The complex challenges of creating a sustainable, fair, circular society can only be solved when science and society work together on real-world issues — across the boundaries of domains and disciplines. That’s why we are paving the way for practice-oriented, interdisciplinary education and research, within the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus universities. We are building vibrant communities of scientists and students who, together with entrepreneurs, citizens, policymakers and many others, exchange knowledge and experiences to discover new sustainable and circular solutions.

We are research brokers. We connect scientists and students to organizations and companies looking for research or collaboration partners.

We are matchmakers. We foster the exchange of knowledge and experience — through knowledge products such as whitepapers, and through Meet-Ups, Circular Safaris, and Talks. In doing so, we add fresh perspectives to complex topics. 

We are project partners. We initiate and develop new research projects — like the Thesis Labs — and participate in collaborative projects with others, such as the Community of Practice Plastic or the ACCEZ consortium.

Focus areas

We work on three major overarching themes: circular cities and regions, circular industries, and circular horticulture. Various communities contribute to these efforts. In these communities, researchers, students, and practice partners collaborate on topics such as repair and reuse of electrical and electronic equipment, plastics or sustainable energy in horticulture.