PLANETS @ SETAC 2026 (17-21.05.2026, Maastricht)
The SETAC Europe 36th Annual Meeting took place from 17–21 May 2026 in Maastricht, the Netherlands, bringing together around 2,500 participants from academia, industry, EU institutions, and regulatory bodies interested in the programme, which included keynote lectures, oral and poster presentations, workshops, and networking events. This year, the event’s theme was ‘Embrace the outlier: in science, regulations, and networks’, bringing together diverse perspectives to advance environmental sciences and their adoption in policy making, and serving as a major platform for discussing the latest scientific and regulatory developments in environmental toxicology, environmental chemistry, sustainability, life cycle assessment (LCA), risk assessment, Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD), as well as including industrial ecology, material science, pharmaceutical sciences, governance studies, agricultural studies, etc.
PLANETS partners from CEA, TNO, BASF, and BNN actively contributed to the conference by presenting research related to the project, as well as best practices in scientific communication.
- Katharina Lang-Hogrefe (BNN) gave an oral presentation on importance of scientific communication to ensure a high level of engagement, entitled “Clear, Concise, and Complete: Finding the Sweet Spot for Detail and Simplification in Science Communication“, on 18 May in the Session “6.10 – Translating Complexity – The Role Science Communication Plays in Generating Lasting Societal Impact“. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20345940.
- Susan Dekkers (TNO) gave an oral presentation, entitled “Integrated Methodology and Decision Support System for Safe and Sustainable Substitution“, on 20 May.
- Joséphine Steck (CEA) presented a poster about PLANETS’ SSbD Wordbook, entitled “Common Language for Safe and Sustainable by Design: One Wordbook to Understand Them All”, on 21 May. She explained that it is a carefully selection of terms and definitions covering safety, sustainability, methodological tools, indicators, and regulatory aspects relevant to SSbD which aims to create a common understanding of key concepts for the successful implementation of the SSbD approach.
- Joséphine Steck (CEA) delivered an oral presentation about the PLANETS’s Workflow on 21 May. Under the title “Operationalising Safe and Sustainable by Design for Industry: Mapping, Coordinating, and Structuring Chemical and Material Innovation with the PLANETS Workflow”, she explained that the PLANTES’ Workflowit is co-developed by a multidisciplinary team through iterative cycles, tackling key SSbD challenges. Drawing on insights from the literature, the resulting structure includes two main phases (scoping and assessment) supported by an educational kit. The assessment phase is further subdivided into simplified, intermediate, and full tiers, enabling a progressive and adaptable evaluation process. The overall process requires adapting to varying numbers of alternatives, potentially clustering similar options for feasibility. SSbD ambassadors to each CS supported coordination, stakeholder engagement facilitation, and integration of safety and sustainability from the start.
- Wendel Wohlleben (former BASF) presented, on 21 May a poster about the NSC workshops on SSbD scenarios organised in 2025. Title of the poster: “Tailoring, Tiering and Archetypal Scenarios: Outcome of two Workshops on SSbD Scenarios in the Network for Safe and Sustainable Chemicals & Materials (NSC)” .
Additionally, PLANETS coordinator organised an informal meeting with the RESILIENCE-24 sister projects to discuss “day-by-day” activities in the projects and how to increase collaboration in selected topics.
The participation in SETAC Europe 2026 provided an important opportunity for PLANETS partners to disseminate research outcomes, engage with experts, and strengthen collaboration. The posters and oral presentations generated valuable scientific discussions around SSbD and scientific communication. The event also contributed to increasing the visibility of the project and fostering future networking and collaboration opportunities.
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