Søren Bech Pilgaard Kristensen

CV

Place of work
Department of Geography and Geology
University of Copenhagen
Øster Voldgade 10
DK 1350 København K
Phone: +45 35322523 (direct), 3532 2500 (switch board),
E-mail: [email protected]

Personal data and education
1983-92: M.Sc. in human geography University of Copenhagen
1988: Diplôme d'agronomie tropicale, CNEARC, Montpellier, France
2000: PhD, University of Copenhagen

Positions
2003- Associate professor, IGUC
2000-2002 Assistant professor, IGUC
1996-1999 PhD-scholarship at IGUC
1993-1995 Junior Professional Officer, FAO, Botswana

Other professional assignments

2000: Team member. Mid-term review of two DANIDA funded rural development projects, Burkina Faso

Awards
Professional activities

2014-present: Faculty representative in advisory commitiee on spatially distributed Nitrogen leaching mitigation initiatives, Ministry of Environment and Food.

2014-present: Chairman of the Danish chapter of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE)

2015-present: Secretary General of the Royal Danish Geographical Society

2007: Member of the Bachelor of Science Study Board, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen.
2002-2007: Chairman of the Danish chapter of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE)
2000-2010 Co-editor of Geografisk Orientering, journal of Geografforbundet
2000- 2005: Member of the International Land Use Society (ILUS)

Research projects and funding

2014-2015: Transformation of Peri-urban areas in Greater Copenhagen: a longitudinal study (Financed by University of Copenhagen)

2010-2014: VOLANTE-Visions Of Land Use Transitions In Europe. (EU 7^th Framework Collaborative Project). Responsible for Work Package 1: Decision making at the local level: understanding land transformation processes.

2010-2014: Team member of the YEMP (Youth and Employment) project. Responsible for Entrepreneur studies in rural Uganda,

2010: Team member of DANIDA funded research project. Assessment of the potential of Cassava as the basis for bioethanol production in SE Mali.

2008-2010: Seed money for 2 research clusters formation (“Klyngenetværk”) (Financed by University of Copenhagen)

2007: Urbanization of Danish rural parishes: a pilotstudy based on census data from Statistics Denmark (Funded by Centre for Strategic Urban Resarch)

2006: Team member of Galathea 3 project CLIP (Climate, livelihoods and production in the Southwest Pacific) in the Solomon Islands.

2006-2008: Interreg III project: Landscape as a resource (Funded by EU)
2005-2008: Recreation and production in peri-urban landscapes (Funded by Danish Outdoor Council)
2004-2005: Multifuctional landscapes and agriculture in Denmark (Funded by Centre for Strategic Urban Resarch)
2001-2003: ØFORSK (The landscape as a resource for health and and sustainable development in the Sound region) (Funded by Danish and Swedish Ministries of Environment)

PhD Supervision

Supervisor of PhD project by Expedito Nuwategeka: Indigenous knowledge in land suitability evaluation: opportunities for conflict prevention and social stability in Amuru district, northern Uganda (2017).

Master Thesis supervision

Supervisor of 25+ Master Thesises.

PhD Evaluation

2016: Head of Phd thesis Assessment committee: The transformation of Danish towns and regions in the knowledge economy: Industry, Employment and Uneven Development by Kalle Emil Holst Hansen, Copenhagen University

Other academic activities

1997-present: Peer reviewer for 10+ academic journals

Short presentation

My research focuses on rural development in a European and African context. In a European context, I study the changing role of agriculture in rural and peri-urban landscapes, the environmental impact of agriculture and the decision making process of farmers. In addition, I study the uptake level of different agri-environmental schemes by land owners in different locations. My field work has focused on Denmark but has also included European perspectives through joint EU projects.

In an African context, I have studied the challenges facing rural youth engaging in agriculture or non-farm economic activities with a focus on young entrepreneurs in rural areas in Uganda. In addition, I have been engaged in land suitability research in Botswana and Mali.