The Center for Sustainable Healthcare manages no less than two funds to accelerate sustainability at Amsterdam UMC. Employees who want to contribute to sustainable care can apply for financial support with their good idea. It is incredibly inspiring to see that great and good applications are being submitted from all corners of the organization, which shows that sustainability is gaining a place within the organization. It is very exciting that we can encourage that through these funds.
The Green Fund was organized for the second year this year. Within this fund, employees with a sustainable idea can apply for a grant of up to €15,000 to make their project possible. The projects are related to Green Deal themes such as circularity, medicine, transportation and prevention. A total budget of €150,000 was available for this round.
The Seed Grant was also organized for the second year this year. Within this fund, researchers can apply for a grant of €30,000- €60,000 to develop knowledge about sustainable care, or develop a new sustainable solution for research or care. In this round, €90,000 was available.
Green Fund
A total of 9 diverse projects have been funded in the implementation-oriented Green Fund. At Molecular Cell Biology & Immunology (MCBI), they will work on the project “In vitro - Filter the future” to use an activated carbon filter to prevent antibiotics and chlorine from leaching into nature via sewage. At Public & Occupational Health (POH), they will work on changing the behavior of researchers who fly to conferences, with the project “More sustainable travel through dialogue.” At Psychiatry, they were inspired by a project Hematology did earlier on the waste of medications. With “Don't waste a pill at Psychiatry” they will work in collaboration with the pharmacy to identify used and unused medications in tablet form. A “waste dashboard” will also be tested here.
Seed Grant
In the research-oriented Seed Grant, 2 applications have been funded. PhD candidate Philip Elders of the Center for Infection and Molecular Medicine (CIMM) will work on the project “GREEN-Abx Towards Greener Antibiotic Treatment: Life Cycle Assessment of Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy and Mitigation Potentials” with Dr. Kim Sigaloff, Tessa de Vries, Prof. Dr. Joppe Hovius and Prof. Dr. Suzanne Geerlings. The project compares four options of care involving antibiotic administration for their environmental impact. Dr. Remko van Eenennaam of the Department of Women and Children, together with Dr. Annefleur de Bruijn, will research the environmental impact of using alternatives to disposable baby food bottles in the project “B.E.S.T. bottle: Baby-safe & Ecofriendly? Studying impacts and Testing for quality”.
Are you curious to see an overview of all granted applications, with more information about the projects? You can find this below.