We are convinced that the only way to loosen the nearly hegemonic grip of the separate disciplines on how questions are framed and answered is to concentrate on themes of signal importance to several disciplines. By building a sustained community of interdisciplinary conversation and by demonstrating what creative trespassing can accomplish, we hope to set a standard of integrative work that will act as a magnet.

Humanity faces the great challenge of managing the current global climate and sustainability crisis. To achieve this, knowledge from socio-economic, technological and natural sciences is needed. The research of Detlef van Vuuren (1970), Professor of Integrated Assessment of Global Environmental Change at Utrecht University’s Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development and a climate researcher at PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency connects these disciplines through the IMAGE model. For this groundbreaking scientific work, Van Vuuren receives the Spinoza Prize. The prize is accompanied by a monetary award of 1.5 million euros to be spent on scientific research and knowledge utilisation.

Never before in history has the Amazon been so threatened. The expansion of agriculture, livestock farming, mining concessions, and a dramatic increase in hydroelectric dams are just some of the pressures threatening the world’s largest rainforest. These are the main activities that jeopardize the integrity of the Amazon’s ecosystems, species, communities, and the enormous variety of goods and services