As mentioned on the home page, I am Marie de Visser a 24-year old master student in Global Environmental History at the University of Uppsala. I realize this title might sound a little abstract to some, but the way in which I describe it, it is an interdisciplinary program which focuses (multiple disciplines – archaeology, history, social sciences, humanities) the complex relationship between humans and nature throughout history and how this shapes the now and future of sustainability. Before leaving for Sweden I finished studying the bachelor Management of International Social Challenges at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam.
Connection with Zeeland
My time in Sweden and my past projects (you can read about these on another page) made me realize how deep my emotional connection was to Zeeland, and how the landscape I grew up in had shaped me. The emotional connection I had felt to a specific place during these projects was so familiar to the feeling I know from being in Zeeland.
During my years of study I had always gone back to Middelburg whenever I wanted to enjoy the fresh sea breeze and the calmness. And even though Middelburg is still a city, there was a different atmosphere. It stood out to me that other people I met from Zeeland either distanced themselves from the province with power or loved it as much as I did. Zeeland had always been my place of peace, somewhere to go to whenever I needed to unwind. My friends and I always said to each other that when you enter Zeeland with the train from the ‘Randstad’, the light changes. Ever so slightly, but it changes. These simple things are the ones that connect me the most.
My connection probably also has to do with my father forcing me to look at details in the landscape from when I was little. Sometimes it was annoying, and I didn’t understand it whenever he stopped in the middle of the road to look at the smallest flower. But most of the time I was quietly enjoying these rides through the province with no destination or goal besides looking at the world around us. ‘Touring’ we call it, and up until this day I love this the most when being in Zeeland.
A specific connection to water became more apparent in a meeting of the course ‘Sustainable Art and Narratives’. At the beginning of the session the guest speaker asked us to introduce ourselves in the group, which is something you normally do without thinking about it: ”Hi, my name is Marie, I am 24 years old…”. Nevertheless, instead of introducing ourselves the traditional way, she asked us to say from which water we came. I immediately thought about the North sea and the Ooster and Westerschelde. However, as the introduction round continued, I soon found out from the different answers that it was more difficult for other people who did not grow up near a body of water to answer this question. It was like a second nature to me, and I almost felt the water flow through me. The dark green, cold and salty water at the beach in Vrouwenpolder.
Looking back, I think in that moment I realized that Zeeuwen are all connected through water. Water has shaped the landscape through history, and with that, has shaped her people. And water will continue to shape the landscape and her people in Zeeland in the future.
Now
Currently, I am back in Middelburg not only to write my thesis about this topic but due to the connection I still feel with Zeeland. I missed the sea, the fresh air and the different light and will gladly be ’touring’ through the landscape again.