Erasmus Goes Green!

13:00 - 13.10    Welcome and introduction to the Erasmus Goes Green Project

• Martine Wierenga, Director International Office, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Part 1: The role of data and data visualisation in achieving sustainable exchange

13.10 - 13.25    Exploring the impact of travel: an introduction to the carbon footprint tool

• Charalampos (Charis) Stavridis, PhD candidate, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

13.25 - 13.40    Incentives for behavioural change: from awareness campaigns to green grants

• Maryam Omar, Researcher at Erasmus Centre for Urban, Port and Transport Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam

13.40 - 14.15    Panel: How can data and visualisation help shape sustainable travel policy and behaviour?

• Panelists:
  • Alessandro Galli, Ph.D., Senior Scientist and Director, Mediterranean-MENA Program, Global Footprint Network
  • Mariecke van der Glas, Programme Manager Sustainability, Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • Charalampos (Charis) Stavridis, PhD candidate, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  • Moderated by George Malandrakis, Assistant Professor in the field of Environmental Education / Education for Sustainable Development, at the Department of Primary Education, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

14.15 - 14.30    - Coffee/tea break -

Part 2: A taste of sustainable travel: inspirational student stories

14.30 - 14.40    From Tokyo to Utrecht, flight free, Marenthe Middelhoff, Circularity and Mobility Coordinator at the Green Office and Utrecht University alumna

14.40 - 14.50     Sustainable and responsible travel in times of COVID-19, Leah Monsees, doctoral student of the Sport Sciences at Malmö University

14.50 - 15.00    On-board with sustainable travel: bringing together student voices and university management, Johara Meyer, student Geography and Social Data Analysis & Sustainability Officer for the Students’ Union at UCL.  

15.00 - 15.15   Coffee/tea break

Part 3: Good practices: student empowerment in sustainable exchange

15.15 - 15.50    Panel: How can higher education institutions empower students in sustainable exchange?

• Panelists:
  • Kim von der Heide, Time to Explane
  • Paola Di Marzo, Project Officer at Erasmus Student Network
  • Dominik Kilburger, Erasmus by Train
  • Leah Monsees, student at Malmö University
  • Moderator: Giuliano Mingardo, PhD, senior researcher at the Erasmus Centre for Urban, Port and Transport Economics  

15.55 - 16.00    Conclusions and closure

Maryam Omar is Researcher at Erasmus Centre for Urban, Port and Transport Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Alessandro Galli, Ph.D is a Senior Scientist and the Mediterranean-MENA Program Director at Global Footprint Network. His research analyzes the historical changes in human dependence on natural resources and ecological services through the use of sustainability indicators and environmental accounting methods. Recently, his work focuses on Sustainable food systems, ecotourism and education for sustainability. Alessandro holds a Ph.D. in chemical sciences from Siena University.

Mariecke van der Glas, Programme Manager Sustainability, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Mariecke van der Glas is Geographer and has an extensive background in international development, program management and sustainability. She works at EUR as Sustainability Manager and is tasked with keeping the implementation of the sustainability agenda up to speed, planning & monitoring and community engagement. One of the highlights of last year was the approval of the Sustainable Business Travel Policy of the EUR, which promotes the train instead of plane.

Charis Stavridis, Civil Engineer MSc, is a PhD candidate at the Water Resources Engineering and Management Laboratory, Dept. Civil Engineering,  Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He also serves as co-Manager of the regional SDSN Black Sea. His research interests include water resources management, sustainability, urban resiliency, and hydraulics. Since 2018 he is part of the Sisyphus optimization team.

George Malandrakis is an Assistant Professor in the field of Environmental Education / Education for Sustainable Development, at the Department of Primary Education, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. His research interests include, but not limited to students’ views and ideas about environmental issues, the teaching of footprints, urban sustainability education, sustainability ethics development, pre-service and in-service teacher training as well as the development of teaching/ learning sequences concerning sustainability issues.

My name is Marenthe Middelhoff, I am 25 years old and I work in the regenerative agricultural sector. I have been a project coordinator for the Green Office Utrecht for 4 years before that also on the subject of mobility. During my bachelor Liberal Arts and Sciences at the UU I wanted to go to an asian country to see the general attitude towards sustainability and study sustainable business, I happened to land on one of the most prestigues Universities in Tokyo, super random. Once I landed I wasnt sure if I wanted to fly back and when I opened up a site for buying airplane tickets I just could not click the button, so I chose the train instead. Listen to my story on how I crossed land and sea to get back home!

Kim von der Heide is a member of ExPlane, an international network of students and staff taking action to transform universities' travel policies and culture by addressing the impact of flying. Her interests lie at the intersection of social and environmental issues and she feels especially passionate about environmental justice. Kim recently finished her Blue Book traineeship at the European Environment Agency, was previously engaged in sustainability matters as a student herself, and now seeks to inspire others to do so themselves.

Paola Di Marzo is the Project Officer at Erasmus Student Network. She has experience in EU funded programs and expertise in social, political and environmental issues.  At ESN she is in charge of projects in the field of environment, international mobility and inclusion. She also worked at the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission, University of Bologna, and Caritas Italiana.

Dominik Kilburger is part of the Outreach-Team from Erasmus by Train - a volunteering initiative driven by students pushing forward an Erasmus+ Ticket incentivizing participants to travel sustainably to & from their exchange destinations. Backed by a team of students from diverse European and disciplinary backgrounds, he is promoting the idea of Erasmus by Train among students, higher education institutions and, foremost, to the European Parliament and the Commission. Encouraged by how hard it can be for students and adults to do a genuine Green Erasmus, he is always passionate in sharing experience and raising awareness on the existing obstacles.

Leah Monsees is a second-year doctoral student of the Sport Sciences at Malmö University (Sweden). Having a rather diverse academic background and quite a lot of international experience herself (ranging from living, working and studying in several different countries worldwide), Leah not only has an interest in internationalization processes within academia, but is also invested in how global academic engagement and sustainability can be combined and optimized.

Giuliano Mingardo, PhD, senior researcher at the Erasmus Centre for Urban, Port and Transport Economics Giuliano Mingardo is specialised in parking policy and urban mobility. Giuliano regularly advises (local) governments and companies on these issues. Giuliano is involved in several research projects related to mobility, including U-Mob, a project aimed at the creation on a university network to facilitate the exchange and transfer of knowledge about sustainable mobility best practices among European universities. He has also contributed to the development of the sustainable travel policy for Erasmus University staff.