Hans Bruyninckx

Hans Bruyninckx
File:HansBruyninckxPlayTheGame.jpg
Born	(1964-03-20) March 20, 1964 Schoten, Belgium
Nationality	Belgian
Fields	Political science, International relations, EU environmental policy, Environmental governance, Environmental politics
Institutions	European Environment Agency, KU Leuven, Wageningen University
Alma mater	Colorado State University; Université catholique de Louvain (UCL); Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL); University of Antwerp
Thesis	Environmental degradation and violent social conflict: a theoretical framework of analysis (1996)

Hans Emiel Aloysius Bruyninckx (Dutch: [ɦɑns brœynɪŋks]; born March 20, 1964) is a Belgian political scientist and international relations scholar specialized in international and European environmental politics and policy. He is Executive Director of the European Environment Agency. While in this position, he is on leave from his posts as Professor of International Relations and Global Environmental Governance, Institute for International and European Policy; and Director, Research Institute for Work and Society, both at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven).

Education and academic career

Bruyninckx studied political science with a specialization in international relations at Antwerp University and KU Leuven. He then went on obtaining an additional degree in development studies at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) and, subsequently, earned his PhD degree in 1996 at Colorado State University on the topic of international environmental politics. After his studies he continued to teach at several other universities in the United States and Europe, such as Colorado State University, Canisius College, and Wageningen University.

His academic expertise lies primarily in the field of international environmental policy, studying the effects of globalization on the global governance of environmental issues and sustainable development. From this perspective he is also involved in the study of global production and consumption systems, as well as in issues relating to distribution and justice. He teaches at the university on the topic of global environmental politics, and global environmental governance in relation to the European Union. Besides his main appointments at the university, he is also a senior member of the interdisciplinary Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, promoter-coordinator of the Flemish Support Point on Transitions for Sustainable Development (TRADO), and president of the Flemish umbrella environmental organisation Bond Beter Leefmilieu.

Key works

• "The role of societal groups in bringing about a policy of sustainable development," Sustainable Development Towards a Sustainable Dialogue between Science and Policy. Brussels, 24–25 November 1999. Brussels: OSTC, 2000, pp. 160–171.
• "Participatory input and questions of legitimacy: the role and function of advisory bodies in the construction and use of sustainability indicators," Environmental Indicators and Sustainable Development Trends. Annual Conference of European Environmental Advisory Councils (EEAC). Gent, Belgium, 15–18 November 2001. MiNa-Council, pp. 113–121
• "The implementation of the desert convention: case Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso," Global Environmental Politics 4 (3), 107-127, 2004.
• "Sustainable development: the institutionalization of a contested policy concept." In: Betsill, M.; Hochstetler, K.; Stevis, D. (Eds.), Palgrave Advances in International Environmental Politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, pp. 265–298. ISBN 1403921075
• "China and global environmental governance". In: Lectures for the XXIst Century. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2008, pp. 165–185.
• "Environmental evaluation practices and the issue of scale," New Directions for Evaluation (122), 31-39, 2009.

With others

• Spaargaren, G.; Mol, A.P.J.; and Bruyninckx, H. (2006). "Introduction: governing environmental flows in global modernity". In: Spaargaren, G.; Mol, A.P.J.; and Buttel, F.H. (Eds.), Governing Environmental Flows: Global Challenges to Social Theory. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 1–36. ISBN 978-0262195454
• Wouters, J.; Bruyninckx, H.; Keukeleire, S.; Corthout, T.; Basu, S.; and Schunz, S. (2010). "The European Union and multilateral governance - an interdisciplinary research project. Research notes (Part 3)," Journal of Contemporary European Research 6 (3), 412-418.
• Happaerts, S.; Brande, K. van den; and Bruyninckx, H. (2011). "Subnational governments in transnational networks for sustainable development," International Environmental Agreements 11 (4), 321-339.
• Wouters, J.; Bruyninckx, H.; Basu, S.; and Schunz S. (Eds.), The European Union and Multilateral Governance. Assessing EU Participation in United Nations Human Rights and Environmental Fora. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. ISBN 978-0230282315
• Bruyninckx, H., Happaerts, S., Brande, K. van den. (Eds.), Sustainable Development and Subnational Governments: Policy-making and Multi-level Interactions. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. ISBN 978-0230360525
• Bruyninckx, H., Qi, Y.; Nguyen, Q.T.; and Belis, D. (Eds.), The Governance of Climate Relations between Europe and Asia: Evidence from China and Vietnam as Key Emerging Economies. Cheltenham and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2014. ISBN 978-1781955987

European Environment Agency

Bruyninckx became Executive Director of the European Environment Agency in June 2013, succeeding Jacqueline McGlade.

See also

• Bond Beter Leefmilieu (Union for a Better Environment) (Dutch)

External links

• European Environment Agency - Executive Director
• Staff member Institute for International and European Policy
• Bio - HIVA Ons Team (Dutch)
• Lirias Publications