How can archaeological datasets reveal the interplay between past indigenous understandings of the surrounding world and resilient and sustainable ways of life in the Isthmo-Colombian Area?

The production of sustainable energy can take up to 1000 times more space than fossil fuels, environmental researcher Paul Behrens concludes in a publication in Energy Policy. Various media reported on this remarkable outcome.

This study attempts to understand how indigenous community institutions pose an important role in sustainable community-based development, including the integration between local culture and development.

As young people’s friendships improve, their mental resilience also increases. This is according to research conducted by Anne-Laura van Harmelen, Professor of Brain, Safety and Resilience at Leiden University.

Depression and anxiety disorders among youth are causing major problems worldwide. The mechanisms involved are still unknown, however. Moji Aghajani – Assistant Professor at the Institute of Education and Child Studies - aims to provide new insights with his research

What is the effectiveness of two school-based skills-training programs in promoting mental health?

Do general practitioners recognize children with or at risk of problematic anxiety and is there a pattern that might help differentiate those with and without anxiety disorders in general practice?

Gold Matters: Sustainability Transformations in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining: A Multi-Actor and Trans-Regional Perspective.This project explores whether a transformative approach towards sustainability can arise in Artisanal and Smallscale Gold Mining (ASGM).

Many students are finishing their master thesis on sustainability this summer. In this blog, we reflect on their topics, approaches, and goals by highlighting theses from Governance of Sustainability, European Law, Global Archaeology, Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence, Industrial Ecology, and…

Anne-Laura van Harmelen has received a Vidi grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This talent programme will enable Van Harmelen to research the social and neurobiological mechanisms of resilience in young people with childhood trauma.

Why does it turn out to be so complicated to solve sustainability issues if everyone ‘knows’ about these problems? This was the central question in a masterclass on Sustainability for alumni provided by Leiden scientists active in public administration and environmental sciences.

How can you do your bit for sustainability? Students from Leiden University have launched an interactive website with 150 sustainable initiatives in and around The Hague. The website Sustainable The Hague makes it easy to find a sustainable shop, restaurant or community initiative in your local area…

Stress among students is a growing problem. A new Student Wellbeing taskforce will be looking at the mental health of students at Leiden University.

How do you know if your idea has succeeded? The Queen coming to call a year and a half later might just be a clue. This happened to the Leiden student foundation ‘Door Het Geluid’, which promotes student well-being.

Conducting research for the municipality: this is a deliberate choice for the master’s students who are taking part in the Resilient Cities Hub, part of Learning with the City. Nina Ruig and Marron Loods are two such students. They are researching sustainability issues for the Municipality of Leiden…

CitiObs will consolidate and apply tools and practice-based knowledge for co-creating data, knowledge and local action regarding the environmental impacts of climate change and human activity in the urban context via Citizen Observatories.

Leiden researchers and partners have been awarded a 1.3-million-euro grant to produce milk protein for vegan cheese using fungi.

This thesis examines enzyme domain architecture and engineering to improve the breakdown of lignocellulose and starch, abundant biopolymers crucial for sustainable biofuel and biochemical production. Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) facilitate this degradation, but the structural complexity of…

More attention for internationalisation, diversity, but also the mental health of students: that’s what Marleen van Dorst would like to see change. As of 1 September, she will be the new assessor of the Faculty of Science.

The E2CB programme has been launched to bring CO2 emissions to zero by 2050. The goal: to produce all raw materials for the chemical industry from sustainable sources. Professor of Electrochemistry Marc Koper is involved in the project.

A public symposium was held at Leiden University on 20 February on a hot topic: renewable energy. This is the second time in a year that the University has organised such a symposium. The previous one, about Artificial Intelligence, was a big success.

Digitalisation can make a huge contribution to a greener future, but it must also be as sustainable as possible. To make significant progress, more collaboration and national leadership will be needed. Leiden University has therefore signed the Digital Sustainability Manifesto, which was presented on…

Prof. Arnold Tukker, Scientific Director of the Institute of Environmental Sciences Leiden (CML), visited the Center for Sustainable Development Goal Studies (SDGs Center) as part of a trip to Asia. The SDGs Center is a Center of Excellence at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, Indonesia, with which…

Food production in the Netherlands is an economic success but has led to many environmental issues, including nitrogen pollution. Recently, the policy to allow economic growth while reducing nitrogen losses was disapproved by the highest court in the Netherlands, casting the country into a nitrogen…

Every January, students of the Minor Sustainable Development have the opportunity to put what they’ve learned over the last few months into practice in a choice of exciting and practical courses called Area Studies. This year, for the first time, there was a choice of four locations: The Netherlands,…

The research group headed by Leiden chemist Marc Koper has discovered a catalyst that minimizes the production of chlorine gas during salt water electrolysis. The invention can enable the direct production of hydrogen from seawater. The article has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical…

Can epigenetic changes explain associations between early life stress and health outcomes?

Leiden students working to solve a sustainability problem at the request of an external party: that is the Sustainability Challenge. During a recent symposium, 28 groups of four to five students unveiled their solutions. The commisioners expressed great enthusiasm.

The sixth edition of the lecture series Duurzaamheid & Recht was held during the last semester. Once again, it attracted many students.

The Young Academy Leiden strives to connect young academics with each other and strengthen their position within the University. It goes without saying that mental health is a topic that cannot be ignored here. That is why that was the theme of an again successful Young Faculty Lunch, this time at the…

A Leiden Groningen student team has reached the European finals of the BISC-E competition. In this annual competition students have to come up with a sustainable solution to a major social problem. The team invented Suckerspheres: a natural alternative to the plastic microbeads that are still widely…

A new Horizon 2020 project has been awarded to Mingming Hu and Jeroen Guinée of the Department of Industrial Ecology of Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML).

On 26 February, the new book ‘Corporate Sustainability’ was presented in the Academy Building of Leiden University. Authors Tineke Lambooy, Bas Rombouts and Marit Bosselaar spoke about their contributions. Marlies Nijemeisland, Sustainability Coordinator at Leiden University, received the first copy…

The first generation of Governance of Sustainability master's students has graduated. They received their diplomas during a festive ceremony at Wijnhaven on 17 September. And they will not be the last: The master's programme is only growing in popularity. ‘We are very proud of our first graduates, especially…

Green spaces boost mental health—especially in busy cities. A new study from Leiden and Stanford University reveals how nature benefits urban well-being and offers low-cost ways to make city life healthier for everyone.

Is Europe skilling for sustainable food?

Monday 5 September the eighth edition of the interdisciplinary Minor Sustainable Development started. With 65 students coming from more than 20 different disciplines we've a record number of students and backgrounds.

People already diagnosed with a mental disorder before the COVID-19 pandemic did not show a disproportionate increase in symptoms afterwards. This is one result from the first systematic review of longitudinal studies following their study population from before to during the first eighteen months of…

Make a difference! Join the interdisciplinary Minor Sustainable Development and learn everything about the challenges we are facing and how to find solutions. Discover your sustainable future!

Are you writing your thesis this semester? Choose a sustainable topic! To help you get started, Leiden University Green Office has made a guideline to write your thesis about a sustainable topic. Find examples, a step-by-step plan to follow and our reasoning behind this project! Or, did you recently…

The moment is there: LUGO can finally announce the winner of the Sustainability Award 2020!

The number of students suffering from stress and anxiety has decreased slightly compared with 2021. But around half still suffer from mental health problems. This is according to the National Mental Health and Substance Use Monitor.