Upcoming events
Information Lunch Sustainable Healthcare
Thursday January 23rd 2025, 12:45-13:45
Pulse Hall 01, TU Delft
Are you an MBO, HBO, or WO student interested in Sustainable Healthcare and eager to make an impact? Then we are looking for you! TUD and The Hague University of Applied Sciences are working closely together and are looking for students to join the Even Groene Vrienden Learning Communities (LC) in Q3/Q4! In this learning community, students from MBO, HBO, and WO come together to work, innovate, and learn with stakeholders, teachers, and hospitals on solutions to complex societal problems.
Over lunch, we will discuss all the challenges you can focus on in our learning community, Sustainable Healthcare. Whether you are already participating or interested in joining, it’s worth coming!
Find possible assignments here.
Questions? Reach out to: r.h.bossen@tudelft.nl
Motivation
The climate crisis is the greatest threat to public health.
Climate change and environmental pollution are leading to an increasing number and variety of health concerns. For example, this includes infectious diseases and heat stress. In the Netherlands, the healthcare sector is responsible for 7% of greenhouse gas emissions, 4% of waste, and 13% of resource consumption. By providing healthcare, the sector thus contributes to the climate crisis. It is this paradox that the healthcare sector aims to break.
Learning Community
Sustainable Healthcare
This Learning Community focuses on sustainable healthcare and interdisciplinary collaboration. This means that as part of a community, you will be in contact with others. You exchange information with fellow students and provide each other with feedback. Hospitals, suppliers, and purchasing organizations also participate in the Learning Community and provide you with professional feedback. Communication is key when executing your assignment, as well as involving others in your research and maintaining contact with various parties.
Stakeholders:
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TU Delft
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Zorgservice XL
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Various Dutch hospitals
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The Hague University of Applied Sciences
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Utrecht University of Applied Sciences
Coaches:
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Dr. Bart van Straten (TUD)
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Jeroen Zoller, MSc (ZorgserviceXL)
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Representatives from hospitals in the South Holland region
Goal
The goal of the Learning Community is to contribute to the Green Deal: Sustainable Healthcare.
The goal is a 50% reduction in resource consumption by 2030 and maximum circularity by 2050.
Since there are many different ways to work towards this goal, it has been decided to use the R-Ladder with circular strategies as a framework to address the various challenges.
Current Project Cases
Below you can find an overview of the project cases currently available in the Sustainable Healthcare Learning Community:
Topic: Making complex medical devices more modular
Enhancing modularity in medical devices could streamline end-of-life disassembly and enable part interchangeability, thereby extending the device’s overall lifespan. How can this approach be balanced with maintaining proper safety standards?
Topic: Logistical redesign for hospital waste management
Optimizing hospital waste management through a comprehensive logistical redesign to enhance efficiency, ensure regulatory compliance, reduce environmental impact, and minimize operational costs.
Topic: Redesign waste separation in hospitals (O.R.)
Making waste separation easier and more efficient for hospital staff whilst improving accuracy and compliance, all within the limited space of the operating room.
Topic: Redesign of the syringe without needle
Of all hospital waste, the syringe without needle has the biggest environmental impact. How can this product be re-imagined to reduce its ecological footprint without harming its usability, efficiency and use safety
Topic: How to improve energy and water recovery in hospitals
Advancing sustainable healthcare in the Netherlands by exploring processes to reduce CO2 emissions through the reuse of water and heat currently discharged into the sewage system.
Topic: How to redesign material efficient instrument strips?
Material strips are used to secure medical equipment. How can these strips be redesigned for large-scale manufacturing while remaining environmentally friendly?
Topic: How to redesign hospital products from recycled materials?
Hospital waste materials like PP and PET can be recycled and repurposed into new products for medical use. Where can this recycling be applied, and what product and legal standards must be met to ensure its viability?
Topic: How to inform hospital staff of change in their routine
Developing effective strategies to communicate routine changes to hospital staff, ensuring clarity, minimizing disruption, and fostering adaptability in daily operations
Contact
