Julia Rijssenbeek
Julia Rijssenbeek is an expert in human-technology and human-nature relationships, and the societal transitions connected to them, such as digitalization, the transformation of the food system, and the sustainability transition.
She graduated cum laude with a PhD in Philosophy and Ethics of Technology at Wageningen University. Her dissertation focused on the philosophical and ethical aspects of hybrid life forms in synthetic biology, a field where scientists attempt to create or modify life in the lab, such as biobots or embryo-like cell structures. She explored the question “What is life?” and how its meaning changes when humans create new life forms. She showed that terms like cell factory or platform are not neutral, but influence how we perceive life and the human role in nature. A key part of her work is collaborative ethics, where ethicists and scientists work together from the start to consider the consequences of their research. By being present in the labs, she studied how researchers form their ideas about life and how ethics can be applied in practice. Her work demonstrates that synthetic biology presents not only technical challenges but also profound questions about humans, nature, and responsibility in the Anthropocene.
Julia’s research is part of the Gravitation program Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies (ESDiT). During her PhD, she was a visiting researcher at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, where she applied and further developed the Collaborative Ethics model in the lab. In 2024, she received a Brocher Foundation fellowship.
In addition to her work at WUR, she is a researcher at the future think tank FreedomLab, where she focuses on transitions in the food system.
Interdisciplinarily, she explores human, technology, and nature relationships through art. Her film Cobalt (2024), about humanity’s relationship to nature in and beyond the Anthropocene, premiered at the InScience International Science Film Festival in Nijmegen and won the award for Best Experimental Short at the European Short Film Festival.
Julia speaks about the future of food and agriculture, the geopolitics of food, biotechnology, climate change, and changing human, nature, and technology relationships.
Some examples of Julia’s lectures:
Future of Food
Our food system is at a turning point. After years of progress, hunger is rising again, global value chains are vulnerable to geopolitical tensions, and climate change is putting food production under pressure. Instead of simply increasing production, a shift to a better food system is inevitable—food produced with human and planetary health in mind. What does that shift look like, which technological innovations are meaningful, and what will future food systems be like?
Bio-centrism
We are approaching planetary limits, there is no easy escape from the climate crisis, and natural ecosystems are under pressure. Everyone slowly realizes that system change is needed. Julia discusses why environmental policies have failed so far, the limitations of ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ developments, critically examines buzzwords like the bio-based economy, and explores viable options. She covers ideas such as the Symbiocene, post-humanism, multi-species and more-than-human thinking, nature-based solutions, regenerative design, and the importance of biodiversity.
Human-Nature-Technology Relationships
How should we relate differently to nature? Western thinking often offers two solutions to the ecological crisis: ecomodernism and ecology. Ecomodernists rely on technology and science to solve environmental problems, while ecologists argue that this approach has caused the issues we face. Julia explores alternative visions and, through philosophy, film, and dance, presents different future scenarios. Her 6-minute film Cobalt (2024) addresses these themes and was selected for the InScience Science Film Festival.
Biotechnology
New technologies are becoming increasingly “alive,” as AI exhibits self-learning, autonomous, and adaptive behavior. At the same time, biology is increasingly used to build technological solutions, such as in biotechnology. Technology and biology are merging. Julia presents breakthroughs in synthetic biology and other life sciences to show this fusion, what technology can learn from biology, and which domains (medicine, food, materials, fuel, mining) can be transformed.
We invited Julia to our digital event to provide colleagues with insights into the food transition, the global food system’s key themes, and how we, as Witteveen+Bos, can contribute. After the lecture, we only received positive feedback from colleagues, who wished the talk had been longer. Very happy with the result! — Witteveen+Bos, February 2022
Brainwash talks: Humans and Nature
The Role of Nature in Our Technological Future @ THE FUTURE SUMMIT 2020, Pakistan
Kyoorius Designyatra 2019, India