The series of events was kicked off on 19 March with the webinar on ‘AI, Public Stack and Community’. The keynote address of Sander van der Waal on ‘Tech in the Anthropocene. How to design tech based on public values’, was followed by a community discussion, with contributions from the Anthropocene Navigators. Sander van der Waal is the current Connected World Senior Fellow in 2025 and research director of Waag Future Lab. Click here for the recording.
On 10 April, a live event was held at the VU Library Lounge on the theme ‘Theory, Re-thinking, Co-creation & Education’ with the keynote address by Sjoerd Kluiving (‘Towards a Multi- to Interdisciplinary Theory of the Anthropocene’) and speakers and workshop leaders Mathieu Blondeel, Renée Hartog, Thomas Meier and Guido van Koningsbruggen. See here for more detail.
A third event followed on 8 May on ‘Companies, Education and Sustainability’ with keynote addresses of Jorge de Sousa (‘A systemic care for our biosphere’), Renee Wansdronk (‘Solar energy, low exergy, zero emissions building concept’), Sjoerd Kluiving (‘Introduction Biomimicry’) and moderator Mathieu Blondeel. See here for more detail and here for the recording. From this event a new initiative has emerged: ‘On the road to Davos’, a biosphere inclusive appeal to the corporate business community, for which you can find more information here.
The fourth event on 17 June was titled ‘Inequality and Dialogue’ and held in the VU Library Lounge. Fatou Ndoye gave the keynote address ‘Building Trust Between Global North and South for Sustainable One Health Partnerships’ and contributions to an inspiration session were provided by Sjoerd Kluiving (book presentation ‘The hundred years' war on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi’) and Pepijn Brandon (‘The Ethics and Practice of Cutting Ties’). The event was closed off with a dialogue session held in VU-3D with moderators Miranda van Holland and Marije Luijtens. See here for more detail. And here for the presentation.
The ‘Finding Further Funds’ workshop led by Scott Hayes (VU-Grant Desk) on 8 July was aimed at researchers looking to enhance their grant-seeking skills in the complex and sometimes overwhelming funding landscape. See here for more information.
The semester was concluded with a webinar on ‘Decolonisation and Democratisation’ on 10 July and consisted of a keynote addresses by Shivant Jhagroe titled ‘Beyond green ‘as white’: from sustainability to ecojustice’ and Wim Manuhutu on ‘Epistemological Decolonisation from a historian’s perspective’, followed by a discussion moderated by Mathieu Blondeel. See here for more detail. And click here for the recording .
After the summer break, the Anthropocene Navigators will meet again for the sixth event on 11 September, titled ‘Conviviality, Fashion & Networking’. The in-person event will take place at the VU Library Lounge and consist of a keynote by Robert Fletcher on ‘The Conservation Basic Income’, and various workshops: by Jane Tynan and Emma Huffman on sustainable fashion, by Dries Daems on connectivity and fragmentation in human societies, by Jorge Sousa on the Regenerative Business Leaders Initiative and by Milica Mijailovic on the Burning Lowlands dream team and VR applications. See here for more detail.
In October, Scott Hayes (VU Grant Desk) is offering a second Finding Further Funds workshop, for which you can find more info and register here.
More events are coming up, on the road to Davos, with a Regenerative Business Leaders initiative as well as a second Navigating the Anthropocene meeting in early 2026.
The organisation team thanks everyone involved for their contributions, discussions and community building activities, wishes a good summer and is looking forward to welcoming everyone in the VU Library Lounge in September!
Do you want to join the community? You are more than welcome to attend the events, which are open to anyone interested. If you want to join the community or the Davos initiative and receive updates directly to your inbox, send an email to Sjoerd Kluiving.