Develop a tool to assess land tenure, access to land and, and land tenure conflict in Timor-Leste

To deliver a Virtual Sensor tool optimised to exploit the synergy between Sentinels 2 and 3 to allow the consistent retrieval of land surface parameters (Albedo, LAI, and LST); To extend the existing capabilities of land EO data assimilation tools to add capacity to handle data in the thermal domain…

A global synthesis of the extent, diversity and patterns in off-site fire use by historically documented and current hunter-gatherers with the remit of this study in the deeper past.

This socio-legal research focuses on the impacts of environmental displacement on land rights and land-related conflict in Mozambique in the aftermath of cyclone Idai, and on the role of the legal framework in addressing these problems.

On 24 September 2020, Bernardo Ribeiro de Almeida defended his thesis 'Building land tenure systems: the political, legal, and institutional struggles of Timor-Leste'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. A.W. Bedner. Co-supervisor was Dr. C.I.M. Jacobs.

On 9 January 2019, Willem van der Muur defended his thesis 'Land rights and the forces of adat in democratizing Indonesia'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. A.W. Bedner and Prof. dr. J.M. Otto.

Aim: To develop and enable application of a practical, flexible, user-friendly platform to provide the scientific community with a tool to generate land surface products and its associated uncertainties and exploit these for data-intensive science.

Promotores: Prof. dr. G.R. (Geert) de Snoo, Dr. E. (Ester) van der Voet

Promotores: W.T. de Groot, M. Tchuenté, Co-promotor: J.P. Cheylan

Presenting case studies by both senior and emerging scholars, it makes mandatory reading for anyone interested in the challenges of governance, citizenship and development faced by the people of India’s North East.

In The Holy Land in Observant Franciscan Texts (c. 1480–1650) Marianne Ritsema van Eck analyses the development of the complex Observant Franciscan engagement with the Holy Land during the early modern period.

This research investigates the changing landscape and land use in two case studies of the coastal villages of St. Kitts and the Kalinago Territory of Dominica. By integrating human and ecological aspects of agrarian landscapes, this research analyzes how land degradation or land change impacts cultural…

Promotor: J.A. van Veen, Co-promotor: E.E. Kuramae

This project explores the decline of shifting cultivation in Northeast India. What is the impact on society of people’s deepening engagement with markets and the state?

In the contemporary myriad of definitions and approaches of landscape, the starting points and limits of the concept of landscape biography are being explored, but also tested in this thesis. What exactly is a landscape biography? What does it constitute of? Is landscape biography just a narration of…

Promotor: G.R. de Snoo, W. Kustiawan, Co-promotor: H.H. de Iongh

Anthropology of Law in Muslim Sudan analyses the hybridity of law systems and the plurality of legal practices in rural and urban contexts of contemporary Sudan, shedding light on the complex relation between Islam and society.

The research focuses on the understanding of symbolic stratigraphy of the land (through time) from the worldview of the People of the Rain (one of the Indigenous Peoples of southern Mexico), by studying contemporary cultural heritage in communities of the Mixtec Highlands.

Known technical issues that still need a definitive solution.

On 23 June 2020, Santy Kouwagam defended her PhD-thesis 'How lawyers win land conflicts for corporations: Legal Strategy and its influence on the Rule of Law in Indonesia'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. A.W. Bedner and Prof. C.E. von Benda-Beckmann.

Here you'll find an index of all articles and issues published so far.

Muge Özoglu defended her dissertation on 5 December 2018

Christopher Green defended his thesis on 26 February 2020

An overview of all special issues published by The Hague Journal of Diplomacy.

How does the commodification and re-appreciation of the contiguous uplands of Northeast India, Bangladesh and Burma/Myanmar transform the relationship between these states and their upland citizens?

The project Deconstructing Stability aims to improve reconstructions of late prehistoric landscapes and predictive models for the purpose of archaeological heritage management.

Land conflicts between farmers and government authorities or large plantation businesses are an everyday occurrence in many countries in the Global South. The same is true for Indonesia where thousands of land conflicts have been going on for years without a solution being found. In these types of conflicts,…

Inequality and violence are the two biggest issues in South Africa. What is the underlying cause? Could they be linked to rivalling groups, economic factors, government policy or all of the above? To understand social issues, it is important to study them within their context. The extended case study…

IBL-researchers revealed in a new study that insects are successful on land because their eggs became protected against desiccation. An extraembryonic membrane in the egg, the serosa, helped insects to make the transition from water to land.

How can Indonesia’s Ombudsman in the Regions be strengthened?

This book addresses the definition of history and how people are influenced by it.

The project ‘Between the Holy Land and the World’ proposes a connected history of the Christian communities in the Near East (1900-1948) by means of a study of unpublished Franciscan and Dominican photographic collections.

Who has control over which piece of land? Since independence in 2002 East Timor has been struggling to create a land tenure system that can deal with the grievances of past colonial ruling and conflict, and address the needs of its citizens, says researcher Bernardo Almeida. PhD defence on September…

What happens if a Member State decides to withdraw from the European Union? The “Brexit Charts” aim to provide information on the withdrawal procedure under Art. 50 TEU, on the legal consequences of leaving the EU and on the future relationship of the withdrawing state with the European Union.

Port City Futures is an initiative of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities collaboration. The program investigates the evolving socio-spatial conditions, use and design of port city regions, in particular exploring areas where port and city activities occur simultaneously and sometimes conflict.

The question of land property titles is a common source of conflict between indigenous communities and federal authorities all over the Americas. A new Panamanian law have led indigenous communities to reach out to archaeologist Dr Natalia Donner. A grant from the Centre for Indigenous American Studies…

Willem van der Muur's article on Indonesia's recent recognition of indigenous land rights was published by New Mandala.

What is the impact of Indonesia’s democratization process on everyday state-citizen relations?

New research report and policy brief by Carolien Jacobs (VVI) and Bernardo Almeida (VVI)

This special issue of Politique européenne 2019/4 (N° 66) contains, among others, a contribution by Astrid Van Weyenberg.

Migration is an important topic of academic, public and political debate. Migration research generates a wealth of articles. The Journal of Migration History (JMH) is the first to specialize in the field. Articles on migration history either appear in journals that specialize on current issues, or in…

Bernardo Almeida will give a webinar on Building land tenure systems in Timor-Leste on February 18, 2021, from 15.30 - 17.00. This webinar is organised by the KITLV.

On 10 June 2022, a conference on topical issues in Dutch subsidy law was held at the Old Observatory building of Leiden University. With almost 90 enthusiastic participants, it was a huge success!

To increase the accuracy of climate models, it is crucial that they include past human land-use and human-driven vegetation changes. Here archaeology can make an important contribution. Current models are based on reconstructions of past vegetation. However, their accuracy is limited because it does…

Law firms play a dubious role in important land disputes in Indonesia. They act as fixers and settle conflicts to the advantage of large companies. PhD candidate Santy Kouwagam studied their modus operandi. PhD defence on 23 June.

Population growth, economic expansion and the associated land use caused an increase in the number of bird species facing extinction and a reduction in carbon storage worldwide. These are the findings of an international team of scientists, also from the Leiden University Institute of Environmental…