ESCH-R Consortium

ESCH-R Community of Practice for Nurses and Educators
2025-12-11 16:00 - 17:00 UTC
Date: Thursday – 11 December, 2025
Time: 16.00 – 17.00
Location: Online
Language: Dutch
More details will follow!
Register here!

Workpackage 4: Meet Up
2025-12-11
Date: 11 December 2025 in the afternoon. More details will follow!

Workpackage 4: Co-Creation session
2025-10-28
Date: 28 October 2025. More details will follow!

ESCH-R Community of Practice for Nurses and Educators
2025-09-18 16:00 - 17:00
Date: Thursday – 18 September, 2025
Time: 16.00 – 17.00
Location: Online
Language: Dutch
More details will follow!
Register here!

Concentrated Impact – Rethinking Dialysate Delivery
2025-06-26 14:00 - 15:00
Date: June 26, 2025
Time: 14:00 – 15:00 (BST)
Location: Online
Join the online event via this link!
This session explores the unseen environmental impact of a critical component in haemodialysis: dialysate delivery. Among the two speakers is Jan (Chang-Lung) Tsai, ESCH-R PhD candidate at UMC Utrecht.
🔬 Talk 1: From Canisters to Carbon – The Environmental Footprint of Dialysate Packaging
Rodrigo Martínez Cadenas, bioinformatician at Fundación Jiménez Díaz and PhD candidate at UAM, investigates how everyday materials used in dialysis—like acid concentrate containers—can carry surprising environmental consequences. Using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) across 15 Spanish dialysis centers, he traces the environmental journey of these containers from production to disposal. With a background in data science and sustainability, and as a contributor to the EU-funded KitNewCare project, Rodrigo brings a fresh, systems-level perspective on how small operational choices can unlock big opportunities for greener kidney care.
🔄 Talk 2: EcoMixing for Change – Circular Solutions in Dialysis Delivery
Jan (Chang-Lung) Tsai, ESCH-R PhD candidate at UMC Utrecht, explores how circular design can transform the environmental footprint of dialysis care. With a background in biomedical and mechanical engineering, and years of experience in Taiwan’s medical device industry, Jan brings a practical and innovation-focused lens to sustainability. His talk centers on the EcoMix system—an in-hospital solution for dialysate delivery—and reveals what happens when hospitals shift from single-use logistics to circular infrastructure. Drawing from the ESCH-R project, Jan shares lessons from implementation and offers a glimpse into what greener dialysis could look like worldwide.
🧪 The talks will explore:

How dialysate delivery systems influence the sustainability of kidney care
The role of LCA in quantifying environmental impact
Circular economy solutions adapted for clinical practice
Practical pathways toward greener haemodialysis

🌍 Whether you’re in clinical practice, health systems management, engineering, or research—this session offers actionable insights into building a more sustainable future for kidney care.

ESCH-R Community of Practice for Nurses and Educators
2025-06-19 16:00 - 17:00
Date: Thursday – 19 June 2025
Time: 16.00 – 17.00
Location: Online
Language: Dutch
More details will follow!
Register here!

Symposium Sustainability by design: Embedding environmental care in the healthcare value chain and following Inaugural lecture Prof. dr. ir Erik van Raaij
2025-06-04
The following symposium is being organized to mark the occasion of the inaugural lecture of prof. dr. ir. Erik van Raaij.
Practical details
Date: Wednesday June 4, 2025
Time Symposium: 12.15 – 15.15 – with lunch during walk-in – Erasmus Pavilion, Campus Woudestein
Time Inaugural Lecture: 16.00 | Aula, Erasmus Building, Campus Woudestein
Spoken language: English
Register via this link.
In the face of global climate and environmental challenges, healthcare systems are being called to do more than deliver care — they must also care for the planet. This requires an intentional and concerted design effort from various stakeholders along the value chain. This symposium explores how sustainable procurement can become a driving force for planetary health, bridging clinical responsibility with environmental ethics.
Together with speakers Nicole Hunfeld (Erasmus MC), Alexandra Hammond (NHS England), JC Diehl (TU Delft), Carina Hilders (UMC Utrecht), Harald Tepper (Philips), Erik Vollebregt (Axon Lawyers), and chair Maike Tietschert (ESHPM) this symposium aims to foster meaningful dialogue and actionable insights — for a future where healthcare heals more than humans alone. More information and the exact programme (12:15-15:15 hrs.) can be found on the event page.
Policymakers, healthcare professionals, procurement specialists, and innovators are invited to join in reimagining how we source and supply for health — with tomorrow in mind.
The program brings together voices from across the healthcare ecosystem, spanning three key themes:

Innovation and Design – exploring circular strategies, sustainable product development, and system-level thinking for greener healthcare.
Practice and Procurement – focusing on real-world implementation, clinical leadership, and the transformation of procurement as a lever for sustainable change.
Policy and Regulation – addressing the frameworks, incentives, and regulations that shape the future of sustainable healthcare at national and international levels.

Together, we will explore:

What it means to purchase sustainably in healthcare today
How procurement decisions can align with the principles of planetary health
The policy shifts, collaborations, and innovations needed to drive sustainable transformation in supply chains

This symposium aims to foster meaningful dialogue and actionable insights — for a future where healthcare heals more than humans alone.
Inaugural Lecture prof. dr. ir. Erik van Raaij
Following the symposium, prof. dr. ir. Erik van Raaij will deliver his inaugural address, starting at 16:00 hrs. sharp, titled: ‘Purchasing tomorrow: Weaving planetary health into healthcare procurement.’

Workpackage 4: Meet Up
2025-05-13
Date: 13 May 2025 in the afternoon. More details will follow!

ESCH-R Webinar
2025-05-07 11:00 - 12:00
The ESCH-R webinar focuses on a specific theme within sustainable and circular health care, featuring insights from experts within the consortium. The webinars are interactive and designed to strengthen cooperation and innovation within ESCH-R!
This webinar will be hosted by dr. Nicole Hunfeld. More details will follow soon!
All consortium members are welcome to register!
Contact Maaike van Zuilen maaike@esch-r.org to register!

ESCH-R Webinar
2025-04-09 11:00 - 12:00
The ESCH-R webinar focuses on a specific theme within sustainable and circular health care, featuring insights from experts within the consortium. The webinars are interactive and designed to strengthen cooperation and innovation within ESCH-R!
This webinar will be hosted by dr. Maike Tietschert. More details will follow soon!
All consortium members are welcome to register!
Contact Maaike van Zuilen maaike@esch-r.org to register!

ESCH-R Community of Practice for Nurses and Educators
2025-03-20 16:00 - 17:00
Date: Thursday – 20 March 2025
Time: 16.00 – 17.00
Location: Online
Language: Dutch
With a presentation by Kim Verhaegh, PhD, RN | Lector Nursing Leadership from the Hogeschool Leiden & Alrijne Zorggroep titled: “Nursing the Planet: The Crucial Role of Nurses in Sustainable Healthcare”
And a presentation by Yara Gutter, Nursing student Hogeschool Leiden, titled: “The perspectives of nursing students and teachers on climate change & the educational needs for sustainable care delivery in hospitals.”
Register here!

Webinar: Sustainable procurement
2025-02-12 10:00 - 11:00
Mark your calendars! Projectboard Member and WP4 leader Erik van Raaij will host this webinar!
More details will follow soon.

Workpackage 4: Co-creation session
2025-02-11
During the co-creation meeting on Tuesday, February 11, the next steps in the co-creation process will be taken.
As discussed during the previous meeting in Amsterdam, the focus of this session will be on defining the future circular hospital ecosystem. Using two products as examples, the current and future actors, value propositions, interdependencies, and risks will be mapped. Additionally, the requirements for transitioning from the current to the desired situation will be explored, along with potential frictions that may arise during the process.

ESCH-R Science Day
2025-01-31
Location: UMC Utrecht, Gele Collegezaal Stratenum
Date: 31 January 2025
Time PAC Meeting: 10.30 – 12.00 (On invitation)
Time Science Day: 12.00 – 17.00
We’re excited to invite you to our first annual ESCH-R Science Day!
Since the beginning of 2024, we have been collaborating with industry to rethink and redesign medical consumables and packaging, following the 10-Rs circularity framework, to drive hospitals toward a circular future. How far has our research progressed? What educational resources and training programs on circular healthcare are already in place? Which products and services are now more circular?
Join us at Science Day for a comprehensive look at our accomplishments so far.
In the morning at 10:30 (prior to the start of the Science Day, the PAC (Project Advisory Committee) will also have its meeting (on invitation only).
Event highlights

Engaging updates from WP leaders, alongside PhDs and Postdocs
Reflective session with a societal partner
Podcast interview recordings!

Register here!

Webinar: Circular Strategies
2025-01-15 10:00 - 11:00
A new webinar!
Tamara Hoveling will host an online webinar about Circular Strategies. More details will follow soon!

Webinar - for Esch-R PhD's only!
2024-12-11 10:00 - 11:00 | Online
Our first webinar! Kicking off with Projectboard Member and WP5 lead Jan Carel Diehl.
The webinar is titled: “Welcome into the world of sustainable hospitals: A multi-level perspective on sustainability at Erasmus MC.”

Workpackage 4 - Hybrid meeting
2024-12-02
Location: Philips, Amsterdam
More details will follow!

Inaugural lecture Prof. dr. ir Jan-Carel Diehl
2024-10-11 15:00 - 17:00
The inaugural address of prof. dr. ir. Jan-Carel Diehl, will delve into the intersection of design for healthcare accessibility and environmental sustainability. Through a systemic design lens, he will present examples of innovative medical device solutions developed in both high-resource and low-resource settings. These examples illustrate the potential of systemic design in the context of inclusive sustainable healthcare.
Following the inaugural address, a reception will be held to celebrate the appointment as a professor at Delft University of Technology and a Medical Delta Professor at Erasmus Medical Center.
The ceremony will start at 15:00 hrs in the Aula of the TU Delft.

ESCH-R PAC – Project Advisory Committee
2024-09-27
The Project Advisory Committee meeting – invitation only

Seed call October 2024: Co-creating circular innovations for healthcare
2024-09-26
26 September 2024
Details pressure cooker: 26 September 2024, 09:30 – 17:00 (register before 19 September)
Deadline proposal: 18 October 2024, 17:00
The Institute for a Circular Society (i4CS) is excited to introduce the next round of Seed Funding. Are you a researcher at TU/e, WUR, UU or UMCU and passionate about advancing circular solutions through inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration and innovative research? Then this is your opportunity to team up with EWUU colleagues, develop collaborative projects and drive impact in the pursuit for a circular society.
This seed call is connected to i4CS’s theme Circular safe hospitals (CSH).
CSH’s mission is to stimulate the development of circular solutions for healthcare. This means that we are looking for solutions that close loops, take planetary boundaries as a precondition and contribute to social inclusion and justice.
This call will focus on the following topics (See Annex 1: Knowledge gaps and questions for more background information):

Circularity in procurement and contracting in hospitals.
Towards circular laboratories.
Circularity from the planetary health perspective.

With this seed call i4CS aims to:

Initiate and support innovative ideas and perspectives on developing circular solutions for healthcare;
Facilitate and stimulate collaboration with stakeholders from the healthcare sector, including professionals from the UMCU.
Stimulate and facilitate transdisciplinary* collaboration, including researchers of the four EWUU institutes and professionals from UMCU.
Address knowledge gaps encountered by the healthcare sector (see Annex). This way we aim to inspire academic research with direct societal impact.

* Research that integrates knowledge across academic disciplines and with societal stakeholders to address societal challenges.
Researchers can apply for a seed fund after attending a one-day pressure cooker session on 26 September 2024.
PRESSURE COOKER – 26 SEPTEMBER 2024; 9:30 – 17:00, UTRECHT
Researchers from the four EWUU alliance universities are invited to develop transdisciplinary research proposals that contribute to bridging the described knowledge gaps. To facilitate the development of relevant research proposals, i4CS will organise a 1-day pressure cooker session where researchers are facilitated to explore collaboration with professionals working in the UMC Utrecht and other researchers from the four institutes and develop research ideas together.
Pressure cooker agenda:

In the morning we will focus on getting to know each other better and on elaborating on your theme of interest and the knowledge questions from UMC Utrecht. Stakeholders in the healthcare sector, including professionals from the UMC Utrecht, will present their goals and action plans for a circular hospital and the questions and knowledge gaps that they encounter;
In the afternoon, you will have the opportunity to find collaborative partners. Stakeholders and researchers can collectively explore and discuss research questions and ideas related to the presented knowledge gaps. Researchers and stakeholders can join forces to develop transdisciplinary project ideas and begin developing their research proposal. The sessions are supported by the Centre for Unusual Collaborations.

During registration, you will be asked to select two topics of interest. During the pressure cooker, groups will be assigned based on your preferences.
We kindly suggest refraining from arriving with pre-formed groups and research ideas, as this seed call is not conducive to such an approach. Our intention is to cultivate a pressure cooker environment that fosters open-mindedness to new collaborations and innovative research ideas.
List of Participants (last update 08/07):

Joyce Browne (UMCU)
Expertise Global Health, Planetary Health, Climate Justice, Epidemiology, Transdisciplinary Collaboration
Joep Sprangers (UMCU)
Expertise: GreenlabsNL
Duygu Keskin (TU/e)
Expertise: Sustainable Business Models, Networked Innovation, Design Science
Yamine Bouzembrak (WUR)
Expertise: AI in food and Health
Maryam Tavakol (TU/e)
Expertise: Machine Learning

ONE-DAY TRAINING ON COMPETENCES FOR INTER- AND TRANSDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION – JAN 2025
Project teams that receive funding will be invited to participate in a free one-day training on competences for inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration. The course is not mandatory, but we strongly advise project teams to participate.
The training will contribute to:

Collaborating with other researchers that have a different disciplinary background.
Collaborating with societal stakeholders to create societal impact

TERMS AND CONDITIONS HIGHLIGHTS
(See Terms and Conditions document for full details).
Proposals are eligible to receive a grant if:

At least two researchers from the submitting team have participated in the pressure cooker;
Researchers from different disciplines and from at least two EWUU institutes are involved Involvement of more EWUU institutes, and more disciplines will be rated higher in the evaluation.

The proposal should include a clear plan for the process of collaboration that facilitates integration of knowledge across the different academic disciplines and with the stakeholders (e.g. professionals at UMC Utrecht), including how and when these stakeholders will be involved in the research project and the time investment that is expected of them.
The maximum budget is € 40,000 per proposal; four grants are anticipated. The grant money may be used for:

Hiring temporary researchers or other relevant staff;
Extending research time of existing staff (financing substitution of teaching);
Activities such as organising dialogue or scenario sessions, network building, action research, citizen science, stakeholder events, and best practice showcasing;
Materials and equipment needed for research;
Other costs directly associated with proposed activities (for example, travel costs).

The deadline for submission of proposals is 18 October 2024, 5 pm. More details will be provided at the pressure cooker session.
The proposals will be evaluated by a panel with members of at least three EWUU partners on added value of the collaboration, research quality and impact potential. We aim for a decision before 15 November 2024.
For more information see the Terms and Conditions Call for Projects CSH. Should you have any further questions at this point, please do not hesitate to contact circularhospital@umcutrecht.nl.

Sustainable in Healthcare Conference
2024-09-03 09:00 - 17:00
Time: 09:00 – 17:00
Location: De Eenhoorn, Barchman Wuytierslaan 2, 3818 LH Amersfoort
“From Ambition to Action: The Road to Sustainable Healthcare!” Under this title, the NFU and NVZ are organizing a conference on sustainability in healthcare on Sustainable Tuesday, September 3, 2024.

Round Table Thesis Lab Sustainable Healthcare & Medical Delta Café ‘Meer Met Minder’
2024-06-25 14:30 - 17:00
Time: 14.30 – 15.45 (Round Table); 16.00 – 17.00 (Medical Delta Café); 17.00 – 18.00 Networking
Location: Vakwerkhuis, Professor Snijdersstraat 2, Delft
Professionals, scientists and students everywhere are passionately working on more sustainable care. On June 25, they will share their successes, headaches and latest insights in two sessions.

ESCH-R Excursion – Medtronic
2024-06-18 - 2024-06-19
Medtronic, one of the industry partners in ESCH-R will organize an excursion to their facilities in Heerlen and Maastricht.
An opportunity to see their facilities and to discuss directly with them sustainability in healthcare!
For more information about Medtronic: https://www.medtronic.com/nl-nl/about/medtronic-netherlands.html
Tuesday June 18 – Heerlen
Visit Herleen Medtronic facilities (focus on distribution & supply chain)
Visit to distribution center + presentation of the site
Visit Service & Repair : discussions supply chain, repair and generator project
EMEA Delivery operations
Wednessday 19 – Maastricht
Visit Maastricht BRC facility (focus on product)
Topics to discuss:

LCA: challenges and opportunities
European Funded project
Regulatory challenges
Integrated Health Services presentation

Conference Sustainable and Circular Healthcare
2024-06-12 09:00 - 16:00 | Woerden, De Bleek 13, Woerden, Netherlands
How do you report on your climate impact? Discover solutions to your legal, financial, organizational and practical challenges. The green wave is on its way, now it’s time for practicality. Erik van Raaij and Harald Tepper are speaking at the congress.
Including the following speaker
Prof. Dr. Erik M. van Raaij
Professor of Sustainable Procurement in Healthcare
Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management
& Rotterdam School of Management
Erasmus University

Inaugural lecture Dr. M.P. (Pilar) Garcia Gomez
2024-05-31 08:00 - 17:00 | Erasmus University, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, 3062 PA, Netherlands
Dr. M.P. (Pilar) Garcia Gomez will be appointed as professor of Applied Economics, with a focus on Health and Labour, at Erasmus School of Economics, on Friday, 31 May 2024.
The title of the inaugural lecture is: Health and Socioeconomic Status – An Intimate and Enduring Relationship
The ceremony will start promptly at 16:00 hrs in the Aula of the university (Erasmus building), Burgemeester Oudlaan 50 Rotterdam.
Or click here to watch the livestream

EWUU alliance Lunch & Learn Lecture: Co-Creation Living Labs for Circular Healthcare
2024-05-23 12:15 - 13:00 | Online
Are you a researcher, teacher, student who is interested in transdisciplinary collaborations? Every month the EWUU alliance organises a lecture about research and education of the alliance. May’s lecture is organised by the institute 4 a Circular Society. (i4CS).
