Activists occupying the boardroom in the Atlas Building have resumed their activities. Their aim is to persude the TU Eindhoven to adjust its climate policy.
Gone for the weekend
The activists spent the weekend at home. In doing so, they responded to a request from the university. They did not spend the night in this room of the TU building either.
We found the doors to this part of the TU locked this Monday morning. “But we sweetly approached a cleaner and told them we had to be here. They then opened the doors for us”.
Cautious optimism
At noon, the activists had a meeting with the university’s Executive Board. They are happy about that, but only cautiously optimismic. “Our caution is justified, given the previous meetings we had. It’s all political and game-playing. The Executive Board does not have to stick to anything if it is not on paper”, reported one of the activists. However, there’s a bit of optimism too. This is the fact that the university had read the activists’ statement over the weekend.
“This is too vague”
The first demand of the activists has been met. The university has recognised the climate emergency. But the activists are not yet satisfied with that.
There are two more demands that the students have put on the table. The activists want the University to cut ties with companies from the fossil industry, such as Shell, BP and Exxon Mobil. This is yet to be met. The board also remained vague about the demand to provide insight into how much money TU Eindhoven receives from such companies and whether these funds influence the courses and the research results.
The Executive Board replied that it wants to include the income more clearly in annual reports. Liz again thinks this is too vague. “How do they define ‘more clearly’? How can we check?”
Source: OmroepBrabant
Translated by: Seetha
