Description
The Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, or Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA) has announced that it will maintain stricter scrutiny in choosing when to collaborate with fossil companies. Moving forward, the educational institution will only work with fossil companies if they are actively contributing to the Paris Agreement. This was decided by the Board of Directors in December 2024, based (partly) on the input of staff and students.
To be eligible for a research collaboration with the HvA, a company will have to meet several requirements:
- It must maintain energy transition goals in line with the Paris Agreement
- These goals must have been made public, and progress towards them must be made public as well
- Before starting a collaboration, the HvA will discuss how the fossil industry is at odds with sustainability targets, as well as if and how a specific company's goals align with those of the HvA
- Any proceeds of a collaboration, be they financial or scientific, must be put toward sustainability
- There can be no greenwashing
- Researchers' academic freedom must be guaranteed.
While this means that research collaborations will be more difficult for fossil companies, the institute does not want to exclude any companies outright, arguing that it does not want to make any "ideological decisions", but prefers to find a "middle ground". The HvA is the first university of applied sciences in the Netherlands to put limits on research collaborations with fossil companies. Previously, several Dutch research universities have cut ties with fossil companies