General concept

The idea is that we, on behalf of the TU/e community, give a physical chair to the TU/e Executive Board and all other leaders at our university. With the chair, we want to remind and encourage our university leadership that a sustainable future should always be considered and have a seat at the decision-making table. We’ll hand over the chair during the Opening of the Academic Year (OAY) on September 4, 2023, together with a statement and video. The Eindhoven climate alderman Rik Thijs and Dutch climate minister Rob Jetten have already received such a #ToekomstStoel, an idea by Jan Terlouw. We think that our Executive Board and the TU/e leadership in general also deserve one.

Furthermore, because it’s important that the message of the Chair of the Future is taken to heart by all management levels of the TU/e, we also want to create miniature versions of the chair. Students and/ or staff can then hand these chairs over to their ‘leaders’ (e.g., departmental boards and directors of support services) as well.

Chair design

The Chair of the Future is going to be designed and made by the TU/e community, so students and professors are going to work on it. The chair will be a symbolic representation for a sustainable future. We’re currently in the process of designing the chair, which should have significant progress by the end of June/ beginning of July. If you’re interested to help or know anyone that is, let us know! We have a budget for the chair itself (e.g. materials) and some type of (financial) compensation for the hours put in.

Video & (social) media

Next to the physical chair and statement, we’re going to include a video to support the whole concept. The video should be shown during the OAY and shared via social media/ website as well. The content of the video will likely include the design process of the physical chair and we want to include faces and stories of the TU/e community.

Lastly, we want to get as much internal and external (media) attention, this is why we’ll hand over the chair at the OAY. We’ll also draw attention through (social) media, a website, and maybe ‘exhibiting’ the physical chair in one of the buildings on campus.

How to support the Chair of the Future?

Go to www.gogreenoffice.nl/support-the-future to sign the attached statement (see next page) on behalf of your organization and show your support for a sustainable future!

We’re working on getting the support of as many TU/e affiliated organizations as we can, ranging from different kinds of student/ study/ sports/ identity/ culture/ umbrella associations, student teams, career parties, and more. Ideally, we also want to include academic and service staff. We believe that by getting a broad support, it gives the message more strength!

Contact details

For any questions or remarks, email us at chairofthefuture@gogreenoffice.nl or call/ text Michael Heine via +31 6 42 28 98 73.