The Green Care Research Collective (GCRC) Symposium at UMC Groningen on 29 and 30 October 2026 brought together scientists with diverse backgrounds to focus on sustainable healthcare and planetary health. Our ESCH-R PhD’s Joek van der Zwaan, Heidi Annala, Paula Götz, Alice Wu, and Jasper Klasen actively contributed to the scientific program. 

Paula presented her research on uncovering the complexity of transitioning to circular medical consumables, Alice shared her poster on buyers’ ability to implement sustainable public procurement, and Joek and Heidi co-hosted an interactive campfire session exploring the futures of sustainable healthcare. 

Joek and Heidi were also honored to receive an abstract award during the opening session. As a prize, their abstract was formed into a cartoon. 

One of the takeaways from the symposium was that achieving a climate-neutral healthcare system requires more than just technical innovations; it demands a fundamental shift in behavioral science, procurement, and systemic policy integration. Keynotes on green bioethics and planetary health emphasized the reality that we cannot sustain healthy populations on a sick planet, reinforcing the urgency of our ongoing efforts to rethink and reduce medical waste. 

The collaborative environment highlighted that overcoming practical implementation barriers, such as role tensions and knowledge gaps, relies heavily on interdisciplinary cooperation and shared strategies across healthcare providers. That is why our ESCH-R approach is so valuable.

The first annual symposium of the Green Care Research Collective (GCRC) took place on 29 and 30 October 2026 at the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) in Groningen, the Netherlands. Next year, the symposium will take place in Nijmegen.