Dr Mara van Twuijver

Biography

Dr. Mara van Twuijver is a lecturer in the Department of Food, Business, and Development. Her research is focused on rural and community development, social entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial ecosystems, with a strong commitment to exploring how entrepreneurship—in its broadest sense—can drive sustainable futures for people and the planet.

Mara is involved in teaching across several undergraduate programmes and actively supervises bachelor’s and master’s thesis students during both research projects and placement-based learning. In the classroom, she brings together research and practical perspectives to foster critical engagement with real-world development challenges.

Mara earned her PhD as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow within the RurAction research network. Her doctoral research explored social enterprises and the vital role these organisations play in driving local development in rural communities. She is particularly interested in exploring post-growth and alternative development pathways that prioritise social and ecological well-being over economic expansion, and that foster resilience through locally rooted, community-led innovation. Her work places a strong emphasis on collective entrepreneurship and collective action, examining how communities mobilise shared resources, knowledge, and capabilities to drive inclusive and locally embedded change. Her work has been published in journal like the Journal of Rural Studies, Local Economy and the Journal of Social Entrepreneurship.

Prior to taking up her current position at UCC, Dr. Mara van Twuijver held a postdoctoral research position at Utrecht University, within the entrepreneurship section of the Utrecht University School of Economics. She completed her PhD at UCC as part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie-funded RurAction network. Before moving fully into academia, Mara gained experience at TNO—an independent Dutch organisation for Applied Scientific Research—where she contributed to applied research and innovation projects that connected public, private and civic partners. She also has a background in project management and product development across both public and private sector organisations. Mara holds an MSc in Strategic Management from Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

Mara is a member of EMES, the international research network on social enterprise, and actively participates in its Affinity Group dedicated to rural and regional perspectives on the social and solidarity economy and social innovation. This reflects her ongoing interest in how place-based entrepreneurship and collective action can foster more inclusive and regenerative development pathways.