Amsterdam Complexity School on Climate Change

⏰ Last day to apply!

Applications for ACSCC close today: acscc.nl

Join world-renowned scientists, grassroots organisers, sustainability leaders, journalists, artists, and a brilliant group of participants to work on some of the most pressing challenges of climate change in the heart of Amsterdam

Speaker Spotlight: Rachel Donald

How can we make sense of a world shaped by interlocking crises? Where in the world can we find stories and places already modeling the changes we need?

We're excited to have @racheldonald.bsky.social help us tackle these questions!

⏳ Apply until Jan 26: acscc.nl

Speaker Spotlight: Kristian Nielsen

How do individual behavior change & broader systems change interact? How can behavioral science realize its full potential to address climate change?

We're excited to have @kristiansn89.bsky.social help us tackle these questions!

⏳ Apply until Jan 26: acscc.nl

Speaker Spotlight: Clare Farrell

How to build (narrative) power and push for system change at the intersection of culture, climate, and democracy?

We’re excited to have Clare Farrell as an ACSCC keynote speaker to help unpack these questions.

⏳ Apply until Jan 26 at acscc.nl

Speaker Spotlight: Ben Franta

How can evidence about knowledge, deception, and harm be used to hold powerful actors legally accountable?

We are excited to have Ben Franta (Oxford Climate Litigation Lab) as an ACSCC speaker to address these critical questions.

⏳ Apply until Jan 26th at acscc.nl

Speaker Spotlight: Vítor Vasconcelos

What is complexity science and how is it helpful to answer questions related to climate change?

We are excited to have @vvvasconcelos.bsky.social a as an ACSCC keynote speaker to provide an introduction on this topic.

⏳ Apply until January 26th at acscc.nl

Speaker Spotlight: Philippe Lamberts

How can European policy deliver a just and ambitious climate transition? Philippe will reflect on aligning finance, industry, and democracy with climate goals as a former member of EU Parliament and co-President of the Greens/EFA.

⏳ Apply at acscc.nl

Speaker Spotlight: Julia Steinberger

How can societies ensure decent living for all while staying within planetary boundaries?

We are excited to have @jksteinberger.bsky.social as an ACSCC keynote speaker to address this critical question.

⏳ Apply until Jan 26 at acscc.nl

Announcement that the applications are open for the third Amsterdam Complexity School on Climate Change, with speakers including Clare Farrell, Ben Franta, Julia Steinberger, Vítor Vasconcelos, and Rachel Donald, with more to come!

We are beyond excited to announce that the applications are now open for the third Amsterdam Complexity School on Climate Change!

Come visit a beautiful city, hear from world-renowned experts, and work with passionate individuals on challenges related to climate change.

More info: acscc.nl

Want in on next year's edition? Stay tuned here for updates on applications for #ACSCC2026! 🌍✨

Incredible how much creativity and rigor emerged in just five days!

A heartfelt thank-you to every participant for your passion and ingenuity, and to the wonderful team at the @iasamsterdam.bsky.social hosting us so warmly.

Then: examining how misinformation is challenging 15-minute-city implementations, followed by a beautiful performance of multi-level governance empowering and impeding ecological restoration. 🎭

Twin spotlights on the ultra-rich: 1️⃣ dissected their climate attitudes & behaviors; 2️⃣ mapped the spectrum of interventions to target the elite 💸💸

Morning sprint: unraveling causal chains that link climate stressors to conflict, decoding the regulatory maze derailing green investments, and accelerating heat-pump adoption 🌍

What a show on the last day of ACSCC 2025 where our brilliant participants presented the culmination of their week-long collaborations. Buckle up for today’s highlights👇

It’s hard to believe: tomorrow is already the LAST DAY of ACSCC, where all our learnings and projects culminate in final presentations. Excited for it! 🚀🎉👩‍🔬

Our panel with Pippi van Ommen and Erika van der Linden adressed levers of change! Pippi shared about XR’s disruptive tactics and building support through deep canvassing. Erika unpacked policymaking and how structures outlast shifting politics 🔧🌱

In today’s opening talk, @heleenekker.bsky.social took us on a 20-year journey through climate journalism — from Arctic ice floes to UN summits. She argued that improved linking of extreme weather events to climate change is helping to keep climate coverage high. 🗞️❄️🌍

What a night! After a gorgeous sunny dinner yesterday, we came back energized for Day 4 of ACSCC! 🌞🍽️✨

After another sunny lunch followed by intense project work, we are now getting ready for our social dinner — a three course vegan menu at Café de Ceuvel next to the canals in the evening sun!

Our third speaker was Ben Franta, who gave us an overview of the encouraging growth and diversity of climate cases being filed around the world. Climate litigation is critical to bringing down the fossil fuel industry, and it is heartening to see people like Ben devoting their careers to this fight.

We then heard from Liesbeth van Tongeren, who — as a former member of Dutch parliament & former director of Greenpeace — shared her rich experience of bringing about change, drawing practical lessons from the year-long, successful fight against shale gas in the Netherlands.

Time flies and we are already halfway through ACSCC!

Today was kicked-off by @doynefarmer.bsky.social, who gave us a deep dive into forecasting technological progress. Doyne also shared his vision of complexity economics for a better world, and showcased his impressive modelling work at Macrocosm.

We are already looking forward to tomorrow’s keynote by Doyne Farmer and the talks by Liesbeth van Tongeren and Ben Franta!

For the rest of the afternoon, participants joined their groups to continue working on their projects.

After yet another sunny lunch outside of UvA Institute for Advanced Study, Laura Cull Ó Maoilearca and Agat Sharma created a participatory performance in which they casted all ACSCC participants into a theater play written for the occasion.

In the second keynote of the day, Joyeeta Gupta discussed climate change from a justice perspective, providing an inspiring call to action and presenting several of her initiatives, including her Spinoza Prize funded project Global Constitution.

The second day of ACSCC was again full of inspiring lectures and discussions!

Day two was kicked-off by the keynote of Tim Lenton, who gave an introduction to tipping points and an update on the latest research, followed by a discussion about effective leverage points using positive tipping points.

After a sunny lunch break outside the UvA Institute for Advanced Study, participants exchanged ideas, discussed their projects, and began forming groups for collaborative work. We’ve already seen some excellent and diverse project ideas emerge. We’re looking forward to an amazing week ahead!

Following opening remarks by the organizers — @fdabl.bsky.social, @adamfinnemann.bsky.social, @jmbh.bsky.social, and @karolinehuth.bsky.social — we kicked off with a keynote by @vvvasconcelos.bsky.social. He took us on a deep dive into computational modeling, networks, and agent-based simulations.