Ellen Bakker

Ellen Bakker serves as a Senior Lecturer in the Nursing program at the Institute for Health Care (IvG), Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, and is affiliated with the Knowledge Center for Healthcare Innovation. She spearheads sustainability integration in healthcare education, addressing the sector's substantial environmental footprint—7% of Dutch CO2 emissions, 4% of waste, 11% of raw materials, and pharmaceutical residues in 80% of surface water.

Her research focuses on transforming healthcare into a circular system through planetary health principles. Key initiatives include:

• Co-founding the national action group 'The Sustainable Nurse' to pool cross-institutional knowledge
• Developing curricula for the Bachelor of Nursing 2030 program profile
• Co-authoring foundational textbooks: 'Green Planet, Green Care' and 'Sustainable Care'
• Leading Work Package 6 of the ESCH-R project (Evidence-Based Strategies for Circular Hospitals)

Dr. Bakker actively engages students in sustainability projects through hospital green teams and living labs, distributing questionnaires and conducting focus groups to identify waste-reduction opportunities within infection prevention protocols. Her work emphasizes bottom-up implementation of sustainable alternatives and cross-institutional best-practice sharing to accelerate climate action in healthcare.