SENSE Symposium 2026 – Reimagining Sustainability: Connecting Systems, Challenges and Future Pathways

Reimagining Sustainability: Connecting Systems, Challenges and Future Pathways

Sustainability researchers are increasingly confronted with interconnected challenges that transcend disciplinary, sectoral, and governance boundaries. This one-day symposium invites PhD researchers from across the SENSE network to explore sustainability through a nexus perspective, examining the complex interrelations between environmental, social, economic, technological, and governance dimensions of sustainability.

The Symposium will be a place for students to bring their perspective on the sustainability nexus based on their ongoing research, discuss and learn others’ perspectives on the sustainability nexus, with a focus on SDGs and the post-2030 Agenda.

Participants will reflect on how their research contributes to addressing sustainability challenges across sectors and scales, spanning topics such as natural resources, food systems, water governance, energy transitions, biodiversity, climate adaptation, public health, digitalization, governance, economics, and social justice. Together, they will explore emerging priorities, innovative governance approaches, and future research pathways towards more sustainable and resilient societies.

Designed as an interactive and community-oriented event, the symposium will feature inspiring plenary sessions, a choice of thematic workshops, and dedicated networking opportunities. Bringing together PhD researchers, experienced academics, and representatives from policy, civil society, and the private sector, the symposium offers a unique space to exchange ideas, build interdisciplinary collaborations, and contribute to conversations shaping future sustainability pathways.

Join us for a day of inspiration, learning, and connection as we explore sustainability from diverse disciplinary perspectives. The detailed programme will be announced soon.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

Capacity is limited, secure your spot soon: REGISTER HERE

Programme

A community-oriented, reflective, and forward-looking symposium that brings together PhD researchers working on diverse sustainability challenges to explore connections, synergies, and trade-offs across sectors, disciplines, and scales. The event emphasizes dialogue, collaboration, systems thinking, and community-building among early-career researchers. The symposium also serves as a stepping stone toward the 2027 Groningen Sustainability Conference.

9:00 – 9:30  Welcome, Registration & Networking Breakfast 

9:30 – 10:45  Keynote address

• Emeritus Professor Joan Martínez Alier
  Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)
  

10:45 – 11:00  Break

11:00 – 12:30 Plenary panel ‘Sustainability, war and peace’

• Dr. Judith Verweijen, Assistant Professor of Political Geography, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University
• Laura Birkman, Director of the Climate, Water, and Food Security Programme, The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS)
• Dr Augusto Lopez-Claros, Executive Director and Chair of the Global Governance Forum

Moderated by: Dr. Jampel Dell’Angelo, Associate Professor of Water Governance and Politics, Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), VU Amsterdam

12:30 – 14:30 Community lunch & networking

14:30 – 16:00 Parallel Interactive Labs

• Crafting Your Research Story
• Reimagining Sustainability Futures
• AI & Sustainability

16:00 – 16:15 Coffee Break

16:15 – 17:00 Collective Reflection & Looking Forward

17:00 – 19:00 Networking Reception & Vision Gallery 

 

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS: ‘Voices from the Future’ Gallery

What will sustainability look, feel and sound like beyond 2030?

There’s no literature to review and no methodology to defend, just your imagination, we invite SENSE researchers, PhD candidates and participants to step into the future and explore sustainability through stories, images, sounds, data, objects and other creative forms. What might the world look like in 2040 if we succeed in addressing today’s sustainability challenges? What if we don’t? What unexpected transformations, tensions, technologies, behaviours or forms of cooperation might emerge? And what would people in the future say about the choices we are making today?

Your contribution can be hopeful, critical, surprising, provocative, humorous or deliberately speculative. It does not need to predict the future. Instead, we encourage you to use creativity to open up new possibilities, challenge assumptions and spark conversations about the pathways ahead. We are interested in the idea and perspective, not artistic perfection.

Read the full call & the submission guidelines here!

Submit your contribution via this APPLICATION FORM.

Deadline: 12 October 2026

SENSE Symposium Organizing Committee

Caterina Marinetti, IVM, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Dr. Jampel Dell’Angelo, IVM, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Bente-Sophie van Kalken, IVM, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Dr. Prajal Pradhan, University of Groningen
Utkarsh Khot, University of Groningen
Anne Warchold, University of Groningen
Eliza Cervantes Jaimes, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education
Mercy Hinga, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education
Tanyaradzwa Gumbo, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education
Eissa Alnufaily, Wageningen University & Research

Questions? Email us at symposium@sense.nl

 

Downloads: 

SENSE Symposium 2026 flyer: link

SENSE Symposium 2026 postcard: link

Call for Contributions flyer: link pdf; link png

Submission Guidelines: link