Celebrating 1 year of the Hague Climate Agreement at Wijnhaven
At the first Climate Café of 2025, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of The Hague Climate Agreement and reflected together on the successes and opportunities for the future.
Plenary opening
University colleague and moderator of the day, Bas Nijboer, welcomed everyone, after which Erwin Muller, Head of Campus The Hague, opened the event as the first speaker. He spoke about the university's efforts in education, research, and operations in the field of sustainability.
Next, councillor Arjen Kapteijns looked back on one year of the Climate Agreement. One year ago, over a hundred parties, including Leiden University, signed the Hague Climate Agreement, comprising various climate deals. In these deals, parties commit to contributing to a climate-neutral The Hague by 2030. The municipality of The Hague collaborates in these deals with, among others, residents, educational institutions, entrepreneurs, large companies, and social organisations. Leiden University is involved in several of these deals through Public Administration, Buurtlab070, the LLC, and Liveable Planet.
The councillor noted that many relationships were forged and the first successes achieved in the past year. Additionally, four new climate deals were warmly welcomed, joining the existing forty-four in the Climate Agreement. Despite some hurdles in the beginning, many initiatives have made significant progress, and we continue to build on this momentum.
Network market and platform sessions
After the plenary session, participants could work on their deals in platform sessions or meet new people at the networking market. In the sessions, facilitated by the Haagse Hogeschool, participants were able to define the objectives, responsibilities, and sub-tasks for their climate deal using a newly launched platform.
Meanwhile, at the networking market, parties had the opportunity to get to know each other and explore new collaborations. Among those present were PEP Den Haag, Buurtlab 070, the LDE Centre for Sustainability, the Hague Climate Council, and students from the master programmes Industrial Ecology and Governance of Sustainability.
Closing
After the sessions and the networking market, the event was concluded with closing remarks by councillor Robert Barker, who encouraged participants to keep building resiliently and cheerfully towards local sustainability, even in uncertain times. This spirit was immediately reflected in the lively discussions and raised glasses at the closing reception.
Want to get involved or learn more?
Would you like to learn more about the Climate Agreement and the university’s involvement?
Or are you interested in joining an existing deal or starting your own initiative?
Check out the website of the Hague Climate Agreement or send an email to buurtlab070@leidenuniv.nl.