We’re excited to invite you to our second annual ESCH-R Science Day! Join us for an engaging exploration of our progress and achievements to date! The main theme of this day will be: Green Beyond Borders.
Date: Friday February 6, 2026
PAC meeting (on invitation only): 10.00
Science Day: 11.00 with lunch
Location: Academiegebouw | Universiteit Utrecht | Domplein | Utrecht
Who can participate?
Anyone with an interest in circularity in healthcare is welcome to join us! Additionally, all consortium partners are warmly invited to participate in our Science Day. Make sure to share this post within your network!
Since the start of 2024, we have been working closely with our partners to rethink and redesign medical consumables and packaging, following the 10-Rs circularity framework, with the aim of propelling hospitals toward a circular future. How far have we come in our research? What educational tools and training programs on circular healthcare are already available? Which products and services have become more circular?
Event highlights
- Inspiring keynote: Fresh insights shaping the future of circular healthcare
- Engaging ESCH-R updates: Discover what we have achieved and what’s coming next
- Interactive ESCH-R Café: Connect through dynamic speed-dating sessions and spark new collaborations
ESCH-R Podcast with Mark Lazeroms and Janny Boekhout from Medtronic – coming soon!
Our fifth ESCH-R Podcast with Medtronic – Circular Innovation: How Medtronic & Hospitals collaborate – is coming soon!
This episode, hosted by Nicole Hunfeld (ESCH-R Principal Investigator) and Dimitry Vleugel, features Mark Lazeroms, Director Of Engineering, and Janny Boekhout, Sustainability Manager Benelux, from Medtronic, discussing developing groundbreaking technological solutions for healthcare. What role does circularity play in this? And how does Medtronic, as a large internationally operating company, collaborate in this area with hospitals such as Erasmus MC and UMC Utrecht?
International cooperation for Green Healthcare
Last week, Nicole Hunfeld (ESCH-R PI) was proud to join a Dutch delegation in Beijing, where the working groups of the Sino-Dutch Green Hospitals Project met to celebrate the progress achieved and to launch the next phase of cooperation, focused on accelerating and scaling up the implementation of successful pilot projects.
The project has brought together health professionals, academics, medical product suppliers and government representatives to work on 4 priorities.
Watch the recording of the fourth ESCH-R Community of Practice for Nurses and Educators
The fourth Community of Practice for nurses and educators, moderated by Lector Dr. Kim Verhaegh (WP6), took place on Thursday 11 December, 2025.
Maartje Vletter, MSc, PhD candidate at the Centre of Expertise in Health Innovations (Kenniscentrum Zorginnovatie) at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and researcher within the ESCH-R consortium, presented the results of a qualitative exploration of good practices for implementing and embedding ‘sustainability’ and ‘planetary health’ in the curricula of vocational (mbo) and university-level (hbo) nursing programmes and medical school programmes.
Jiske van der Giessen, MSc, nurse, nursing scientist, and PhD candidate within the project “Samen de Zorg vergroenen”, presented the Greening Guide (de Vergroeningsgids), which includes 21 evidence- and practice-based sustainability interventions, and explained how their implementation is being approached at the national level.
WP4 Online meet-up
The online meeting began with a reflection on the R-ladders, based on the documentation submitted by partners before the meet-up.
The discussion emphasized the importance of completeness to inspire diverse approaches for reducing virgin resource use in healthcare. Key distinctions were clarified between overlapping strategies, and enthusiastically debated distinctions between the strategies. Participants noted that strategies often overlap and can be combined in practice. The group also endorsed adding a lens for product identity and ownership to each strategy, which will guide future analysis.
Circular Connectors:
Improving the Environmental Impact of Infusion Bags in Hospitals
Congratulations to Han Buck, Master student Industrial Design Engineering at the ID E TU Delft, who recently graduated with a 9! Her graduation project is called ‘Circular Connectors: Improving the Environmental Impact of Infusion Bags in Hospitals’.
In her graduation project, Han focused on designing a more sustainable and circular infusion bag building on her earlier findings about the use of infusion bags in the clinical context.
ESCH-R WP4 Conference paper
The ESCH-R research team from Eindhoven University of Technology, composed of Jacopo Parma, Vikrant Sihag, Duygu Keskin, and Myriam Cloodt (Open Universiteit), presented their ongoing work at the India Management Research Conference (IMRC), held in Ahmedabad from 5 to 7 December 2025.
The paper, titled “Toward Conceptual Clarity in Circular Business Model: A Conceptual Model Integrating Archetypes, R-Strategies, Value Chain and Product Categories”, was presented within the Corporate Sustainability and Corporate Governance track, with a strong emphasis on Integrating Sustainability into Business Strategies and Practice.
WP4 & WP5 visited Medtronic Maastricht
On Wednesday, 19 November, an ESCH-R delegation from WP4 and WP5, together with students, visited consortium-partner Medtronic Maastricht.
Mark Lazeroms, Janny Boekhout, Marijke Marcheschi and Robbert Quakernaat shared Medtronic’s sustainability efforts in product development.
Interview with ESCH-R PI Nicole Hunfeld in Rabo&Co about her vision on ‘The Future of Sustainable Healthcare’
Onward to a fully circular Intensive Care by 2030!
Read this interview with ESCH-R’s Nicole Hunfeld in Rabo&CO about her vision on “The Future of Sustainable Healthcare.”
“To get people on board, sharing information is crucial – preferably with visuals. Numbers help, but showing how things can be done differently works better.” – Nicole Hunfeld
Interview with ESCH-R PI Nicole Hunfeld in EW: “Climate pioneer Dr. Nicole Hunfeld is greening Erasmus MC and aims to tackle medical waste.”
This interview is published in EW Magazine, a platform with news and background on politics, economics, geopolitics, science, and Dutch culture.
As ESCH-R Consortium, we are building a circular future for healthcare by creating circular hospitals together. In 2026, we will continue this mission!
We are deeply grateful to everyone who contributed to our shared vision this year. Wishing you a holiday season filled with joy, warmth, and the hope of a greener, more circular future in healthcare!
Warm wishes,
ESCH-R
ESCH-R Science Communication Training: Personal Branding
Date: 30 January, 2026
Time: 10.00 – 13.00 (including lunch)
Location: Living Lab Erasmus MC
This training is organized by WP7 and moderated by ESCH-R Communications manager Maaike van Zuilen.
This will be a series of four sessions designed to help our researchers build and enhance their personal brand as a scientist, enabling you to make an impact in your career. We will kick off with the first session on January 30th, where we will cover the fundamentals of personal branding, including practical tips for social media and networking.
All PhD’s and Postdocs have received a calendar invitation.
ESCH-R Science Day: Green Beyond Boarders
Date: Friday February 6, 2026
PAC meeting (on invitation only): 10.00
Science Day: 11.00 with lunch
Location: Academiegebouw | Universiteit Utrecht | Domplein | Utrecht
ESCH-R Community of Practice for Nurses and Educators
WP lead: Ellen Bakker
Practical details
Date: 12 February 2026
Time: 16.00 – 17.00
Location: Online
Language: Dutch
ESCH-R PhD and Postdoc intervision session
Practical details
Date: 5 March 2026
Time: 10.00 – 13.00
Further details regarding the location and program will follow. A calendar invite will be sent to all PhD and Postdoc students. Please note that attendance is mandatory.
ESCH-R WP4 Two-day co-creation session
Practical details
Date: 10-11 March 2026
Time: TBA
Location: TBD, in-person.
More details will follow
ESCH-R Communication Network meeting
Practical details
Date: 14 April 2026
Time: 12.30 – 13.30
Location: Online
Attend the meeting via: info@esch-r.org
ESCH-R Community of Practice for Nurses and Educators
WP lead: Ellen Bakker
Practical details
Date: 21 May 2026
Time: 16.00 – 17.00
Location: Online
Language: Dutch
ESCH-R PhD and Postdoc intervision session
Practical details
Date: 15 September 2026
Time: 10.00 – 13.00
Further details regarding the location and program will follow. A calendar invite will be sent to all PhD and Postdoc students. Please note that attendance is mandatory.
ESCH-R Community of Practice for Nurses and Educators
WP lead: Ellen Bakker
Practical details
Date: 24 September 2026
Time: 16.00 – 17.00
Location: Online
Language: Dutch
ESCH-R Communication Network meeting
Practical details
Date: 6 October 2026
Time: 12.30 – 13.30
Location: Online
Attend the meeting via: info@esch-r.org
ESCH-R Community of Practice for Nurses and Educators
WP lead: Ellen Bakker
Practical details
Date: 10 December 2026
Time: 16.00 – 17.00
Location: Online
Language: Dutch
ESCH-R PhD and Postdoc intervision session
Practical details
Date: 11 December 2026
Time: 10.00 – 13.00
Further details regarding the location and program will follow. A calendar invite will be sent to all PhD and Postdoc students. Please note that attendance is mandatory.
Have you attended a conference and presented your research about ESCH-R? We would love to feature yHave you attended a conference and presented your research about ESCH-R? We would love to feature your insights!
Please share:
- A short text about your experience: key takeaways, the research you presented, and any relevant highlights.
- Photos of your presentation, poster, or the event.
- Everyone who is involved, names, functions etc.
We will use your contribution for our website, newsletter, and possibly social media!
Please share your text and photos via info@esch-r.org
If you post on social media yourself, feel free to use these hashtags:
#circularhealthcare #circularity #ESCH-R #circularhospital #sustainability #research #greenhealthcare
ESCH-R Publication Procedure
We would like to remind you of the ESCH‑R publication procedure. Please make sure to fill in the publication template when planning a scientific publication.
The ESCH‑R project board has established this procedure to provide guidance and ensure transparency for all researchers and partners within the ESCH‑R consortium. By submitting your manuscript plan at an early stage, the project board can offer advice on potential collaborations, data availability and management, publication formats, license options to help avoid article processing charges (APCs), and the correct way to acknowledge ESCH‑R in your publication.
You can find both the explanatory document and the template in Teams.
If you have questions, feel free to reach out to Naomi: n.kakiailatu@erasmusmc.nl
Would you like to share your ESCH-R news? Whether it’s vacancies, new PhDs, student achievements, research updates, publications, tweets, media appearances, or anything else, we’d love to hear from you!
When sharing your news, please make sure to attach your photos/images or figures and always make sure when people are visible, you have their permission to use the pictures.
Below the format you can use to share your news with us:
- What is the purpose of your news?
- What title can we use?
- Who attended (names, roles, if related to INDICATE meetings/events)?
- What were the main topics discussed or key findings?
- Were any follow-up actions or appointments agreed upon?
- Is there anything special or noteworthy?
Share your updates with us via info@esch-r.org, and we’ll include them in our next newsletter!
Deadlines for newsletter submissions:
- 13 February, 2026
- 10 April, 2026
- 12 June, 2026
- 11 September, 2026
- 6 November, 2026
Have you been approached by a journalist for an interview or article about ESCH-R? Please let us know! We coordinate PR efforts to ensure clear and consistent messaging.
Before responding, reach out to Maaike and Nicole so we can align and provide any necessary support.
Thank you!
ESCH-R
Email adress: info@esch-r.org
Email adress: ESCH-R@erasmusmc.nl
Website: www.esch-r.org
