Patrick Arens

Arens, Patrick

Position / Title

Business Director

Email Address

patrick.arens@ua.aw
patrick.arens@ua.aw

Last updated July 8, 2025

Biography

Patrick Arens is the business director of the University of Aruba. On top of his daily tasks, in the past years he has engaged in the development of education and research programs for sustainable development in small island states, including the SISSTEM program.

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 12

Open Access
The GreenComp Evaluation Roadmap: a roadmap for in-depth holistic evaluation of the integration of the GreenComp framework in higher-education curricula
(2025-01) Mertens, Anouk; Eppinga, Maarten; Arens, Patrick; de Scisciolo, Tobia; John, Nigel; Sultan, Salys; Buys, Nadine; Mijts, Eric
Purpose The GreenComp framework identifies 12 competences for sustainability as common ground for higher-education curricula. The framework can be used for self-assessment and the review of curricula. However, a step-by-step method to conduct such a self-assessment is not yet available for the GreenComp framework specifically. Therefore, the authors present the GreenComp Evaluation Roadmap allowing to evaluate the extent to which the frameworks’ competences for sustainability are integrated in higher-education curricula. The application of the GreenComp Evaluation Roadmap to a curriculum taught at the University of Aruba, allows to report on the benefits, limitations and future potential of the approach. Design/methodology/approach The proposed mixed-method approach combines hybrid qualitative and quantitative data collection on the integration of the 12 competences for sustainability of the GreenComp framework in higher-education curricula. The authors showcase its potential through application of the GreenComp framework as an evaluation tool to a science, technology, engineering and mathematics-based bachelor program taught at the University of Aruba. Findings The GreenComp Evaluation Roadmap not only allows for an evaluation of the curriculum and identification of competence gaps. It also supports educators to conduct a self-reflection on individual course(s) and the program as a whole. The paper shows promising results that the roadmap developed could be a reproducible approach. Moreover, it provides guidance to other higher education institutes for self-evaluation and self-reflection on how the competences for sustainability are integrated in their curricula and how this can be enhanced in the future. Originality/value The need to integrate sustainability throughout higher-education curricula is broadly recognized. The GreenComp Evaluation Roadmap contributes to the literature by offering a methodological approach to evaluate the integration of the 12 competences for sustainability throughout a curriculum.
Open Access
Putting sustainability research into practice on the university campus. An example from a Caribbean small island state
(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2020) Eppinga, Maarten; Lozano-Cosme, Jenny; de Scisciolo, Tobia; Arens, Patrick; Santos, Maria J.; Mijts, Eric
Purpose Despite increasing efforts to incorporate sustainability in curricula and practices of institutions of higher education, effective implementation remains challenging. The purpose of this study is to present an approach to incorporate sustainability into a practice-oriented research skills course, which was implemented at a small island state university in the Caribbean. Design/methodology/approach First-year university students followed a four-week course module, starting with the introduction of the sustainable development goals, and culminating in a symposium in which the students present the findings of their research projects to the campus community. Pre-course module and post-course module surveys measured the students’ knowledge and perceptions regarding sustainability. These survey results were also compared with the result of a similar survey held for the university’s employees. Findings The survey results suggested that following the course module increased students’ knowledge about sustainable development, as well as their support for the university campus and its community putting more emphasis on teaching, practicing and encouraging sustainability. Interestingly, university employees scored significantly higher on the latter component than students, suggesting that in this case a lack of interest of the staff is not a barrier toward a sustainable campus. Originality/value The presented course module offers a novel and low-cost approach to introducing sustainability into a broad range of academic curricula, specifically tailored to the needs of institutes of higher education in small island states. The survey results suggest that this type of education may not only ensure reaching academic goals but also increase students’ interest in sustainable development within their local environment.
Open Access
How island researchers navigate the wicked nature of small island research. A conversation continued
(2025-06) Mertens, Anouk; Acevedo, Diego; Arens, Patrick; Becker, Tatiana; Brinklow, Laurie; de Scisciolo, Tobia; Drew, Ryan; Facun, Kryss; Hall, Iain; Halliday, Andrew Mark; John, Nigel; López Márquez, Violeta; McDonald, Anne; Mitchell, Jean; Moncada, Stefano; Noll, Dominik; Richardson, Yolanda; Sultan, Salys; van Veghel, Amber; Werleman, Stephanie; Mijts, Eric
Small islands across the globe face the direct consequences of climate change and alarming biodiversity loss. In this context, islands and islanders are sometimes framed as a “litmus test” or “the ideal laboratory” for experiments to advise larger continental areas on how to address the effects of climate change and the biodiversity crisis. Due to the specific island context, islanders are the primary problem solvers in addressing and mitigating these challenges, and finding ways to adapt to them; however, in the first place, to protect their territories, populations, ecosystems, and cultures. It is therefore crucial and urgent to adopt and integrate inter- and transdisciplinary scientific knowledge embedded within the local contexts. Given their leadership role, island-centred research by the local island-based knowledge institutes and researchers is key. Island-centred research should play a pivotal role in generating contextualized knowledge and solutions, whether or not embedded in reciprocal international partnerships with other knowledge institutes. In this presentation, we will dive deeper into the island researchers’ operating space for such island-centred research, based on insights from semi-structured interviews and interactive sessions with island researchers from a wide range of contexts and disciplines. Our data reveal that despite the many challenges of conducting research from within the islands (incl. availability and accessibility of data, or technical and logistic challenges, funding, etc.), island researchers have found an array of ways to overcome these challenges and to produce valuable and impactful results for their societies and the rest of the world. This contribution aims to be a conversation starter amongst island researchers from insular and continental (institutional) contexts to further strengthen productive and equal collaborations in island-centred research.
Open Access
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.
Open Access
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
Open Access
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
Open Access
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
Open Access
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
Metadata only
Lessons learned from SISSTEM - an innovative north-south partnership between two universities towards sustainable development of small island states
(2021-09) Mertens, Anouk; Buys, N.; Gielen, G.; Arens, Patrick; Mijts, Eric
Open Access
SISSTEM: Leveraging inequality to build a successful and sustainable partnership between a continental and a small island state university
(2025-06-17) Buys, Nadine; Mertens, Anouk; Arens, Patrick; Gielen, Georges; Mijts, Eric
Advancing sustainable development and enhancing the resilience of small islands in the face of climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource scarcity relies on state-of-the-art knowledge of technological solutions embedded in local contexts. This necessitates building local and regional capacity, with higher academic education playing a crucial role. In response, the University of Aruba launched the SISSTEM (Sustainable Island Solutions through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)) academic bachelor's, master and research programs. Given the University of Aruba’s scale and available resources, a strategic partnership was formed with KU Leuven, a renowned university in Belgium, Europe. Literature on North-South partnerships emphasizes the importance of equality among partners. However, interuniversity collaborations often face inherent inequalities in access to resources and scale, which were also evident in this specific partnership. This contribution demonstrates how acknowledging and leveraging these inequalities can foster an equal and sustainable partnership in which the complementarity of the institutions’ capacities is pivotal. Through an explorative case study analysis using semi-structured interviews, we have identified some of the key drivers and barriers to establishing such a robust partnership. Here, we focus on the institutional levers and obstacles that made this partnership possible from the perspective of the larger continental institution.