Climate activists occupy TU Eindhoven

Climate activists occupy TU Eindhoven

Two action groups occupied a room at TU Eindhoven Monday morning, directly opposite the university’s executive board. They want the university to cut ties with the fossil industry, University magazine Cursor reports.

The 11 activists from End Fossil Occupy and University Rebellion demand that the board declare a climate emergency. They also think the university should make external funding more transparent.

_{The activists in the room at TU Eindhoven. (Photo: Bridget Alcione Spoor)}

In spring, students in Eindhoven protested against Shell’s presence at a career fair at the university. Three students were arrested then. According to the court, the police action at the time was disproportionate.

The university board apologised for this. “We subscribe to the basic principle that demonstrating at our university should always be possible,” vice-president Nicole Ummelen said less than a week ago. “We therefore find it very annoying that people felt unsafe on that day.”

Last Monday, there was also an occupation at Erasmus University Rotterdam, which was ended by the police in the evening. Several hundred academics from Erasmus University and some from other universities signed an open letter expressing their disapproval of the police intervention. Rotterdam’s Executive Board also expressed regret. (HOP, BB)

• Also read: Student climate campaigns at Erasmus, Leiden and TU Delft