Green Office Wageningen

This year marks the pilot edition of the WUR Climate Youth Academic Representative Program, designed to contribute to a more unified and youth-inclusive representation of WUR at the UNFCCC. The core aim of the program is to ensure that youth are granted their democratic right to meaningfully participate in international climate policy processes that will define their future. For the purposes of this program, ‘youth’ refers to individuals under the age of 35, encompassing students, young researchers, and staff members at WUR.

The Climate Youth Representative would support WUR’s delegation role during the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UNFCCC through their strong knowledge of the wide range of COP-related climate topics. Most importantly, the Youth Representative will have gathered perspectives, demands, and visions on international climate policy and WUR climate-resilient futures from the WUR youth community, including students and staff. Additionally, the Youth Representative could join the advocacy efforts under the Official Children and Youth Constituency (YOUNGO) of the UNFCCC. This would benefit the general awareness of climate policy-related issues among students and young researchers across all departments.

The WUR Climate Youth Representative will collaborate with Corporate Strategy and Accounts (CSA) and the Green Office Wageningen.

Being a major plastic waste producer and conducting energy intensive procedures, labs have the responsibility to reduce their carbon footprint while conducting high quality research. The Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) initiative aims to improve the efficiency and sustainability of education and research laboratories at WUR.

LEAF was originally developed in the UK at University College London. Now, LEAF is being adopted in the Netherlands, where Wageningen University is one of the first Dutch universities to set up the program.

Activities
As well as sessions every ca. 2 months, LEAF members are encouraged to share ideas, challenges, and success stories. Talks and workshops are also included to help members have a better understanding of how to implement certain practices into their labs. A living lab approach is taken to pilot new ideas, procedures, and equipment.