The videos shown during this screening and panel discussion, feature Professor Poldergeist, an avatar created by Professor Simon Richter about the Netherlands' relationship with water.
Professor Poldergeist is an avatar created by Simon Richter, Professor of Germanic Studies and environmental humanities at the University of Pennsylvania.
Project Poldergeist began around 2021 as a series of research-based animated videos about the Netherlands’ relationship with water. Of the 7 videos made so far, one is on Jakarta, one on Bonaire with the others focusing on the Netherlands. The videos interrogate questions of adaptation to climate change, colonial history of the Netherlands, mobility of expertise and the importance of imaginaries.
The viewing and the panel will explore the following questions:
- What does it take to influence policymaking, especially in areas where there are political and cultural sensitivities?
- How to communicate, with what means, at what venues, with what strategies?
- What can the visual and performative ways (e.g. museum exhibitions, art) contribute to starting difficult conversations and telling uncomfortable truths?
Programme
- Introduction
- Screening of video on Jakarta
- Screening of video on Bonaire
- Panel to discuss key questions around science in policy and advocacy. The panel will be followed by a Q&A
Panel
- Professor Simon Richter - University of Pennsylvania
- Shahnoor Hasan - Detares
- Sibout Nooteboom - Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment
- Mikal Tseggai - PRO Member of Parliament
- More information
The Project Poldergeist videos have circulated among Dutch water professionals, scientists, policymakers and the broader public. These videos have been publicly screened at Utrecht University (2026), in Simon Richter - Pakhuis de Zwijger (2026) and he appeared earlier in blog posts Rewriting the Dutch Water Story: An Interview with Dr. Poldergeist – FLOWs and articles in Water Governance Tjdschrift and academic collections – e.g. on the Translation of Polder: Water Management in The Netherlands and Indonesia. He appeared on Dutch TV, VPRO programme De klimaatverkenner | NPO Doc.