From decarbonisation to equity, today’s defining challenges are wicked problems: complex, interdependent, and impossible to solve from one single viewpoint or discipline.

Addressing them calls for bold collaboration and integrated thinking. The Swifft Collective responds to this urgency by working across economy, anthropology, energy, social justice, and wellbeing to advance sustainable transitions.

Established through a joint initiative of Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), with the support of Helios Foundation, the Swifft Collective connects ambitious research goals with transdisciplinary, on-the-ground action to accelerate meaningful change.

The necessary climate and energy transitions are not merely technical challenges; they are systemic transformations that affect everything, from our economy and infrastructure to our social fabric and fundamental concepts of justice. That complexity is precisely why the Swifft Collective was created: to bring together diverse expertise to tackle the decarbonisation challenge from all necessary angles.

The first pillar of the Collective is the creation of four interdisciplinary chairs. Each explores a different aspect of the socio-ecological transition: always connected, always learning from one another.

Each chair is composed of five members, combining professors and researchers from both ULB and VUB.