June is full of conference! The UARC team attended the Open Repositories 2026 conference and presented a lightening talk on Institutional Repositories in Small Island States - The Open Knowledge Repository of the University of Aruba. This week the Dutch Caribbean Research Week also kicks off, and we are looking forward to attending the Aruba day at the University of Aruba on 17 June.

Event: Open Science Community Aruba 25 June

Following up from our first Open Science Community Aruba meeting on 11 March, we will organize a second Open Science Community Aruba meeting on 25 June, 12-1 PM! This meeting is open to UA students and staff, and also open to anyone interested in Open Science! Please do indicate your interest to Esther (esther.plomp@ua.aw) to ensure that we fit into our meeting space!

REMINDER - Conference: Dutch Caribbean Research Week

The Dutch Caribbean Research Week 2026 is a free multi-day conference taking place from 17-24 June in person and online. You can still register to participate online to hear more about the research from UA Researchers and Associates such as:

• Dr. Amber van Veghel, 17 June: A scoping review in small island contexts: mapping research on food in the ABC islands

• Francis Laclé, 17 June: Navigating Research Realities on a Small Island: Lessons from A PhD Healthcare Project on Aruba

• Bart van Donselaar, 17 June: Language ideologies in Aruban secondary education: Integrating policy texts, teacher perspectives and pupil perspectives through nexus analysis

• Dr. Esther Plomp, 17 June: panel discussion: Advancing just and trusted knowledge systems: open science, research integrity, and equitable AI for evidence-driven policy & poster introducing the Dutch Caribbean Digital Competence Network

• Kareline van der Linden, 17 June: Innovating Happiness: How critical infrastructures and tourism organizations are gradually breaking barriers

• Dr. Anouk Mertens, 17 June: Higher Education for Sustainable Island Solutions: Embedding Sustainability Competences in a Dutch Caribbean STEM Curriculum

• Dr. Eric Mijts, 19 June: Book presentation: Turning the Tide: Climate Change, Social Change and Islandness

• Rendell de Kort, 19 June: Protection as Vulnerability: The Conch Paradox in Dutch Caribbean Governance

• Brechtje Huiskes, 24 June: Incompatibility regulations for public office holders in the Dutch Caribbean

• Hannah Meijer, 24 June: ECHR obligations and the necessity to collaborate: how to do so considering the Murray-case?

• Thaïs Franken, 24 June: Public Value Creation by Civil Society Organizations: Insights from Social, Health, and Cultural CSOs in Aruba and Bonaire

Research Highlight: ECO-SCALE with Dr. Esther Plomp

The UA is participating in the ECO-SCALE project (funded under the Thematic Digital Competence Centres 2025 call by NWO TDCC-NES).

ECO-SCALE aims to advance the adoption of large scale computing infrastructures while strengthening expertise in energy efficient computing across the Natural and Engineering Sciences domain. Through a collaborative and community driven approach, the project will establish a Community of Practice and training network where researchers and research support staff can jointly explore, test, and exchange best practices for scalable and sustainable computing workflows.

Research Highlight: ABC-NHC project with Dr. Eric Mijts

The ABC-NHC project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) as part of its research programme on collections with a colonial context. The project is a collaboration between the University of Aruba, University of Curaçao, Leiden University, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, and the three nature conservation organisations: Aruba Conservation Foundation, Stinapa (Bonaire), and Carmabi (Curaçao).

Together with a large group of volunteer experts, the project partners will spend the coming years documenting and digitising material from the ABC Islands held in the Naturalis collections.

Aruba as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

The UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme officially designated Aruba as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The recognition covers the entire island making Aruba the second country in the world to have its whole territory designated!

The University of Aruba contributed in the process via UARC and SISSTEM, and is proud to continue this journey together with the UNESCO Aruba team and partners.

Funding opportunity: ZonMW call

A new ZonMw call for proposals just opened within the Caribbean Health Research program: ‘Strengthening the organization of the healthcare system on the ABCSSS islands'

The deadline for submitting your expression of interest is 7 July 2026.

Past event: ECHR conference

On 29 May 2026 the academic Conference "Shaping Rights Across Oceans" took place at the University of Aruba, thanks to Dr. Chun Luk and Brechtje Huiskes.

The Program and Abstract Book of the conference are now available on our Open Knowledge Repository.

You can also check the slides from Brechtje’s presentation: The 'invisible' right to appeal the judgment of an executive-dependent tribunal.

Past event: Wetgevingsbundel Arubaans staats- en bestuursrecht

Opportunities

• International Call for Chapters (No Fees) on Amazon & Caribbean Tourism – Springer Book Project. Contact bookamazoncaribbe@gmail.com for more information.

• Applications are open for researchers working in the Caribbean to apply for Visiting Fellowships and Travel Grants to visit the University of Oxford in 2027. There are two schemes available:

  • Visiting Fellowships for mid-career to established academics / researchers

  • Travel Grants for early to mid-career researchers