Pathways to Sustainability Festival - Just Landing: Sustainability in a Fractured World (3 November)

How can sustainability truly become part of everyday life? While new ideas, technologies and policies continue to emerge, turning them into meaningful change remains one of the greatest challenges of our time.

The Pathways to Sustainability Festival 2026 brings together researchers, policymakers, artists, practitioners and societal partners for a day of inspiring conversations, creative encounters and hands-on experiences. Explore cutting-edge research, engage in interactive breakouts and open-space sessions, experience art, and connect with people working to create more just, inclusive and sustainable futures.

Join us to discover how sustainability can truly land in our communities, our institutions, and our lives.

Read more about the theme

Programme

Plenary programme

13.00-14.30 

Keynote speakers

Liesje Mommer is Professor of Belowground Ecology at Wageningen University, and one of the world's leading scientists in plant ecology, specializing in the interactions between plant roots and soil fungi. Her scientific research doesn't stay underground: it also forms the rich soil for her mission to restore biodiversity. At the festival, Mommer will draw on both her scientific research and her work founding the Wageningen Biodiversity Initiative – which brings together ecologists, agronomists, lawyers, economists and behavioral scientists. "Biodiversity loss is one of the biggest challenges that we face today," Mommer says. She uses her concern about this as a motivation to develop pathways towards building a nature-positive society. Working together from different perspectives is essential to accelerate change.

Linda Steg is Professor of Environmental Psychology at the University of Groningen, and one of the world's most influential researchers on what actually moves people to embrace sustainable behaviour and what holds them back. In 2020, her work was awarded the Stevin Prize, the highest distinction in Dutch science. At the conference, Steg will draw on decades of research into the psychology of environmental behaviour and policy acceptance to explore a question at the very heart of our theme: what does it take for sustainability to not just be understood, but genuinely accepted and lived by society?

Moderator

Mirthe Frese is a writer, programme maker, presenter, and performer. She began her career as a programme maker at De Balie. Since then, she has worked for various cultural institutions, universities, and NGOs. Her debut novel, Zonder slaap ben ik het noodlot voor, was published in 2024.

Check out the Open space activities

Check out the breakouts

Performance ‘Wowo Di Orkan’

Through spoken word, rap and science (16.00-17.00), artist Juny Martina and Danick Trouwloon (Utrecht University) explore possible futures for Curaçao, where climate change, power and class are inseparably intertwined. 

More on the performance

The festival features a mix of open-space activities and breakout sessions. Most programme elements are open to everyone, so you can simply drop in and explore. Some breakout sessions have limited capacity and are available on a first-come, first-served basis

Pathways to Sustainability Award Ceremony and Closure

17.00-17.15

Pathways to Sustainability Award

Pathways to Sustainability Festival

Date: Tuesday 3 November 2026, 13:00 - 18:00
Venue: TivoliVredenburg Utrecht
Admission: Free to attend. Registration is required to confirm your participation
Registration: Please register below

Register here