News on the topic Sustainability and society
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EU funds research project CircoMod EU for modeling the circular economy to mitigate climate change
21st March 2022With increasing populations and expanding wealth, global material consumption has seen a precipitous increase. These materials are often discarded after use (the so-called linear model). Moreover, the massive use and production of materials are also associated with the extensive use of energy. The emissions from structural materials are often difficult to decarbonise. As such, high levels of material consumption pose a major challenge for meeting climate targets. In this context, the circular economy (CE) has been presented as an alternative to the current linear model.
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EU funds research project BOLSTER to improve understanding of marginalized communities in the climate transition
02nd March 2022There is a mismatch between the understanding of marginalized communities, participatory governance and policy plans to achieve a just climate transition. This can lead to social and political opposition. The BOLSTER project, led by Tilburg Law School, aims to understand how marginalized communities are affected.
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Tilburg University and NRC Handelsblad launch crowdsourcing project
09th February 2022Starting today, NRC Handelsblad and Tilburg University are inviting garden owners across the country to leave a small piece of their garden well alone for four seasons. This means let all weeds grow, let fallen leaves and branches be, no watering, etc. Participants will discover what happens in this piece of garden and what it does to themselves. Researchers from Tilburg University will analyze the data that participants share, and the newspaper will report on this.
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Trouwborst in National Geographic: Polish border wall against environmental law
01st February 2022“One way or another, building a fence or wall along the (Polish-Belarusian) border without making it permeable to protected wildlife would seem to be against the law,” ArieTrouwborst says in the National Geographic magazine. He and other scientists fear the fence to stop migrants will be a environmental disaster.
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1.6 million for interdisciplinary project ‘Conflict in Transformations’
10th January 2022Urban Europe has awarded a grant of 1.2 million euros for the interdisciplinary research proposal ‘Conflict in Transformations’, which will be topped up by the research consortium partners with 0.4 million euros. The project studies whether and how political and legal institutions suppress or actively use conflict for transformation towards more sustainable cities.
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Social responsibility central theme of winners Tilburg University Challenge 2021
10th December 2021The Tilburg University Challenge 2021 has awarded all three prizes for the best business plan proposed by student teams to socially responsible ideas. During a livestream event on December 9th the Ideation Award went to Anouk van Anrooij and Daniel Gelsing for their healthy and fruity drink that is also sustainable. The Business Ready Award and the Audience Award went to Freek van Litsenburg, who, with Bigger Picture Clothing, sells clothing that is both sustainable in production and has a large social impact.
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How can we achieve energy transition in the neighborhood?
24th November 2021Between 2017 and 2020, Martijn Groenleer and Petra Hofman of Tilburg University worked on a regional research, learning and experimentation project called Social Innovation Labs Energy Neutral Housing Stock (SMILE). View the results here.
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The red energy performance label increasingly hurts home sales
15th November 2021The energy efficiency of one's own home is becoming increasingly important, even when selling. A study by the universities of Tilburg and Maastricht shows that non-energy rated homes (energy perfomance label red; F and G) homes are being sold at a growing price discount. The researchers analyzed NVM data from more than 450,000 housing transactions since 2018 and found a price discount that, for a single-family home, rose to more than 30,000 euros in 2021.
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Behavioral interventions have positive effect on environmentally conscious behavior
06th September 2021Can behavioral interventions improve environmental behavior, not only in the short term, but also in the longer term? Mirthe Boomsma gave a positive answer to this question in her research, for which she will obtain her doctorate at Tilburg University on Wednesday, September 8. Her research focuses on behavioral interventions in separation of waste and energy consumption
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KNAW honors 6 proposals from pilot fund ‘Science Communication: Appreciated!’
22nd April 2021Six submissions from Tilburg University to the KNAW pilot fund 'Science Communication by Scientists: Appreciated!’ have been awarded. TiSEM, TSB and TLS each have been awarded two proposals. 'Appreciated!' is meant for ongoing science communication projects being carried out by teams of scientists. Each team receives €10,000 and should consist of at least three scientists.
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Antarctica more widely impacted than previously thought
15th July 2020Reporting in the journal Nature, a research team including Tilburg University show where human activities have been conducted in Antarctica and uncover two main concerns: wilderness in Antarctica is decreasing due to an increasing 'human footprint' and biodiversity is under pressure because species mainly depend on areas that are strongly influenced by humans. However, much opportunity exists to take swift action.
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€ 1.3 million for research into managing Antarctic tourism
09th July 2020NWO, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, has approved a research proposal within the Netherlands Polar Programme submitted by Professor of Nature Conservation and Water Law Kees Bastmeijer of Tilburg Law School.
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Citizen sensing can be a valuable contribution to environmental risk governance
30th April 2020‘Citizen sensing’, grassroots-driven monitoring initiatives based on sensor technology, is a phenomenon that authorities increasingly encounter when dealing with an environmental risk. Although this form of citizen science is often driven by a conflict between citizens and authorities, both parties can actually benefit. That is one of the main findings of Anna Berti Suman’s PhD research, which she will defend in a livestream on May 8, 2020, at Tilburg University.
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Tilburg University involved in large multidisciplinary research into energy transition
13th December 2019The European Commission recently presented the European Green Deal, which sets ambitious goals and measures to achieve the Paris climate goals. The switch to a sustainable CO2-neutral energy supply is an important spearhead. The Tilburg professors Martijn Groenleer and Saskia Lavrijssen are both co-applicants for two large-scale multidisciplinary research projects that aim to accelerate the energy transition, supported by NWO with a grant of more than 10 million euros per project.
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Cats must stay indoors to protect wildlife, says European law
27th November 2019Free-ranging domestic cats harm biodiversity by killing wild animals, disturbing them, transmitting diseases, and in other ways. Legal experts at Tilburg University analyzed the nature conservation legislation of the European Union in light of the growing scientific evidence on cats’ wildlife impacts.
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The Brabant Environmental Scan from Telos/GGDs awarded
20th November 2019Telos, Brabant Center for Sustainable Development at Tilburg University, and the joint Municipal Health Services of the province of Brabant (GGDs) have together won the ‘Aan-de-Slag-Trophy 2019’ with their Brabant Environmental Scan (Brabant Omgevingsscan BrOS). The trophy is awarded annually to an inspiring project that prepares for the Environment Act (Omgevingswet).
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Can conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking be prevented?
12th November 2019In 2003, as a young legal scholar, Dr. Anne-Marie de Brouwer, currently a Research Fellow at Tilburg University, visited Tanzania and Rwanda. There she studied the workings of the International Tribunal that held those responsible for the Tutsi genocide to account and she observed the local Gacaca tribunals.
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Common approach towards wilderness protection in Antarctica urgently needed
21st May 2019Growing tourism in Antarctica is posing an increasing threat to the wilderness. In order to improve protection, the Antarctic Treaty Parties should take urgent action and find a common approach, says Dr. Antje Neumann.
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Economic knowledge and understanding aid environmental transitions
27th September 2018Inaugural address by Professor Herman Vollebergh
PERSBERICHT 27 september 2018 - Environmental concerns loom larger than ever before. While the Paris Agreement evinces an ambitious challenge, politicians are struggling to press ahead and in the Netherlands, too, it remains to be seen whether this climate agreement initiates the great leap forwards. At the same time, criticism of the science of economics is rising, fueled by Kate Raworth’s advocacy of ‘doughnut economics’. She argues that economists have next to nothing to say about the structural social changes deemed necessary, ‘transitions’, given their preoccupation with non-existing rational people in a too limited linear world. -
Climate-smart agriculture requires radical policy changes
11th December 2017PRESS RELEASE 11 December 2017 - At all levels of agricultural regulation – national, European, and international – important changes are required to be able to address the challenges of climate change. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is crucial, on the one hand, to mitigate climate damage to the agricultural sector and, on the other hand, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as increase the food production for the growing world population. However, the legal instruments to stimulate CSA are absent or are inadequately developed.