As of 1 January 2017, Daan Groot, together with the co-founder of Nature^Squared Erwin van Woudenberg, is appointed professor on “Innovative Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas’’, a special collaboration between the HAS University of Applied Sciences and the province of Noord-Brabant.
A four-year research program has been set up to investigate opportunities for entrepreneurs to work smartly with nature. The starting point is being able to earn ‘’a good living with nature’’ – in what way can nature strengthen business operations and can we do away with the perceived trade-off between nature and economy?
As part of this program, innovative ideas and scientific insights are converted into action research that contributes to broadening the value and use of nature, while preserving and strengthening natural capital. Lines of research include Food Forests, Strip Cultivation, Wet Agriculture, and business models for nature-inclusive agriculture in the broad sense.
