Researchers of UNU-MERIT, the Maastricht Sustainability Institute and the Department of Chemical Engineering of Maastricht University have obtained a 1.5 million euro grant to contribute to an EU-funded project on plastic packaging recycling. The EU is allocating a total budget of 9.6 million euros for the SYSCHEMIQ project as part of the Horizon Green Deal programme. The project is intended to facilitate the systemic transition to a circular economy in the region. The project fits with the str...
Contributions from some 40 UNU-MERIT researchers and lecturers helped Maastricht University’s School of Business and Economics (SBE) claim second place out of almost 150 business schools in the Corporate Knights’ 2021 Better World MBA ranking. According to this latest global ranking, SBE is the #1 business school in Europe for sustainability, and the only EU-based school to feature in the Top 20. The ranking evaluated 147 business schools worldwide on their promotion of both social and environme...
Desertification may still seem like a far-off scenario for Dutch farmers, but it is a growing problem worldwide. The use of pesticides in agriculture, as well as the focus on monoculture, is depleting farmland to the point that it becomes lifeless land and ultimately desert. UM students Vincent and Laura Nieboer, inspired by their father, came up with an accessible concept to help farmers worldwide stop this process. They recently pitched their idea at the ‘Little Big Talks’ on the occasion of t...
On 17 March 2020, the Mayor of Amsterdam announced new measures to contain the coronavirus, including the closure of schools, restaurants, and cultural venues. In July 2020, researchers from the Migration, Transformation and Sustainability (MISTY) project sent an online survey to members of the Amsterdam City Research Panel asking them what impact the coronavirus crisis was having on their lives, set against the broader backdrop of sustainability (understood here in terms of social, economic, an...
The current pandemic is a fork in the road, highlighting the need for more sustainable economies and more resilient societies – a fact reflected in pledges made by the European Commission, the G20 group of nations, and various national governments to ‘build back something better’. In the policy brief below, we explain how a Bauhaus initiative can help build socially stronger and fairer societies when combined with a low-carbon economy. We were inspired by the plea for ‘a new European Bauhaus for...
‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution cannot function without high quality data, statistics and knowledge products, as these are fundamental for evidence-based policymaking and monitoring inclusive and sustainable industrial development.’ Fernando Cantu Bazaldua, Chief Statistician, UNIDO This was the guiding theme for an international working group tasked with launching a new index, which will measure the environmental, social and corporate governance performance of public and private sector entiti...
While the end of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet in sight, there is growing focus on the ways and means to build back better, by resetting the way we produce, consume, socialise and interact. What are the possibilities of tomorrow, and how can countries leverage them to reset their economies in the post-COVID world? The Future Possibilities Report 2020, which was released in partnership with the UN75 initiative, sets out to answer that question by identifying six transforma...
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Carlos Cadena Gaitán, a graduate of our PhD programme, has been named Transport Secretary for the City of Medellín, Colombia. Dr. Cadena Gaitán is a well-known transport and environmental activist. He is co-founder of La Ciudad Verde (the Green City) initiative, project coordinator of the Low Carbon City Forum, and various other artistic and cultural organisations. In recognition of his work, he received the ‘Future Sustainability Leader’ award in Oslo in Ju...
Recent economic theories posit that entrepreneurs are the missing link between abundant knowledge stocks and economic growth. Knowledge is uncertain; therefore, every entrepreneurial idea tested by a new firm is, in fact, market experiment. Innovative entrants introduce new products, develop new markets and drive technological evolution in regions. Lower entrepreneurial activity leaves some commercial possibilities unexplored and therefore may be detrimental to economic growth. For instance, res...