dr. KL (Kirsty) Holstead

Kirsty is a postdoctoral researcher for the Public Administration and Policy group at WUR. She works on the AQUACONNECT project, which investigates how we can transition water management practices in the Netherlands by storing more precipitation and using alternative water sources. As a native of a village in North East Scotland, she moved to the Netherlands in 2023.

She committed to academically robust and societally relevant research and action to support transformation to a more sustainable society. Within this, she is interested in the role of citizen collectives and governments in sustainability. Questions that animate her and her work what is the role of communities and practitioners in transition? What does addressing environmental concerns involve for them? What do they need, or how do they themselves need to change? And what are the outcomes? She answers these questions in water management, climate change, energy and agriculture, drawing on theories and concepts across environmental governance and public administration. Most recently, these include practice theory and street-level bureaucracy.

She completed her PhD at the University of St Andrews. From a community and practitioner perspective, she explored how citizens are involved in water service. She has an MSc in Environmental Management and an MA(Hons) in Political Science (from St Andrews and Edinburgh). Before beginning her PhD (completed in 2023), she worked in different sectors, including international development, education and research.

If you would like to find out more, start a conversation or explore opportunities to collaborate together, please feel free to contact Kirsty at kirsty.holstead@wur.nl. 

Find a complete publication list on her Google Scholar page by clicking here.