Fair Transitions

Towards Safe, Inclusive and Climate-Resilient Landscapes

Showing a river with trash and a person in poverty and a blooming industry at the background

Governmental institutions must change and collaborate with bottom-up institutions in new ways in order to achieve fairness and social justice, facing complex global challenges, such as climate change-related transformations that lead to shifts in people’s mobility, relationship between human and non-human species, and access, use and control of natural resources.
The overall aim is to envision institutions for environmentally sustainable and socially just transitions vis-a-vis climate change and related societal transformations. By facilitating an interdisciplinary dialogue, we propose to explore the question:

How do institutions need to change in order to guarantee safe, inclusive and climate-resilient landscapes and social-ecological environments across the globe?

The Institutions for Open Societies (IOS) Fair Transitions Platform seeks to engage scholars from the Humanities, Geosciences, Law, and Governance, as well as all those engaged in issues of sustainability.

As part of our activities, we organize a lecture series on Fair Transitions, an annual conference and summer school, and we share information through our Newsletter.
Please sign up for the newsletter by sending an email to r.f.pompoes@uu.nl indicating your interest.

This year, our first main activity is the conference, a joint effort between IOS Fair Transitions and LANDac, that takes place on 28-29-30 June in Utrecht. The conference aims to bring together the professional fields associated with fair transitions and land governance in the context of climate change. If you want to sign up to participate in the conference, submit your call for sessions or if you have questions about the conference, please send an email to fairtransitions.landac2023@gmail.com. We look forward to your participation/contribution.

More information on the conference and call for abstracts
Overview of the sessions for this year's conference

Want to learn more about who we are? Visit our board members' profile pages below.

Core team

  • dr. ir. Janwillem Liebrand
    Assistant Professor
    Geosciences - Human Geography and Spatial Planning - International Development Studies
    Geosciences - Human Geography and Spatial Planning - International Development Studies
  • dr. Rick Dolphijn
    Humanities - Institute for Cultural Inquiry - Media and Performance Studies
    Associate Professor
    Humanities - Department of Media and Culture Studies - Media and Performance Studies
  • dr. Julia Tschersich
    Junior Assistant Professor
    Geosciences - Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development - Environmental Governance - Environmental Governance
  • dr. Guus van Westen
    Assistant Professor
    Geosciences - Human Geography and Spatial Planning - International Development Studies
  • dr. Julie Fraser
    Assistant Professor
    Law, Economics and Governance - Utrecht University School of Law - International and European Law
    Law, Economics and Governance - Utrecht University School of Law - International and European Law