Welcome to the Global Transformations and Governance Challenges (GTGC) programme at Leiden University!

If mankind wants to survive into the 22nd century, we will need to change the way we live drastically. The human impact on our planet is everywhere, we are changing the atmosphere, the oceans and the land, leading to global warming, climate change, loss of biodiversity and pervasive pollution. There…

As a new vision on food production, the feasibility study on LED light to grow crops with the biological- and chemical evaluation of final products.

What are the key technical, social, regulatory, economic, and ethical considerations for scaling up ocean-based Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) approaches, and what integrated assessment frameworks and governance structures are needed to facilitate their implementation at scale?

A cross-cut analysis of the ties between university research and fossil industries.

Lecture

Abrupt Climate Change and Cultural Transformation

Food security is challenged by a growing global population and by climate change. Drought and soil salinity are considered the most important ones that inhibit crop yield and distribution. Worryingly, climate change is predicted to increase not only their frequency and severity, but also their co-occurrence,…

How the global distribution of vegetation stands dominated by arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal plants relate to principle aspects of belowground carbon accumulation processes?

On 19 February 2020, Richard Jiang defended his thesis '‘Greening’ the WTO Ban on China’s Export Duties'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. M.C.E.J. Bronckers.

Changing the world (a little bit)

Where did species survive the cold cycles of the current Ice Age?

Sustainablity en the law lectures guest speakers legal social aspects

Social aspects of the learning environment, also called classroom climate, are important for students’ cognitive and affective learning outcomes. In this thesis the classroom climate is operationalised by means of two components: the teacher-class relationship and classroom discipline.

One of the effects of climate change is the phenomenon of desertification, a process that occurs in semi-arid and arid areas and causes land degradation as well as vegetation loss. Due to the lack of resources, vegetation self-organizes to sustain itself by forming large-scale spatial patterns.

The Vallesian, 11.1-9 Ma, was a special time in the Vallès-Penedes basin near Barcelona, where a biodiversity hotspot existed. Europe had a subtropical climate, with rhinos, forest giraffes, lions, hyenas, flying squirrels and primates.

Insights in diet, climate and ecology

Archaeological heritage management is concerned with the identification, protection, management and preservation of the material remains of human activity in the past (of whatever period and in whichever region of the world) and with the interaction that this involves with all kinds of stakeholders.

Within Una Europa, academic collaboration takes place in interdisciplinary Self Steering Committees (SSCs)

Roundtable discussion

Crises like climate change and loss of biodiversity pose serious challenges for public governance, from the local to the global scale. With the Centre for Governance of Sustainability we contribute to addressing these governance challenges. Our focus is on how policy processes and governance practices…

Promotor: Prof.dr. M.K. Richardson, Co-Promotor: F. Witte

Lecture

Description of 20th century changes in the Dutch flora: Description and interpretation (1999 - 2005)

We are very excited to announce our Sustainability Series for 2023-2024. Each month an interactive workshop will be organised that discusses a specific theme of sustainability. Interested about sustainability? Do not hesitate to sign up to our events !

Our facilities cover:

Leiden University supports refugee students by improving access to education, removing obstacles to academic success and encouraging contact with fellow students and staff. In doing so, we strive to contribute to an inclusive climate at Leiden University.

Scientists widely agree that we must limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid catastrophic climate impacts. Environmental scientist Laura Scherer investigates how we should change lifestyles to achieve this temperature goal. Her research is part of the 4.8-million-euro Horizon 2020 project…

With increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and their detrimental effect on the global climate, modern society needs to push for more renewable energy sources. Storing widely accessible and abundant solar energy in chemical bonds in the form of molecular fuel via artificial photosynthesis…

Climate change is a challenge for both current and future generations. New biological resources have to be developed in order to meet the demand for energy as well as the demand for food.

To limit the effects of climate change, global average temperature since pre-industrial measurements are to be kept well below 2 °C preferably even at 1.5 °C.

On Thursday 16 November 2017 Thomas Leclerc defended his PhD Dissertation ‘A Corrective Approach to Reduce Aircraft Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Contribution to the Study of Interactions between Legal Orders of International Law’. The Supervisors are Professor P. Mendes de Leon and Professor L. Grard.

Research on this theme addresses the systemic risks faced by European societies and affecting the quality of life of European citizens.

The Great Rift Valley in Africa is a real treasure trove for discovering early human fossils. The fossils found in this part of Africa have determined our view of human evolution. But was the Great Rift Valley really the place where evolution took place or just a place where fossils are well preserved…

Mission: The Environmental Biology department aims to increase the scientific understanding of how current and emerging anthropogenic threats affect biodiversity and ecosystem services. Through this understanding they facilitate strategic management of natural resources by addressing urgent challenges…

In this article Jeroen Wolbers and Sanneke Kuipers take a closer look at disaster preparedness to reinvigorate the academic debate.

Watch the Sustainable Career Event back!

During the programme, you are continuously challenged to examine different perspectives in order to develop solutions needed to achieve a sustainable society.

At Leiden University many staff members and students value making sustainable and responsible choices in their personal lives. Making these choices in our professional lives may feel a bit more complicated. But is that feeling justified? Archaeologists Gerrit Dusseldorp and Roos van Oosten share their…

PhD defence

What is my contribution to the world? This is what students and researchers at Leiden University College The Hague (LUC) ask themselves every day. They want to make a difference with their teaching and research in the four global challenges of ‘Peace and Justice,’ ‘Sustainability,’ ‘Diversity’ and ‘…

In our teaching, we give all our students the opportunity to learn about sustainability themes and issues, where possible ones that tie in with the content of their degree programme.