8 October marked the kick-off of Work Package 4 (WP4) of the ESCH-R project at Microlab in Rotterdam. WP4 – led by ESCH-R project board member and professor Erik van Raaij – focuses on how hospitals can collaborate with their suppliers to co-create circular interventions. In the upcoming four years, the team of WP 4 will identify key purchasing categories with the highest potential impact based on economic and environmental performance metrics.

Additionally, viable business models and procurement strategies will be designed and evaluated to incentivize suppliers to develop and deliver circular solutions. The goal is to align suppliers, purchasers, and users around interventions that balance health outcomes, environmental impact, cost, safety, and ease of use.

ESCH-R PhD Alice (Yuanyuan) Wu presented about the procurement journey at Erasmus MC and the enablers vs. challenges to incorporate sustainability/circularity in this process. The Project Lead Sustainability at UMC Utrecht Cédric Koolschijn also presented his perspective on the matter at UMC Utrecht.

During the WP4 kick-off, participants also engaged in Socratic listening, a key element of the Socratic dialogue approach. This method emphasizes deep, reflective listening and questioning, encouraging critical thinking and understanding. It is an effective way to foster open communication and collaboration. That’s what we want in the upcoming years!!

Thanks to Humberto Schwab, the developer of ‘Socratic Design – How we design our existence ourselves’ and his colleague Miguel Harbers Socratic Design Academy.

Thanks also to our guests and other WP4-members:
Duygu Keskin (ESCH-R WP4), Vikrant Sihag (ESCH-R WP4), Maike Tietschert (ESCH-R WP4), Myriam Erckens-Cloodt (ESCH-R WP4) , Maaike van Zuilen (communication manager ESCH-R), Jilske Huijben (ESCH-R program manager), Estelle Fraysse (Medtronic), Sammar Noor (DORC Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center (International), Maarten Timmerman (Erasmus MC), Priscilla Lips (Wittenburg Group), Estelle Fraysse (Medtronic), Laura Koot (Medtronic), Onno Roovers (Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam), Maaike Van ‘t Zand (Philips), Hans Leijen (Philips), Stephanie Resnick (Philips), Bas van Tiggelen (Erasmus MC), Melissa Kars (PreZero Nederland), Cédric Koolschijn, (UMC Utrecht), Arthur Haag (PreZero), Marlijn Caspers (Nevi).