Louise Fresco
Encyclopedia
Louise O. Fresco (Meppel
, 11 February 1952) is a Dutch
scientist, director and writer.
Louise Fresco is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), a non-resident member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry
in Stockholm, a corresponding member of the Real Academia de Ingeniería in Madrid, and a member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities.
Fresco further holds a visiting professorship at the Institute of Earth Sciences at Stanford University
and at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation
in Palo Alto, in the United States. She is also a Distinguished Professor at Wageningen University
.
in 2009, is a Crown-appointed member of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER), and a member of the Trilateral Commission
and of the Governing Council of the United Nations University
. In addition, she holds seats on the boards of the Erasmus Prize Foundation and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
, is a member of the Council of Advisors for the World Food Prize
and adviser to the OCP Group (Office Chérifien des Phosphates). She also chairs the Compagnie Fonds and its Board of Professors of the Maritime Museum in Amsterdam. In May 2010 she was among the members of the InterAcademy Council ’s international scientific team appointed by the United Nations to investigate the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC
). Last but not least, she is a member of the jury of the 2011 (Dutch) Libris Literature Prize.
Since 2011 Fresco is a member of the advisory council of the The Hague Institute for Global Justice
, member of the Nederlands-Franse Samenwerkingsraad and member of The Dutch Safety Board in the Netherlands. Fresco is the chair of the Research School Accreditation Committee (KNAW) and of the Nationaal Platform Rio+20.
Since beginning her fieldwork career with UN projects in Papua New Guinea and Zaire/Congo in the latter half of the 1970s, Fresco’s work has taken her to more than 60 countries outside Europe and North America.
From 1997 until 1999 she was director of research at the Agriculture Department of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO
) in Rome, and in January 2000 went on to become that organisation’s assistant director-general for Agriculture. In this position, which she held until May 2006, she was responsible for all technical activities in the areas of agricultural production (including nutrition from 2005 onwards).
Prior to these activities she held posts as chair of the (Dutch) Advisory Council for Environmental and Nature Research and as co-founder and chairing member of the Land Use and Land Cover Change Project (LUCC) of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP).From 1986 onwards Fresco served in various capacities at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), for example as evaluator at the International Potato Institute. She long held a seat on the Board of the West African Rice Development Association in Ivory Coast and also sat on the Board of the Asian Vegetable Research Center in Taiwan.
In the 2005/2006 academic year, Leiden University appointed Fresco as its Cleveringa Chair, and in 2006 she was selected to deliver the Rabobank Duisenberg Lecture at the annual WB/IMF meeting in Singapore. From 2006 until 2007 she served as chair of the panel for the review of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP), a programme set up jointly by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the International Human Dimensions of Global Change Programme (IDHP). As a member of the Delta Committee in 2007-2008, she was involved in the design of a long term plan to protect the Dutch coastline and hinterland from the consequences of the expected rise in sea level and climate change. She has also been on the jury of the Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences.
worldwide association of writers, which advocates freedom of expression and acts on behalf of writers who are oppressed for their views, as well as of the Dutch Writer’s Guild (VvL). Fresco is also a fervent lover of the arts in general. As a leading thinker, she was honoured with an invitation to speak at the annual TED
Conference in Palm Springs in 2009, and in 2010 was ranked 26th – and as the second woman – in the (Dutch) Volkskrant newspaper’s Top 200 list of the most influential people in the Netherlands and 13th in the (Dutch) Trouw newspaper’s ‘Sustainable 100’.
Meppel
Meppel is a municipality and a city in the northeast of the Netherlands, in the south-west of the province Drenthe.It developed in the 16th century as a transport and distribution inland harbour for turf...
, 11 February 1952) is a Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
scientist, director and writer.
Current academic positions
Prof. Louise O. Fresco (1952) was appointed a University Professor at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in June 2006. In this position, especially created for her, Professor Fresco specialises in the foundations of sustainable development in an international context.Louise Fresco is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), a non-resident member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry
Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry
The Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry , formerly the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture , founded in 1813 at the initiative of Crown Prince Charles, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden...
in Stockholm, a corresponding member of the Real Academia de Ingeniería in Madrid, and a member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities.
Fresco further holds a visiting professorship at the Institute of Earth Sciences at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private foundation that provides grants to not-for-profit organizations. It was created in 1964 by David Packard and his wife Lucile Salter Packard. Following David Packard's death in 1996, the Foundation became the beneficiary of part of his estate...
in Palo Alto, in the United States. She is also a Distinguished Professor at Wageningen University
Wageningen University
Wageningen University and Research Centre is a Dutch public university in Wageningen, The Netherlands. It consists of Wageningen University, the Van Hall-Larenstein School of Higher Professional Education, and the former agricultural research institutes of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture...
.
Other current activities
Outside academia, Fresco is a member of the Supervisory Board of Rabobank Nederland, one of the largest banks currently operating in the agricultural sector worldwide. She was named a non-executive director at UnileverUnilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
in 2009, is a Crown-appointed member of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER), and a member of the Trilateral Commission
Trilateral Commission
The Trilateral Commission is a non-governmental, non-partisan discussion group founded by David Rockefeller in July 1973 to foster closer cooperation among the United States, Europe and Japan.-History:...
and of the Governing Council of the United Nations University
United Nations University
The United Nations University is an academic arm of the United Nations established in 1973, which serves purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The UNU undertakes research into the pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare that are the concern of...
. In addition, she holds seats on the boards of the Erasmus Prize Foundation and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a symphony orchestra of the Netherlands, based at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In 1988, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred the "Royal" title upon the orchestra...
, is a member of the Council of Advisors for the World Food Prize
World Food Prize
The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.-The Prize:...
and adviser to the OCP Group (Office Chérifien des Phosphates). She also chairs the Compagnie Fonds and its Board of Professors of the Maritime Museum in Amsterdam. In May 2010 she was among the members of the InterAcademy Council ’s international scientific team appointed by the United Nations to investigate the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC
IPCC
IPCC may refer to:*Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, of the United Nations*Independent Police Complaints Commission, of England and Wales*Irish Peatland Conservation Council...
). Last but not least, she is a member of the jury of the 2011 (Dutch) Libris Literature Prize.
Since 2011 Fresco is a member of the advisory council of the The Hague Institute for Global Justice
The Hague Institute for Global Justice
is founded in 2011 in The Hague, The Netherlands . Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is chair of the advisory council of the institute. THIGJ was founded as an independent centre of expertise, dedicated to the promotion of knowledge of law and justice as the basis of and in relation...
, member of the Nederlands-Franse Samenwerkingsraad and member of The Dutch Safety Board in the Netherlands. Fresco is the chair of the Research School Accreditation Committee (KNAW) and of the Nationaal Platform Rio+20.
Previous academic, advisory and professional activities
Fresco was granted her doctoral degree with honours from Wageningen University in 1986, where she specialised in tropical agriculture. As professor of plant production systems at Wageningen from 1990 until 1997, where her research focused on tropical regions, Fresco had a major hand in the educational reforms that advanced interdisciplinary cooperation between the fields of plant-breeding and soil science and the social sciences. During this period she was also involved in extensive fieldwork in Spain, West Africa and Latin America.Since beginning her fieldwork career with UN projects in Papua New Guinea and Zaire/Congo in the latter half of the 1970s, Fresco’s work has taken her to more than 60 countries outside Europe and North America.
From 1997 until 1999 she was director of research at the Agriculture Department of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO
Fão
Fão is a town in Esposende Municipality in Portugal....
) in Rome, and in January 2000 went on to become that organisation’s assistant director-general for Agriculture. In this position, which she held until May 2006, she was responsible for all technical activities in the areas of agricultural production (including nutrition from 2005 onwards).
Prior to these activities she held posts as chair of the (Dutch) Advisory Council for Environmental and Nature Research and as co-founder and chairing member of the Land Use and Land Cover Change Project (LUCC) of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP).From 1986 onwards Fresco served in various capacities at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), for example as evaluator at the International Potato Institute. She long held a seat on the Board of the West African Rice Development Association in Ivory Coast and also sat on the Board of the Asian Vegetable Research Center in Taiwan.
In the 2005/2006 academic year, Leiden University appointed Fresco as its Cleveringa Chair, and in 2006 she was selected to deliver the Rabobank Duisenberg Lecture at the annual WB/IMF meeting in Singapore. From 2006 until 2007 she served as chair of the panel for the review of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP), a programme set up jointly by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the International Human Dimensions of Global Change Programme (IDHP). As a member of the Delta Committee in 2007-2008, she was involved in the design of a long term plan to protect the Dutch coastline and hinterland from the consequences of the expected rise in sea level and climate change. She has also been on the jury of the Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences.
Publications
Fresco has a long list of publications to her name, both in academic journals and in the popular media. She writes a fortnightly column for the leading Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad and is a frequent contributor to a wide range of national and international radio and television programmes. In addition to her scholarly publications, Fresco has also authored or co-authored eight non-scholarly books in Dutch, including three novels. She is a member of the PENPEN
PEN may refer to:* International PEN, the worldwide association of writers* Penang International Airport in Penang, Malaysia * Penarth railway station, Wales; National Rail station code PEN...
worldwide association of writers, which advocates freedom of expression and acts on behalf of writers who are oppressed for their views, as well as of the Dutch Writer’s Guild (VvL). Fresco is also a fervent lover of the arts in general. As a leading thinker, she was honoured with an invitation to speak at the annual TED
TED
TED may refer to:* TED , an annual multidisciplinary conference* TED spread, the yield spread between U.S...
Conference in Palm Springs in 2009, and in 2010 was ranked 26th – and as the second woman – in the (Dutch) Volkskrant newspaper’s Top 200 list of the most influential people in the Netherlands and 13th in the (Dutch) Trouw newspaper’s ‘Sustainable 100’.
Novels
- Bambusa (1990)
- De kosmopolieten (2003)
- De tuin van de sultan van Rome (2005)
- De utopisten (2007)
Non-fiction
- De ondraaglijke lichtheid van de vleermuis: essays & beschouwingen (1997) (bundel)
- Schaduwdenkers & lichtzoekers (1998) (Huizingalezing)
- Nieuwe spijswetten: over voedsel en verantwoordelijkheid (2006)
- Het einde van de universiteit (volgens een rapport van de Universiteit van Oeloemia) (2007) (diesrede UvA)
Academic
- Cassava in shifting cultivationShifting cultivationShifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned. This system often involves clearing of a piece of land followed by several years of wood harvesting or farming, until the soil loses fertility...
: a systems approach to agricultural technology development in Africa(1986) (thesis)
External links
- louiseofresco.com Website Louise O. Fresco
- english.uva.nl University of Amsterdam (UvA), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- knaw.nl Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- ksla.se Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, Stockholm, Sweden
- real-academia-de-ingenieria.org Real Academia de Ingeniería, Madrid, Spain
- hollmij.nl Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities, Haarlem, the Netherlands
- stanford.edu Institute of Earth Sciences at Stanford University, U.S.A.
- packard.org David and Lucile Packard Foundation in Palo Alto, U.S.A.
- wur.nl Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
- rabobank.com Rabobank Nederland
- unilever.com Unilever
- ser.nl Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER)
- trilateral.org Trilateral Commission
- unu.edu United Nations University
- erasmusprijs.org Erasmus Prize Foundation
- concertgebouworkest.nl Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
- worldfoodprize.org World Food Prize
- ocpgroup.ma OCP Group (Office Chérifien des Phosphates)
- hetscheepvaartmuseum.nl Maritime Museum in Amsterdam
- interacademycouncil.net InterAcademy Council
- thehagueinstituteforglobaljustice.org The Hague Institute for Global Justice
- ambafrance-nl.org Nederlands-Franse Samenwerkingsraad (language: Dutch/French)
- onderzoeksraad.nl The Dutch Safety Board
- knaw.nl Research School Accreditation Committee, ECOS (KNAW)
- nprio2012.nl Nationaal Platform Rio+20 (language: Dutch)
- fao.org Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy
- igbp.net International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP)
- cgiar.org Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
- cipotato.org International Potato Institute
- warda.org West African Rice Development Association
- avrdc.org Asian Vegetable Research Center
- leidenuniv.nl Cleveringa Chair, Leiden, the Netherlands
- essp.org Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP)
- deltacommissie.com Delta Committee, the Netherlands
- weblogs.nrc.nl weblog and columns in NRC Handelsblad (language: Dutch)
- internationalpen.org.uk PEN
- vvl.nu Dutch Writer’s Guild (VvL)
- www.ted.com TED talks Louise Fresco on feeding the whole world
- The marathon interview VPRO 1 August, 2008, Radio 1, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, with interviewer Rob van Hattum ( listen) (language: Dutch)
- resignation letter of Louise Fresco, FAO In the press leaked letter of resignation to the Director General of the FAO. The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, May 14, 2006