E.C. van Eck MSc (Emil)

Emil van Eck is a postdoctoral researcher for the Innovation Programme Active Living (IPAL) which works alongside partners in the Netherlands to stimulate physical activity participation in public space and vulnerable neighbourhoods.

The goal of IPAL is to identify the socio-spatial processes, environmental influences and power structures enabling and constraining physical activity participation. Emil's research centres on how spatial context matters for health outcomes and inequalities, focusing not only on how place affects health, but also on how health is structurally and affectively placed.

Emil completed his BA Honours (2017) and MA (2019) in human geography and urban studies at the University of Amsterdam. He has almost completed his PhD (2023) in human geography at Radboud University with dr. Rianne van Melik and dr. Joris Schapendonk. Emil's doctoral thesis is based on three years of ethnographic fieldwork in and around two outdoor markets in the Netherlands and focuses on the politics of public space through an integrated conceptualisation of mobilities, institutions, and representations. During his PhD, Emil served as a visiting researcher at the School of Geography of the University of Leeds (UK).

Emil is currently one of the main organizers of the GPE Seminar Series. The GPE Seminar Series brings together researchers from across Radboud University to discuss research topics that are related to Geography, Spatial Planning and Environmental Sciences.