Treasurer for The Dutch Student Union
IE student Nol van Gerven (26) is treasurer for The Dutch Student Union this year. He lives in Rotterdam.
We asked him about his role as a treasurer and his choice for the Industial Ecology master's programme.
The Dutch Student Union (LSVb) is the Dutch national trade union for students. What does LSVb do for students?
Most importantly, we advocate for student interests on a national level. We have a spot at the table at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, but we also use our contacts with politicians and the press in order to push for student-friendly policies. The most important issues for the LSVb are reinstating the basic study grant for all students, accessible higher education for everyone and reliable quality of education.
We also offer several services to students: you can call us for help with legal affairs, for example if you have issues with your examination committee or your landlord. We also offer training in soft skills and many other subjects to board members of student and study associations. And finally, we offer health insurance that is specifically tailored for students, at ‘Studenten Goed Verzekerd’.
What is your role in the LSVb organisation and how do you combine this with a master study?
Next year, I will be the treasurer of the LSVb, which also means I will be responsible for the continuity of the organisation. On top of that, I will be responsible for student housing and for digitalisation of education. At the moment I’m finishing my master’s thesis, so I hope to finish my study before the end of the summer. That way, I’ll be able to focus on the LSVb for the whole academic year.
You have also been involved in the political youth organisation DWARS, which is affiliated with Dutch political party GroenLinks. For how long have you been involved in DWARS and can you tell us more about this?
When I was doing my bachelor in Utrecht, I met someone who was involved in the Energy Committee at DWARS. She encouraged me to join the committee, as I had some relevant knowledge from my study. I joined it in late 2016, and made a lot of friends there. This resulted in applying for the national board of DWARS, on which I was the political officer in 2017-2018. Regardless of political orientation, I would encourage everyone to take a look at a political youth organisation. To me, it was a great experience to be able to have political discussions about complex issues with like-minded people.
You are now doing your master’s in Industrial Ecology (IE), which Bachelor programme did you complete before and why did you choose IE?
In Utrecht, I did a bachelor in Environmental Sciences (now: Global Sustainability Science). The main reason to choose IE was a change in scenery: in Utrecht, Sustainable Development is located at the faculty of Geography. While I see myself as somewhat of a geographer, I wanted to know whether the approach to sustainability would be different at TU Delft. Now I can say this is the case: the faculty of TPM gave me the opportunity to understand systems thinking in new ways, especially because of a course in agent-based modelling.
What do you think of the IE programme?
To me it was perfect: it is a broad programme with a lot of room to make your own choices. The study advisors have been great as well: whenever I had issues, they were ready to help and think along with me. This was especially important when I fell ill with Covid last year. Even though I was not able to function well for two months, I was able to finish the IE course I was doing. Another course I followed was not as flexible, unfortunately.
Where and in what role do you hope to work in the future?
I’m not sure yet. I’ve been politically active in the Provincial States for the past years and I would like to return in the future. Especially public transport, housing and spatial planning are interesting policy fields to me, as in those fields sustainability meets social issues. I’m also thinking about sustainability consultancy. In any case, helping people to live their lives without worrying about money, and as sustainably as possible is my goal. I’ll be looking for the role and position in which I can do that best.