Leaving a Green Handprint at Work (EN)

What if one of the most powerful places to create real change is where you already spend most of your time – your workplace? That’s the key idea behind our upcoming book, The Green Handprint at Work: How to Be an Employee Activist for Sustainability. In this interactive mix of lecture and workshop, we’ll explore how our everyday work environments can become surprising starting points for sustainability and transformation.

We’ll talk about ideas like mushrooming, a way of creating change that spreads naturally and regeneratively, alongside themes of active hope, navigating boundaries, and action as an antidote to despair. I’ll share some stories, tools, and insights from the book, but mostly, we’ll follow what feels alive in the room. This session is for anyone, in any role, who wants to take meaningful steps toward sustainability, starting right where they are. You’ll leave with at least one concrete action to try out in your daily work life, and hopefully, a bit more courage to start making change from within.

Barbara Kump is an associate professor of Business & Sustainability at the University of Twente. Her research focuses on how businesses can participate in and contribute to environmental sustainability. She combines her academic work with a strong commitment to engaged scholarship, aiming to foster real-world sustainability transitions.

This event took place during the festival in September 2025.