Conference
Leiden Sustainability Conference
- Date
- Monday 7 December 2026
- Time
- Address
- PLNT
Langegracht 70
2312 NV Leiden
Want to help make Leiden University more sustainable? Are you a student, teacher, or staff member? Then join us to discuss and explore how we can make sustainability an integral part of education, research, operations and governance across our university.
Discover, learn and shape
Whether you're a student, teacher, researcher or staff member, this is an opportunity to:
- Discover sustainability projects already happening across the university and how you can get involved.
- Learn practical skills and approaches through interactive workshops on topics such as climate change education and institutional change.
- Shape the university's sustainability agenda by sharing your ideas, challenges and priorities with people working on change across Leiden University.
Join us
If you can't attend the whole day, no worries. You are free to join for individual sessions as well.
Programme
9.30 - 10.00: Registration
Registration, coffee and informal networking.
Hosts: Anne Urai & Luca Momigliano
10.00 - 10.15: Plenary opening
What does sustainability in Leiden University look like and where do we go from here?
Hosts: Marlies Nijemeisland and Timo Kos
10.15 - 11.00: Plenary keynote: A Coalition for Sustainable and Inclusive Wellbeing
Economic growth is not the right compass for society. This is not a new opinion: The Limits to Growth was published over five decades ago, and many publications have followed since. It is clear that the current economic system contributes to many of the ecological and social crises that society faces, yet the default narrative that “growth is good” remains ubiquitous. Why is this narrative so persistent? And how can it be overcome?
Rutger Hoekstra will argue that the dominance of the growth paradigm is based on a powerful, organic coalition of scientists, statisticians, politicians, institutions, media, and education that formed after the Second World War. These actors continue to perpetuate the “growth is good” narrative in an organic way. Rutger argues that enough post-growth knowledge has been generated over the past decades. He will provide guidance on how to consolidate this knowledge and create a powerful coalition to support Sustainable and Inclusive Wellbeing.
Host: Rutger Hoekstra
11.00 - 11.15: Coffee break
11.15 - 12.30: Shaping the Future of Sustainability at Leiden University (for everyone)
What should the future of sustainability at Leiden University look like? Building on the university’s current sustainability vision, we will explore which themes, developments, and ambitions should shape its future direction.
Through an interactive brainstorming session, participants will share ideas, bring together different perspectives, and identify priorities for further consideration. The outcomes will provide valuable insights for the future of the sustainability policy
Hosts: Marlies Nijemeisland & Anouk Zandbergen
11.15 - 12.30: Make Your Voice Heard: Student Advocacy Workshop (for students)
Climate change will shape our futures, affecting everything from security and health to economics and politics. Yet, it is still missing from many university programmes.
As one Crisis and Security Management student put it: “Climate change is one of the greatest security threats, so why isn’t it taught as one?”
In this hands-on workshop, you'll get to practice drafting and sending emails to your student representatives and Programme Committees, advocating for climate change to be better integrated into your curriculum.
Hosts: Jaco Mulliè & Karlijn Hogendoorn
11.15 - 12.45: Climate in Every Classroom: Practical Ways to Bring Climate Change into Any Course (for lecturers)
You don't need to be a climate scientist to teach about climate change. This hands-on workshop is for lecturers who want to connect their course to the climate crisis but aren't sure where to begin, especially those outside the natural sciences.
We look at a range of options, from small changes (adjusting an existing assignment) to medium-sized ones (adding readings and student-led discussion) to large cross-course collaborations, such as a climate negotiation simulation that pairs politics and science students. Participants leave with at least one concrete change they can make to their own course next semester.
Host: Gerrit Schaafsma
12.30 - 13.30: Lunch + networking
Stands with info: LUGO & PBU.
13.30 - 14.30: Lightning talks
- Jonna Hugsen: 10 years with LUGO - looking back and forward
- Claudia Libbi: Plant Based Universities
- Anne Urai: Green Manifesto
- Soemano Zeijlmans: The Effective Environmentalism movement
- Galileo Defendi-Cho: Cultivated Meat in Sustainable Food Systems
14.30 - 15.30: Community of Practice: Sustainability in Education (for lecturers and researchers)
Would you like to bring sustainability into your teaching? Or are you already working on it and curious about how colleagues approach it? Leiden University’s Sustainability in Education Community of Practice (CoP) brings together lecturers and staff to learn from one another’s teaching practice.
Meet colleagues from different disciplines, share experiences and discuss questions arising in your own teaching. Discovering approaches others have tried offers fresh perspectives on your teaching and opportunities to connect with colleagues for further exchange and collaboration.
At this first meeting, we will get to know one another and explore what the CoP can offer its participants. Which topics and challenges deserve attention? What would you like to learn from colleagues, and which experiences could you share? We will bring these ideas together and identify the themes participants would like to explore at future meetings.
Your input will help shape the CoP around what you and other participants need in your teaching practice from the outset.
This meeting is an opportunity to meet colleagues, bring your questions and help shape what comes next.
Whether you already have experience with sustainability in your teaching or are still exploring the possibilities, you are welcome to join.
Hosts: Anouk Zandbergen & Mick Methorst
14.30 - 15.30: How to Build a High Impact Climate Change Career (for students)
Your career can be one of the most powerful tools you have to tackle climate change - but some roles lead to vastly greater impact than others.
Leiden Alumni Soem Zeijlmans helps people and organisations identify where their efforts can make the biggest difference. He is a researcher at Giving Green, which has influenced over $63.5 million in donations to high-impact climate organisations. And he co-directs Effective Environmentalism, a movement that identifies the most impactful solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental problems.
Soem will discuss how to think strategically about climate impact in your career - what makes certain roles far more effective than others, where the most neglected and tractable opportunities lie, and how to calibrate your approach based on evidence rather than intuition.
Essential for anyone considering or already pursuing climate-related work, those wanting to assess whether their current career path maximises impact, or anyone interested in evidence-based approaches to environmental challenges.
Hosts: Soemano Zeijlmans
14.30 - 15.30: Sustainability and Biodiversity profiling theme (for researchers)
Biodiversity is an essential ingredient for a healthy planet, yet it is often overlooked at the same time as it faces growing pressures from human activity and land-use change. Understanding and protecting biodiversity requires collaboration across disciplines and perspectives. Through its Sustainability and Biodiversity profiling theme, Leiden University brings together research, education and expertise to address these challenges. Connect with others and find a new platform to discover opportunities and showcase your contributions to the space.
Host: Ester Segers
15.30 - 15.45: Coffee break
15.45 - 16.15: Bringing it together
Marlies Nijemeisland, the Sustainability Coordinator of Leiden University, shares insights uncovered from the participatory session on LU’s sustainability strategy and outlines what’s next for our community and what we can do in Higher Education to accelerate the transition to a sustainable future.
Host: Marlies Nijemeisland
16.15 - onwards: Drinks + networking
Free registration
Please register before 6 December 2026. Lunch, coffee, tea and sweets will be provided!
Register here