ESSB participates in four consortia of the National Science Agenda

The research projects cover a wide range of expertise and revolve around collective effort for innovation and collaborations. After all, we are facing significant challenges such as housing shortage, climate change and energy transition. To deal with these, citizens, scientists, governments, and organisations are looking for solutions together.

1. DeMoCraft: Democratic Moral Craftsmanship for Just and Resilient Institutions

   Consortium leader Prof. Dr. Leonie Heres (VU University Amsterdam and ESSB)

At ESSB, endowed professor Leonie Heres will carry out the project on moral craftsmanship in the network society within the work package (WP) Democratic Moral Craftsmanship in Political-Societal Relations.

Politicians must contact voters and other stakeholders, such as businesses, interest groups and NGOs, to represent their interests well. Such networks can contribute to better and fairer policies, as they bring more diverse opinions to the table. At the same time, these contacts also entail risks, such as conflicts of interest or leaks of confidential information.

In this research, we study four cases to better understand how these types of networks operate at different levels of government (municipality, province and ministry) and with varying types of partners (public-public and public-private). It looks at how informal rules in these networks contribute to politicians' good and moral leadership. It also examines how this leadership helps them recognise and address ethical risks better. The research provides practical insights for training, policy and tools such as an improved "Network Scan", which political leaders can use to assess and improve their network relationships.

2. Empowering Citizen COllectives in societal transitions (ECCO), 

   Consortium lead Prof. Dr. Tine de Moor (RSM)

How do resident collectives drive societal change—and how can they collaborate more effectively with governments and other stakeholders?

ESSB plays an active role through two key work packages, guided by Prof. Dr. Jurian Edelenbos, Dr. Ingmar van Meerkerk, and Dr. Julia Wittmayer.

Work Package Citizens Collectives as ‘Identifiers’ in Transitions
This package explores how informal and emerging collectives contribute to societal transitions. It examines their life cycle and how they manage internal tensions, aiming to foster inclusive collaboration with public authorities through community-led research and action. Two PhD researchers are involved.

Work Package Resident Collectives as ‘Go-betweens’
Here, the focus is on collectives acting as intermediaries between citizens, governments, and civil society—especially those not yet engaged. ESSB contributes through a PhD project on the core values of collectives and their potential to create public value in partnerships.

The goal is to provide policy advice and develop strategies for adaptive, locally grounded, and innovative policymaking.

3. STRONGER2GETHER: Strengthening social relationships for students’ flourishing and mental well-being

   Consortium leader Dr. Chiel van der Veen Windesheim University of Applied Sciences

Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Sabine Severiens, the work package "Promoting social relationships and youth flourishing: (Re)design, implementation, and evaluation of CARES- interventions" is being worked on at ESSB, with the involvement of Dr. Marjolein Zee and Prof. Dr. Marieke Meeuwisse and the EMPO as professional partner.

The work package focuses on the (re)design, implementation and evaluation of programmes that aim to strengthen social relationships among young people and ultimately contribute to their flourishing and mental health. The studied programmes are called CARES interventions because they adopt a socio-ecological systems perspective according to the CARES framework being developed in the other STRONGER2GETHER work packages. This project will deliver a set of CARES interventions in different contexts, such as education and sports, but also online, supported by scientific theory and previous research. In addition, this work package will focus on mechanisms that explain success at the different levels in the CARES framework. Young people themselves will play a crucial role in the consortium and this work package, as designers and researchers. EUR will supervise three PhD students and one postdoc in this project. 

4. CONTEXTualized emotion bioregulation training for professionals and youth at risk 

   Consortium lead Dr. Floris Klumpers Behavioural Science institute and Donders Institute at Radboud University

ESSB researchers play a central role within two work packages of this study:

Work Package Just In Time Adaptive Interventions
Dr. Marta Marciniak is leading the development of a just-in-time adaptive intervention that uses smartwatch data to activate smartphone support. In a real-life setting, young people and police officers receive feedback on their current stress levels via a smartwatch and a mobile app. "When escalation is imminent, they receive personalised instructions to regulate their stress - using techniques they have previously practised in virtual reality training," Marciniak explains. "This approach helps to translate VR biofeedback training into effective action during stressful moments in everyday life."

Work Package Youth at Risk
Within this work package, Dr. Ilse van de Groep and Prof. Dr. Eveline Crone are investigating how adolescents and young adults who have come into contact with the police deal with their emotions in stressful situations and what happens in their brains then. The brain scans will be performed at Erasmus MC, with a successful partnership that has been in place since November 2024 to enable brain research for Erasmus University researchers. They will also test the effectiveness of the integrated Virtual Reality and Smartwatch intervention.

"An important part of our approach is youth participatory action research," says Van de Groep. "Young people actively participate in thinking about the research and the intervention. This way, we ensure that the approach connects to their living environment and is more applicable in different situations and settings."
Three PhD students and two postdocs will be appointed within these two work packages at ESSB.

National Science Agenda programme

The basis of creating and renewing the National Science Agenda lies with citizens. In the NWA programme, the connection between society and science is essential. Governments, researchers, civil society organisations and citizens jointly develop and use knowledge to achieve scientific and societal impact. And through scientific communication, knowledge is shared in society to increase involvement and trust in science.