Newsletter | New strategy, festival save-the-date, reading recommendations and new seed projects ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Pathways to Sustainability

As we approach the summer break, I would like to wish you all a chance to truly unwind. Our mission is to strive for just and sustainable futures for all, which also encompasses looking after ourselves and our loved ones. To support your summer rest, we have curated a few reading recommendations. I have already reserved two of them at my local library!

In this final edition before the holidays, you will also find a preview of our upcoming festival in November, details on how to apply for the Pathways Award, and the first two stories from our Signature projects. Finally, we are excited to share our new strategy for the years ahead.

I wish you a wonderful and restorative summer.

Femke Goutbeek,
on behalf of Team Pathways to Sustainability

Transdisciplinary collaboration:

sometimes challenging, always enriching

The belief that contributing to a just and sustainable world requires cooperation is deeply rooted in who we are. That is why, in our Signature projects, academics work closely with NGOs, artists, actors and civil society organisations. The first Signature projects have now been completed. What did they achieve, and what impact have they had? Read the stories of Whose Ocean and Resourcefulness (English and Dutch).

Whose Ocean

Resourcefulness

Save the date - Pathways to Sustainability Festival

Just Landing: Sustainability in a Fractured World

How can sustainability truly “land” in our societies? Although sustainability remains a fertile ground for social, political, technological, and cultural innovation, translating these ideas into widely shared and lived realities remains a major challenge.

This festival is dedicated to exploring how sustainability can take root in just, inclusive, and inspiring ways. At the festival you will examine different interconnected dimensions of landing, including communication and legitimation of sustainability, alternative practices, technologies, policies, and land itself.

Save the date now and mark 3 November in your calendar.

The programme will be announced soon, so keep an eye on our updates.
We hope to see you there!

3 November 2026, 13.00-18.00, TivoliVredenburg Utrecht

Add to my calendar

Pathways to Sustainability Award

Which project best demonstrates the power of science and society working together for sustainability? This is the opportunity to put inspiring examples of transdisciplinary collaboration in the spotlight. Nominate a project for the Pathways to Sustainability Award and come vote for the winner at the Pathways Festival.

Learn more and submit before 15 September

Strategic Plan

To amplify our collective impact on sustainability transformations and to sharpen our ambitions for the years ahead, we have developed a new strategy outlining our mission, theory of change, and priorities for the coming period. Curious about how we will build on our impact and open up new pathways for sustainability? Read the full strategy here.

Summer reading recommendations

Our directors, Niki Frantzeskaki and Annemieke Steenbergen, have put together some summer reading recommendations. It’s a mix of fiction and non-fiction, for young and for old. Choose your summer read.

We are green and trembling - by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (fiction)
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus (fiction)
The invention of nature - Andrea Wulf (non-fiction)
The book of hope - Jane Goodall (non-fiction)
The Elements of Marie Curie - How the glow of radium lit a path for women in science - Dava Sobel (non-fiction)
Lampje - Annet Schaap (kids/pre-teens book)
Little People, Big Dreams - Vincent Van Gogh - by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara (for kids)
Entangled Life (Verweven leven) - by Merlin Sheldrake

Find out more about the books and why we recommend them

New Seed Projects

This joint seed funding initiative of Pathways to Sustainability and Life Sciences promotes Planetary Health by supporting interdisciplinary research on interconnected sustainability and health challenges. Read more about the three selected seed projects.