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How can researchers and bottom-up initiatives mutually enhance each other impact? Are academics and members of bottom-up initiatives talking about the same when they talk about 'impact'? Do we have the same expectations on the timeline of reaching our goals? And how does co-creating of research by academics and societal partners actually work?

These and other issues will be discussed at the Bottom-up Initiatives for Societal Change Impact Day2025!

We invite social enterprises, citizens' initiatives, academics and policy makers from the city of Utrecht and elsewhere to join us this day to learn form each other, to meet one another, and to talk about new forms of co-creation and solutions.

This page will be regularly updated with more details on this special day, so keep a close look on our website or register for our digital newsletter.

Already curious? You can already register via the link below. Please note that Impact Day has moved to a new date (4 December 2025) and new location (Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Hall (Academiegebouw), Domplein 29)

Programme

The following contributions have already been confirmed:

Plenary session: Educating Change Agents for Societal Impact (Frank van Rijnsoever, Matthijs Punt, and Christianne Smit).

Universities are increasingly expected to help address grand societal challenges—ranging from climate change and biodiversity loss to social inequality and public health. One way to contribute is by educating change agents: individuals who drive sustainable and meaningful change within the systems they operate in. This session brings together scholars to explore different perspectives on change agent education and the role of higher education in fostering societal impact. Frank van Rijnsoever and Matthijs Punt are both assistant professor with the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development of the Faculty of Geosciences; Christianne Smit is associate professor and researcher with the Political History research group of the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ.

Session - Hand them the mike: Young people and protest (Laurens Ham in cooperation with Buma Music Academy)

Although general opinion often portrays the younger generations as being politically passive and without own initiatives, everyday reality appears to be different: current-day youngsters are connecting (both online and offline) to everything happening in the world today. During this session we will discuss ways to enhance the visibility of young people's views on society by means of 'protest songs'. Many youngsters put down their lyrics and poems down on paper, but how could we improve the connection of these words with school subjects such as Music, Language, and History? And by doing so, would we risk to institutionalise their veiws and wishes by bringing those into the class room? This session will be coordinated by representatives of the Buma Music Academy (organiser of the Protest Song Context) and Laurens Ham, assistant professor in Modern Dutch Literature at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ and an expert on Dutch musical culture.

Expert Session: How to Organise Care in the 21^st Century? (Selin Dilli & Rense Corten)

Demographic changes—such as population aging, declining birth rates, and the rise of single-person households—are increasing pressure on how care is organised in modern societies. Changes in demand and supply related to care raise fundamental questions about the ‘division of labour’ and responsibility among the government, families, and local communities for meeting care needs. An increasingly common solution is the bottom-up organisation of care in the form of care collectives.This session will bring together experts from different disciplines and societal partners to discuss and reflect on key questions about how to strengthen connectedness, collaboration, and solidarity among family members, the government, and bottom-up organisations in providing care.