
- Expertise on all earth systems and society in one new research group - WUR
Climate change: rice, sinking cities, North Pole
Growing rice in the Netherlands? Well, why not? Researchers wanted to try rice as a nature-based solution for future sustainable peat management: the crop allows raising the water table and produces food at the same time. Rice reduces emissions from current peatland agriculture. Moreover, rice farming benefits from warming temperatures, so it can be both an adaptation to and mitigation of climate change.
- Polder rice in the Netherlands: will it succeed this year? - WUR
- Europe is not prepared for rapidly growing climate risks - WUR
- Sven Stremke appointed personal professor Post-carbon Landscape Design - WUR
- How to save a sinking city - WUR
- The reasons behind the rapid warming of the North Pole - WUR
Food security: extreme weather, Ukraine
Food security is closely linked to climate change, as seen in stories about the impact of extreme weather, whether wet or dry, on food yields. Conflicts have historically had the greatest impact on food security, and the war in Ukraine has negative consequences around the world, as demonstrated by research from Wageningen Economic Research.
- Why scientists look to the soil when rain stops falling - WUR
- After two years of war in Ukraine, the world's poor have less access to food - WUR
- Dutch farmers struggle through extreme weather - WUR
- What yields per acre reveal about the impact of extreme weather - WUR
- Focus on consumption at Global Food Security Conference - WUR
LinkedIn: Magnolia, circle farming, Northern Lights
While we primarily publish about research and education, it's sometimes important to pause and appreciate the beauty of nature. Take, for example, the beautiful, fragrant magnolia in Wageningen's Thorckpark, nicknamed the 'old lady.' Many people turned out to have fond memories of the tree, as evidenced by the responses to the LinkedIn post.
- Did you know Wageningen is home to the largest hashtag#magnolia tree in the Netherlands?
- Circle Farming: A groundbreaking approach to local food production, biodiversity, and soil health
- Exciting innovations in vertical farming!
- We are very proud to announce that WUR again ranked as the best university in the world in the field of Agriculture & Forestry!
- Our campus under the magic of the Northern Lights!
YouTube: mosquitoes, chickens, Europe in 2120
The most-watched video is only 7 seconds long. In that slow-motion recording, we see a mosquito dodging an approaching object. The videos from KennisOnline also attracted attention, particularly the one about chicken welfare.
