Mijts, Eric

Position / Title

Senior Coordinator SISSTEM and Coordinator of UA Research Center

Department

Faculty of Arts and Science

Email Address

eric.mijts@ua.aw

ORCID

0000-0002-5055-8067

Fields of Specialization

Multilingualism
Language policy and planning
Education for sustainable development
Inclusion/exclusion processes
Islandness

Last updated March 11, 2026

Biography

Eric Mijts is a senior researcher at the University of Aruba (UA) and the head of the University of Aruba Research Center (UARC). As a linguist he has been involved in studies in sociolinguistics and decolonial development in the former Dutch Caribbean islands Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Statia and St Martin over the past 25 years. He is (co-)author of numerous publications at the intersection of language, education, law, policy and development in the Caribbean and is the founder of the Caribbean Association for Dutch Studies (CARAN). Dr. Mijts has developed and taught a wide variety of courses in different programs of the UA and as a guest lecturer at institutes in the Caribbean, Americas and Europe. Eric Mijts has built a wide multidisciplinary network in and beyond the Caribbean region as the co-founder and developer of the Academic Foundation Year (AFY), co-founder of the EU funded Sustainable Islands Solutions through STEM project (SISSTEM), and as facilitator of international student research exchange programs.

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 218

Open Access
Pluridentities in Aruba: De lopende onderzoeksfase en onze onderzoeksproducten
(Zenodo, 2026-03-06) van Donselaar, Bart; Mijts, Eric
Deze presentatie over het Pluridentities project, gefinancieerd door Horizon Europe, werd op 6 maart 2026 gegeven aan het Algemeen Voortgezet Onderwijs (AVO) platform in Aruba. Dit platform bestaat uit de schoolbesturen in Aruba die VO-scholen besturen. In de presentatie werd het project en de onderzoeksloop in Aruba en daarbuiten beschreven, alsook de noden en eventuele producten voor het Arubaanse voortgezet onderwijs. Daarnaast werden de eerste resultaten uit dataverzameling in 2025 gedeeld, en werd er voor deelname aan de volgende onderzoeksfase verzocht.
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Turning the Tide: Climate Change, Social Change, & Islandness
(Island Studies Press at UPEI, 2026-02-15) Mitchell, Jean; Brinklow, Laurie; Mertens, Anouk; Mijts, Eric
This collection of essays from islanders around the globe offers a complex understanding of the intersections of climate change and social change on islands. How are the effects of climate change and catastrophic weather experienced and narrated by islanders? What stories need to be told? How do local, traditional, and Indigenous knowledge practices facilitate the capacity to improvise, innovate, and adapt to volatile weather events? How do social relations on climate stressed islands continue to flourish? How do governance structures and issues of sovereignty support and/or inhibit climate and social justice? This interdisciplinary approach foregrounds island storytellers as they convey worldviews, knowledge, and cultural values, beliefs, and emotions that are often missing from climate change discourses.
Open Access
Multi-scale biophysical modelling explains contrasted coral connectivity and genetic structure in the high-relief basin of the Aruba–Bonaire–Curaçao islands.
(2026-02) Scherpereel, Colin; López Márquez, Violeta; Mijts, Eric; Volckaert, Filip; Dobbelaere, Thomas; De Le Court, Miguel; Lambrechts, Jonathan; Hanert, Emmanuel
Coral connectivity plays a fundamental role in the persistence and resilience of reef ecosystems, yet remains challenging to quantify due to the complex interplay between poorly-quantified larval traits and the ocean dynamics. This challenge is amplified in physically intricate regions such as the Aruba-Bonaire-Cura¸cao (ABC) islands, where sharp bathymetric gradients and fine-scale hydrodynamics strongly influence larval transport and recruitment. In this study we apply the multi-scale, GPU-accelerated ocean model SLIM3D to simulate several years of hydrodynamics in the ABC basin, enabling the fine-scale (∼100 m) representation of coastal circulation in reef areas. We then use SLIM’s Lagrangian Particle Tracker (LPT) to simulate the dispersal of millions of virtual larvae including species-specific biological traits, such as competency acquisition/loss, mortality, and settlement behaviour, thereby providing a robust assessment of connectivity pathways at the regional scale. Sensitivity analyses on the LPT’s physical and biological parameters further help us identify the most influential factors shaping connectivity. We analyze dispersal patterns for the broadcast spawner Diploria labyrinthiformis (Dlab) and the brooder Favia fragum (Ffra) and find very contrasted results. While Ffra shows very limited inter-island exchanges due to rapid larval settlement, resulting in largely isolated reef populations, Dlab exhibits broader dispersal enabled by longer pelagic larval durations and advection by the strong northwestward Caribbean Current. Additionally, the formation of (sub)mesoscale eddies in the lee of the islands also promote larval retention and self-recruitment, leading to lower genetic differentiation for the broadcaster than for the brooder. Our findings align with in-situ genetic measurements, revealing numerous distinct genetic groups for Ffra, and only two major groups for Dlab. This study underscores the role of coral larval early-life history traits in self-recruitment and long-distance dispersal, giving insights into how dispersal potential varies with reproductive mode and local hydrodynamics.
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Récifs fragiles, langues vivantes : écologies postcoloniales aux Antilles : Entretien avec Eric Mijts.
(CREFO - Toronto, 2026-01-27) Le Pichon, Emmanuelle; Mijts, Eric
Eric Mijts est chercheur et intellectuel engagé dont les travaux portent sur les langues, les écologies linguistiques et les rapports entre langage, savoirs et sociétés. Ses réflexions s’inscrivent dans une approche critique et relationnelle des langues, envisagées comme des pratiques vivantes, situées et profondément liées aux dynamiques culturelles, sociales et environnementales. À travers ses recherches, ses écrits et ses interventions, il explore les enjeux de diversité linguistique, de transmission des savoirs et de responsabilité collective face aux transformations contemporaines.
Open Access
Sustainable Development? Aruba, a small island state. Opening remarks for the 2026 International Cartographic Association Sustainability Workshop.
(2026-01-27) Mijts, Eric; Mijts, Eric
Small island states and territories face multiple, cumulative stressors that affect community wellbeing and ecosystem health. Many responses to these challenges rely on externally developed technological and technocratic interventions, which often address visible symptoms rather than root causes. Despite high pro-capita investments, outcomes are frequently experienced as disappointing. Developing approaches with lasting impacts on island communities and ecosystems requires in-depth engagement with social, cultural and ecological dynamics of the island. Recognition of local knowledge, and a genuine transfer of ownership to those who live with the consequences of the interventions are key for adoption by those communities. In these opening remarks we will explore how cartography – understood not only as technical mapping but also as a social and political practice - can help us build an understanding of different approaches to island sustainability and contribute to the collective making of sustainable island futures.
Open Access
Supervising at the UA
(University of Aruba Research Center, 2026-01-15) Ascanio, Adamiris; Alofs, Luc; Plomp, Esther; Mijts, Eric; Ganga, Navin
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Unraveling the Spatial Variability of Fossil Coral Reef Morphology on Aruba and the Implications for Paleo Sea Level Estimates
(2026-01-07) Chauveau, D.; Boyden, P.; Desfromont, F.; Scardino, G.; Scicchitano, G.; Mijts, Eric; Bejarano, S.; Dean, S.; Cerrone, C.; Rovere, A.
The morphology of a coral reef terrace (CRT) is a key parameter in the interpretation and quantification of past sea-level changes, but it is directly influenced by local morphodynamic and hydrodynamic conditions. Spatial differences in terrace morphology may therefore result in over- or underestimation of paleorelative sea levels and their associated uncertainties. To investigate this, we integrate high-precision field surveys from the island of Aruba (Leeward Antilles, Caribbean Sea) with a stratigraphic forward model (DionisosFlow®) to quantify the intra-island variability of the Quaternary coral reef sequence. We establish that a possible slight North-South tectonic tilt of the island may drive differences in the elevation of CRTs and the number of emerged fossil coral reefs imprinted on the coastal landscape. However, terrace geometry is primarily defined by the basement slope and wave exposure. All together, our results show that even small-scale environmental and hydrodynamic variability can introduce meter-scale errors in sea-level reconstructions derived from CRTs.
Open Access
The need to stay connected: Embedding the voices of young island researchers.
(Island Studies Press, 2026-01) Mijts, Eric; Brinklow, Laurie; McDonald, Anne; Hall, Iain; Mertens, Anouk; Singh, Simron; Mitchell, Jean; Brinklow, Laurie; Mertens, Anouk; Mijts, Eric
This chapter brings together the key themes discussed throughout this book. The complex intersection of climate change and social change in islands is a deeply human, social, and cultural phenomenon. Island communities have developed multiple ways of dealing with, coping with, and remaining resilient in the face of major threats. During the conference a special session was organized with an emphasis on embedding the contribution of young island scholars, the ones that will shape the future of island studies. During this session, key themes emerged that resonate with those explored in this book and may help guide the navigation of island and climate futures. These key themes include the need for transdisciplinary island research, and a deeper understanding of the positionality of the island researchers as pivotal players in understanding the complexities of island ecosystems, island metabolisms, island connectivity, and islands' social fabric. The importance of the context rather than the discipline as a starting point entails the need for systematic approaches that engage island communities throughout the research process, and foster peer-to-peer learning among island researchers. As one of the participants stated: we should not become a huge island, but we need to stay connected. Small island sustainability is an issue as complex and diverse as small islands themselves, spanning disciplines, geographies, and generations. At the heart of enabling and ensuring sustainable island futures lies capacity-building, itself a multi-faceted issue and one that demands continued and consistent attention. The need for increasing capacity lies not only in meeting the needs of today, but also in maintaining and growing capacities such that future needs can be effectively met. For this to be possible, new generations of island researchers and practitioners must be nurtured and developed, with the net cast wide beyond those who live and work on small islands. With a focus on The need to stay connected: Embedding the voices of young island researchers
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Pluridentities: Theoretical Framework on Languages, Identity and Policy
(Zenodo, 2025-12-16) Surmont, J.; Van Oss, V.; D'Hulster, Margaux; Mijts, Eric; van Donselaar, Bart; Van den Branden, Kris; Buelens, Kaat; Sylvén, Liss Kerstin; Olsson, Eva; Segura Hudson, Marta; Wakelkamp, Indira; van de Guchte, Marrit; Palacios-Hidalgo, Francisco Javier; Huertas Abril, Cristina Aránzazu; Luque-Gonzalez, Rocio; Husárová, Barbara; Curado-Toledano, Nieves
This framework integrates research on plurilingualism, identity, education, technology, and language policy to explain how education can foster plurilingual identities in Europe. It highlights the interplay between linguistic capital, learning environments, technology, and language policy as key factors shaping inclusive and multilingual education.
Open Access
The GreenComp Evaluation Roadmap: The case of the University of Aruba RISE SIG - How to Embed Sustainability in Your Curriculum
(2025-12-05) Mertens, Anouk; Mijts, Eric