Mertens, Anouk

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UARC Consultant
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0000-0002-3166-7188
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Last updated July 8, 2025
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Anouk Mertens worked a postdoctoral researcher and project manager at the KU Leuven for the SISSTEM project. Currently, she works as a consultant for the University of Aruba Research Center. As a graduated bio-science engineer at the KU Leuven and having obtained a master in Environmental sciences and management at the Université Catholique de Louvain, she is skilled both in exact as well as social sciences. During her PhD in at the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering at Ghent University, in collaboration with the Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (graduated in 2017) she became skilled in mixed-method research approaches with participatory qualitative research methods and the development of quantitative (agent-based) simulation models. Her research interests are in sustainable development in a small island state context, education for sustainable development, and the circular and bioeconomy. Anouk attended various national and international conferences and is also the (co-)author of several research articles published in international peer reviewed journals.

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2020 - 202517
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Now showing 1 - 10 of 17
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    Small islands, big impact: Charting the way forward for Sustainable Development through Education, Collaboration, Research and STEM
    (University of Aruba, 2023) Mertens, Anouk; Buys, Nadine; Arens, Patrick; Gielen, Georges; Sultan, Salys; John, Nigel; Mijts, Eric
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    Kleine eilanden, grote impact: op weg naar duurzame ontwikkeling door middel van onderwijs, samenwerking, onderzoek en STEM.
    (University of Aruba, 2023) Mertens, Anouk; Buys, Nadine; Arens, Patrick; Gielen, Georges; Sultan, Salys; John, Nigel; Mijts, Eric
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    Insights from a sustainability-oriented academic bachelor program in a Caribbean Small Island State: evaluation of SISSTEM using the GreenComp Framework
    (International Conference on Sustainable Development 2023, 2023) Mertens, Anouk; Buys, Nadine; Gielen, Georges; de Scisciolo, Tobia; Eppinga, Maarten; John, Nigel; Sultan, Salys; Mijts, Eric
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    The Faculty of Science Supports STEM Education in Aruba
    (KU Leuven Faculty of Sciences, 2020) Mertens, Anouk; Mijts, Eric; Buys, Nadine
    In august 2019, the SISSTEM (Sustainable Island Solutions through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) project was launched. In this project of the Government of Aruba, financed by the 11th European Development Fund for Overseas Countries and Territories, the Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Group of the KU Leuven and the University of Aruba collaborate to establish a new Bachelor's programme in STEM.
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    SISSTEM: Sustainable Development on the Small Island State of Aruba
    (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023) Mertens, Anouk; Buys, Nadine; Arens, Patrick; Gielen, Georges; Mijts, Eric; Purcell, Wendy M.; Haddock-Fraser, Janet
    Academic university programmes educate the future generations of highly-skilled people in our society, thereby having the potential to act as change agents for sustainable development within their region. The SISSTEM – Sustainable Island Solutions through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – is an academic programme currently being deployed at the University of Aruba in partnership with KU Leuven, Belgium. It aims to educate a new generation of engineers and scientists, policy makers and entrepreneurs who have a profound knowledge of STEM subjects in a sustainability context, and who can apply this knowledge in the particular setting of a small island state (SIS) like Aruba. This allows to further strengthen 2 the island’s sustainable growth and development. In this chapter we evaluate whether the SISSTEM programme does indeed have the potential to be a change agent for sustainable development on Aruba. The evaluation is based on five critical factors, namely the consideration of dominant sustainability challenges in the region, the financing structure and independence, the institutional organization, the democratic processes and the communication and interaction with society. We conclude that the programme has significant potential of becoming a critical change agent in Aruba, the Caribbean and potentially other SIS. The approach of the SISSTEM programme described here can be of interest to other higher education institutes around the globe that aim at developing new or improving existing curricula in order to become change agents for sustainability
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    Bio-ingenieurs zoeken duurzame oplossingen voor de (klimaat-)uitdagingen van kleine eilandstaten
    (KU Leuven Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, 2020) Mijts, Eric; Mertens, Anouk; Buys, Nadine
    In augustus werd het startschot gegeven voor het SISSTEM-project (Sustainable Island Solutions through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Dit is een zeer uitdagend project van de regering van Aruba gefinancierd door het 11de EDF-OCT programma van de Europese Unie waarbij de Groep W&T van KU Leuven en de Universiteit van Aruba de handen in mekaar slaan voor het opzetten van een nieuwe bacheloropleiding in STEM.
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    Education for Sustainable Development in Small Island States at the University of Aruba: Practice and Evaluation.
    (SOE Biennale Revolutionizing Caribbean Education, Cultivating Critical Competencies in a Shifting Landscap. UWI-Mona, 2024-07-10) Mijts, Eric; Acevedo, Diego; de Scisciolo, Tobia; John, Nigel; Mertens, Anouk; Mijts, Eric; Acevedo, Diego; Mertens, Anouk; de Scisciolo, Tobia
    This panel will focus on different approaches at the University of Aruba for capacity building for internal resilience of small island states and the way in which the creation of a critical mass of local higher educated experts that can create contextually relevant and locally accepted solutions will highly contribute to the resilience of these states. Building upon three papers that will be presented by the panel participants, we will demonstrate that it is necessary and possible to develop and implement impactful programs for Education for Sustainable Development in Small Island States, going beyond the focus on cognitive skills and knowledge. The panelists will present approaches to education in Aruba that stimulate critical sustainability thinking (the Academic Foundation Year, and the Sustainable Island Solutions through Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics programs (SISSTEM)). Second, they will demonstrate how the modules within these programs address and affect sustainability thinking and student attitudes toward sustainability. They will also elaborate on the founding principles and evaluation of these programs utilising the EU GreenComp framework. Altogether, the panel aims to demonstrate that despite the global nature of the challenges we face, contextual embeddedness and recognition of local characteristics and local adoption of sustainability thinking are key to building resilient societies.
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    Dutch Caribbean Research Week 2024 - Aruba, 27 November
    (2024-11-27) Abarkan, Abida; Acevedo, Diego; Bonnevalle-Kok, Ruth; de Droog, Mieke; Grêaux, Kimberly; John, Nigel; López Márquez, Violeta; Meijer, Hannah; Mertens, Anouk; Mijts, Eric; Sultan, Salys
    Contributions by University of Aruba researchers to the Dutch Caribbean Research week 2024 (20-27 November). Individual contributions can also be found via: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1213 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1423 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1390 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1425 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1426 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1427 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1323 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14473/1422
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    Capitalizing on inequalities to build a sound partnership: The story of SISSTEM, an international collaboration between a continental and a small island state university
    (UNESCO, 2022) Mertens, Anouk; Buys, Nadine; Arens, Patrick; Gielen, Georges; Mijts, Eric
    The literature on north-south inter-university collaborations emphasizes on the need for equality amongst partners when aiming to develop successful and sustainable partnerships. However, universities in the north usually differ largely from their counterparts in the south in terms of amongst others access to resources and scale and are therefore often inherently unequal. This is especially true when a large-scale renowned university in Europe, like KU Leuven, establishes a partnership with a young small scale university located on a small island state, like the University of Aruba, in establishing a new education and research institute in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). In this paper, we investigate how an equal and sustainable partnership between these institutes is established, not despite these inequalities but precisely by recognizing and capitalizing on their inequalities. Based on an explorative case study analysis using semi-structured interviews, we aim to contribute to the literature by reporting on this continental-small island state inter-university partnership and by providing insight into the broader critical drivers and challenges of the partnership.
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    Local solutions for sustainability challenges through STEM education and research in Aruba
    (UNESCO, 2023) Mertens, Anouk; Arens, Patrick; Buys, Nadine; Gielen, Georges; John, Nigel; Sultan, Salys; Mijts, Eric