Sustainable prosperity

'Sustainable prosperity' is one of the four themes selected from the Theme-oriented Collaboration programme. This programme fulfils the ambition in UvA’s Strategic Plan to innovate research and education through collaboration, both between disciplines within the UvA and with external partners. The theme 'sustainable prosperity' focuses on sustainable, climate-proof progress by reducing the ecological footprint through behavioural change and by renewing materials and resources.

Projects

In summer 2022, budgets were allocated to the following three interfaculty studies:

Collective ownership in the Community Land Trust
Collective ownership in the form of Community Land Trust (CLT) has the potential to become a tool for the city of Amsterdam to improve the welfare of its residents in a sustainable way. CLT is an alternative vision of private land ownership. It is a non-profit, democratic and community-led organisation that typically develops and manages housing for disadvantaged members of society.

This project aims to develop the necessary interdisciplinary understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of CLTs. The project takes place in collaboration with a passionate community of local CLT change agents.
- Participating faculties: FdR, FMG, FGw and FNWI
- Contact person: Kinanya Pijl
Microplastic Emissions from Textiles in Amsterdam
Washing behaviour is often overlooked as part of the ecological footprint of textiles. Indeed, washing textiles causes the release of synthetic microfibres that end up in the environment in the form of microplastics.

This project will develop new, human-centred research methods to collect data on household emissions. The overarching goal of this project is to investigate how local behavioural changes can help reduce global pollution problems. In doing so, the team investigates how ‘citizen science’ leads to learning and engagement, and thus can encourage environmentally friendly behaviour.
- Participating faculties: FNWI, FMG and FEB
- Contact person: Lies Jacobs
Reducing the environmental impact of healthcare in Amsterdam through a co-creation systems approach
Healthcare has a significant environmental footprint. Assessing the environmental impact of healthcare processes is a crucial step in enabling a transition to sustainable prosperity, both within Amsterdam and internationally.

Within this project, several Amsterdam UMC intersectoral care pathways with high volume and potentially high environmental impact will be identified. Then, one care path will be mapped in detail (with a causal loop diagram), its carbon footprint will be quantified through a Life Cycle Assessment, and an Action Scales Model will be used to identify key levers for lasting change.
- Participating faculties: UMC, FMG and FEB
- Contact person: Niek Sperna Weiland