Jannes Willems is an assistant professor in urban planning at the University of Amsterdam. He conducts research in the fields of urban climate adaptation, water management and infrastructure re-development. In his research, he examines how water and infrastructure managers initiate new collaborations with citizens, companies and other governments to jointly address challenges such as climate change. To this end, Jannes is using amongst others institutional analysis and discourse analysis. Jannes teaches in the bachelor programmes Human Geography & Planning and Future Planet Studies. He is one of the editors of the Dutch professional magazine Rooilijn and the European online platform In Planning. He also co-hosts the Dutch podcast Onder Planologen.
Previously, he was affiliated with Erasmus University Rotterdam as a postdoctoral researcher (department of Public Administration & Sociology). He was involved in the European Interreg project BEGIN and the KIMA research programme Marker Wadden. In 2019, he has started with Jitske van Popering a NWO SURF research into the platforms Amsterdam Rainproof and Water Sensitive Rotterdam. Jannes defended his dissertation in at the University of Groningen (Department of Spatial Planning & Environment) in 2018. His dissertation entailed institutional change in the Dutch waterway sector, in the light of replacing major ageing infrastructure assets.
Jannes obtained his Research Master in Regional Studies (cum laude) and his Bachelor Environmental & Infrastructure Planning at the University of Groningen. In 2015, he was a 'visiting student' at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (Environmental Policymaking & Planning group). During his master, he conducted fieldwork in Brazil as part of a research project of the Federal Universidade de Pará.
Qualitative methods: interviews, focusgroups, workshops, participatory observation
The role of water authorities in creating inclusive and climate-proof water infrastructures
Urban Food Commons: exploring the implications for the City of Amsterdam when (re-)considering food as a commons.
2022 Centre for Urban Studies seed grant: “Urban Food Commons”
2020 Contract research with three infrastructure providers: “Invitational Asset Management: improving participation in the renewal and renovation of infrastructure assets”
2019 NWO SURF Pop Up grant: “The New Normal: Mainstreaming urban climate adaptation in Amsterdam and Rotterdam”