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Plastic is onmisbaar in onze samenleving, het lost problemen op maar veroorzaakt ze ook. Startups die deze problemen proberen op te lossen door zich in te zetten voor de transitie naar circulaire plastics kennen vele uitdagingen en niet alle innovaties komen hierdoor op de markt. Met het project plesTic Ready wil Noord-Nederland daar verandering in brengen met een nieuw te ontwikkelen, multidisciplinaire plesTic-aanpak. 

Op een verrassend koude vrijdagochtend 27 maart vond in het Werelderfgoedcentrum Waddenzee (WEC) te Lauwersoog het symposium “Verbeeldingen van de Wadden” plaats: een samenwerking tussen het Environmental Humanities Network, de Rudolf Agricola School en het Programma Gastheerschap, dat een duurzame omgang met de Waddenzee nastreeft. Tijdens deze dag werd in verschillende sessies ingegaan op de vele manieren waarop wij de Waddenzee verbeelden en beleven, en hoe die verbeeldingen samenhangen met de manier waarop we die beheren en de natuur er al dan niet beschermen. 

Waar ooit bussen werden gestald, komt een plek voor innovatie, samenwerking en  talentontwikkeling. In Emmen is vandaag officieel gestart met de bouw van het  Innovatiecentrum van Greenwise Campus. Het circulaire gebouw wordt het  kloppende hart van de campus. 

New Fellows, successful projects, interdisciplinary education, and major events - highlights from the RAS community in 2025.

Lucy Avraamidou and Luana Silveri Secure €1.2M EU Horizon Funding for Project on Youth-centric Mobility

Wij kijken terug op een zeer geslaagde bijeenkomst. De open gesprekken, inhoudelijke bijdragen en actieve deelname lieten zien hoeveel energie en bereidheid er is om samen werk te maken van de circulaire transitie. We kijken uit naar de mooie ontwikkelingen en samenwerkingen die hieruit voortkomen en die de komende periode verder vorm zullen krijgen.

It is not easy to determine how much people have been exposed to a disaster, pandemic, or shocking event. What counts as exposure, and how do you measure it? And once you have done that, how do you assess its impact on people’s well-being or health, knowing that many different factors can influence the outcome? Even when effects seem obvious, researchers must be careful.

Our fellow Prof. Michel Dückers wrote an article on this topic, inspired by the work of the namesake of the Rudolf Agricola School.

Namens de RAS delen wij graag de volgende uitnodiging voor een symposium, georganiseerd door onze onderzoeksgroep Environmental Humanities Network. Voor vragen kunt u contact opnemen met dr. Femke Kramer (ehn@rug.nl).

Na een jarenlange voorbereiding is er recent definitief groen licht gekomen van SNN voor het project Noord-Nederland verdient Circulair 2.0. 

According to Leah Henderson, it is crucial that we uphold the principle that scientific research is based on evidence. She is a professor by special appointment in Societal Trust, and affiliated with the Rudolf Agricola School of Sustainable Development. Henderson studies how we communicate about science. ‘Nowadays, you often hear people say: ‘’Science is just another opinion.’’ I completely disagree with that.’

Nature, who doesn't love it? And yet, structurally, too little money is allocated to it. Jesper Beverdam, like his supervisor Dr Frans Sijtsma, is a nature lover and trained economist. In his PhD research, within the Rudolph Agricola School for Sustainable Development and the M20 programme, he is investigating how financial instruments can be adapted or developed to stimulate nature financing. Part of this research concerns the extent to which citizens themselves are willing to contribute to nature conservation.

With great pleasure we announce that the Responsibility, Language, and Communication (RESPONSUS) research group has published a new position paper, “Critical Language Awareness as a Future Imperative: Seeing the ‘Water’,” in Frontiers - Communication.

Challenge-based, interdisciplinary, and society-oriented education. That’s what the Summer Schools are all about, co-organized by the Schools for Science & Society. The participants and lecturers, each with very different backgrounds, bring together a wide range of perspectives. ‘That diversity leads to a broad range of solutions to societal challenges.’

The awaited annual symposium of the Rudolf Agricola School for Sustainability Development took place last Monday, 27th October, at our very own House of Connections. Despite the rainy day, Fellows of the Rudolf Agricola School joined interested staff, PhD candidates and students from various faculties within the University of Groningen, but also from other institutions around the globe. We all gathered to discuss the role and relevance of the university in the 21st century. A topic that is especially relevant currently, when the world, the Netherlands and our northern regions are facing multiple challenges and to which the university, as an important societal impact partner, can bring about solutions.

The first episode of the podcast Wijze Raad is now available. In this new series from the Rudolf Agricola School for Sustainable Development, pressing societal issues are at the forefront. In the first season, we explore the pros and cons of billionaires. Are economic inequalities spiraling out of control? Or are billionaires actually the driving force behind innovation and progress?

Financial institutions and multinationals manage enormous cash flows. This means they play a central role not only in the global economy, but also in major political and social developments, such as the energy transition, international sanctions and geopolitical conflicts. Sometimes their influence is downright problematic. Banks can, consciously, facilitate cash flows to authoritarian regimes or companies that contribute to pollution. In such cases, the ethical boundary is clear. But there are also situations in which responsibility is less clear-cut. Can you hold a financial institution morally responsible for something it is not aware of?

During the three-day event “Speeding up the SDGs and shaping a more ambitious post-2030 agenda” at House of Connections in Groningen, participants discussed the future of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It quickly became clear that the world of 2025 looks very different from that of 2015, the year the goals were established. How should we move forward? A recap from the plenary closing session of the event.

As the world enters the final stretch before the 2030 deadline for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the University of Groningen is hosting a key workshop on ‘The Future of Sustainable Development: Understanding the interplay between society, business, and policy for accelerating SDGs and beyond.’ The three-day event, running from 6 to 8 October at the House of Connections, is hosted by the Rudolf Agricola School for Sustainable Development.

A future-proof university cannot exist without anarchist and utopian thinking. That is what Elke Van dermijnsbrugge, researcher and lecturer at NHL Stenden and specialist in educational science and radical change, argues. On October 27, she will be the keynote speaker during the event 'Make it happen’ at House of Connections. There, participants will discuss the role and relevance of the university in the 21st century. Van Dermijnsbrugge: ‘What is really at stake if we decide to do things differently from the bottom up?’

We live in an era of destructive leaders. During European Researchers’ Night, Alette Smeulers, professor of international crimes, delves into the minds of so-called ‘strongmen’. What makes their leadership so destructive, and how can we understand what drives them? A preview of the science festival on September 26.