As of 1 November 2026, we are pleased to welcome Juliëtte van den Hil as external PhD Candidate. She will prepare a doctoral dissertation as part of the broader research project ‘Governing the Commons’, on the theme ‘Governing water quality in early modern Utrecht and Woerden’.

It is presumed that prior to the early modern period, the urban surface water in the Netherlands was of high quality. From the seventeenth century onwards, however, the water quality rapidly declined, among others due to population growth and expanding industries. The historical section of this project will use primary sources to explore how water quality was perceived and governed in two cities, Utrecht and Woerden, in this period of transition. Given the current prominent role of regional water authorities in improving the quality of surface waters, the study will devote specific attention to the cooperation between seventeenth-century regional water authorities and urban actors. The project subsequently explores whether this historical approach can offer a new perspective on how contemporary governance conditions may be improved to further support the realization of water quality goals and ambitions.  

Juliëtte explains: ‘As a history major turned attorney-at-law turned board advisor with a regional water authority, this research project firmly occupies the heart of the Venn diagram of my academic and professional interests. In my PhD-project, I will investigate how water quality was perceived and governed in cities in the seventeenth century, as well as the resulting lessons for contemporary water governance’.

Juliëtte van den Hil

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