Thursday, January 15, 2026
More awareness and knowledge of climate change and sustainable healthcare are needed in higher professional healthcare education. Healthcare professionals, educators and students also want more sustainability guidelines in the curriculum.
These are some of the conclusions that can be drawn from eleven student projects related to the Medical Delta Living Lab 'Changemakers for sustainable healthcare'.
The projects were carried out in two areas within the perspective of sustainable healthcare: reducing the environmental impact of care (mitigation), and care that responds to the health effects of climate change (adaptation). Between 2022 and 2025, eleven (student) projects were conducted by the 'onderzoeksgroep Verpleegkundig Leiderschap van Hogeschool Leiden'. The outcomes of these projects were used to establish the Medical Delta Living Lab 'Changemakers for sustainable healthcare' and were later also carried out within this living lab.
The projects focused on the integration of sustainable healthcare into the educational curriculum, the perspectives of different disciplines (students, educators and healthcare professionals) on climate change and related (educational) needs, as well as recommendations and advice on addressing climate change in education.
For this purpose, students and educators from the Physiotherapy and Nursing programs and the Master’s program in Advanced Nursing Practice were consulted, as well as healthcare professionals from the field. In total, 323 participants took part in questionnaires (n=253), focus groups (n=13) and interviews (n=57) on themes related to sustainable healthcare.
Increasing awareness
A consistent picture emerged from all the projects: there is generally low awareness among participants of the need for sustainable healthcare (mitigation and adaptation), although levels vary. The research group notes that there is significant potential to raise awareness. In addition, most participants have a knowledge gap regarding sustainable healthcare, while simultaneously expressing a need for education on the topic. Currently, sustainable healthcare has no mandatory place in the healthcare curriculum.
The reason why, for example, there is still little action to reduce plastic use in healthcare is that patient safety and quality of care are considered more important values, according to the respondents. In general, sustainable practices are not widely applied in daily healthcare. A commonly mentioned action that could be implemented is waste separation. However, this does not necessarily conflict with patient safety and quality of care: sustainability and reduced consumption can go hand in hand with high-quality care, as demonstrated by initiatives within the Green Deal for Sustainable Healthcare (see, for example, the Guidelines for sustainability initiatives by infection prevention experts) or initiatives from the RIVM (see, for example, Plastic medische hulpmiddelen | RIVM).
Healthcare professional as a changemaker
Some participants appear to know how to respond to health impacts of climate change if they occur, such as complaints during extreme heat, but they find it difficult to contextualize this within the Dutch setting. Among students, educators, and professionals alike, the majority report feeling unprepared for the consequences of climate change on healthcare.
The ambition of the Medical Delta Living Lab 'Changemakers for Sustainable Healthcare' is to position (future) healthcare and welfare professionals as change agents who take a leading role in promoting the health and well-being of both themselves and the people they care for in the context of climate change. The living lab focuses on practical solutions for making the healthcare sector more sustainable and on strengthening the knowledge base for future-oriented care.
A concrete example of this is the Sustainable Healthcare Day, an initiative by two students from Leiden University of Applied Sciences, which was held for the first time at the end of last year. During this event, vocational and higher professional nursing students participate in workshops to raise awareness of the amount of waste generated in healthcare and experience firsthand the impact they can have in reducing it.
Read the report here: Groene Zorgdag maakt verpleegkundigen in opleiding bewust van hun invloed | Hogeschool Leiden
More information and contact
We look forward to connecting with you if:
- You have questions for our living lab from your professional field (e.g., a municipality or healthcare organization);
- You want to collaborate in the living lab on these challenges; or
- You are looking for an inspiring graduation project on this topic.
This is possible through the lab developer, Leontien van Wely: wely.van.l@hsleiden.nl
For more information, see the webpage of the Medical Delta Living Lab 'Changemakers for sustainable healthcare'.
Also read the following theses focusing on climate adaptation:
Yara Gutter, Florine Walburg, Kim Verhaegh. A qualitative exploration of nursing students’ and educators’ perspectives on climate change and educational needs for sustainable caregiving in the hospital setting. (Master’s thesis, April 2025; scientific publication in preparation)
Three Bachelor theses on the health impacts of climate change, climate adaptation, and the role of nurses:
- Anne Heling, Mandy Verschuren, Senne Bellekom, Anouk van Gaalen. What is the perception of the professional role of physiotherapists and nurses in managing patient care during temperature increases caused by climate change? (2024)
- Mariam Garas, Iduna van Teijlingen, Ralph Kegels, Bido Mohamed. Heat-related health effects in healthcare: possible adaptations for physiotherapists and nurses in the Netherlands (2024)
- Noortje Westerling. Weil’s disease & Climate Change (July 2025)
