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Discover the voices of DCRW2026: speakers announced and programme live

The Dutch Caribbean Research Week (DCRW2026) proudly announces its keynote and plenary speakers. From 17 to 24 June 2026, leading voices from research, policy and society will come together for six thematic conference days across six Caribbean islands.

With the full programme now published, participants can explore an engaging week of keynote lectures, plenary sessions, panel discussions and cultural intermezzi, all centred on issues that matter to the Dutch Caribbean.

Keynote speakers

Across the six conference days, the following keynote speakers will deliver addresses that frame each day’s theme and stimulate dialogue between researchers, policymakers and societal partners:

Each keynote is embedded within a thematic programme day. The allocation of keynote speakers per day can be found in the full conference programme.

Register for DCRW2026

Participation in the Dutch Caribbean Research Week 2026 is free of charge, but registration is required for both on-site and online attendance.

Register for DCRW2026

Plenary speakers

  • Loes Witteveen | Food Resilient Futures in the Caribbean Netherlands: a vision on continuity
  • Linette Bossen | Learning Communities Bridging Education, Science, Society and Culture for Societal Impact on Curaçao
  • Bart van Donselaar | Language ideologies in Aruban secondary education: Integrating policy texts, teacher perspectives and pupil perspectives through nexus analysis
  • Pauline Kruiver | Tools for weather, climate and seismic hazards on the Dutch Caribbean islands
  • Francis Laclé | Navigating Research Realities on a Small Island: Lessons from A PhD Healthcare Project on Aruba
  • Amber van Veghel |  A scoping review in small island contexts: mapping research on food in the ABC islands

  • Ellianne dos Santos Rubio | Redesigning neurosurgical emergency healthcare. A Task‑Sharing Roadmap for the Caribbean Island Health System
  • Sam van Meer | Sickle Cell Disease and Sickle Cell Trait on Curaçao: Incidence and Pediatric Complications. A Retrospective Cohort Study From a Single Centre
  • Betzabel Cajiao Garcia | Implementing a Lifestyle Medicine Screening Program for NCD Prevention in Curaçao
  • Esther Vermeulen | Realization of a cancer registry in the Dutch Caribbean countries and special municipalities
  • Lequisha Suisse | mHealth for decision-making support in colorectal cancer screening in the Dutch Caribbean Islands
  • Bas Eikelenboom | Maternal Near Miss in Curaçao: Comparing WHO and Namibian Criteria in a High-Income Caribbean Setting

  • Emiel Martens | Beach Inna Bondage: The Fight for Jamaica’s Coastline
  • Pieter van Breukering | Public Preferences for Climate Change Adaptation in Curaçao and Aruba
  • Rosita Woodly-Sobhie | The economic impact of unintended pregnancies and early motherhood at micro-and macrolevel
  • Anna Karla de Almeida Milani | The Spatial Legacies of Oil Refining in San Nicolaas, Aruba
  • Judith Sonder | Food Boost Challenge Curacao: participatory action research for healthier food environments
  • Eric Mijts | Book presentation: Turning the Tide: Climate Change, Social Change and Islandness

  • Marilla Lippert | Coral reef restoration efforts succeed in restoring reef fish communities
  • Milena Holmgren | Lessons from fifteen years of dry forest restoration in Bonaire
  • Titus Kruijssen | Rainfall to reef: Event-driven groundwater recharge and transport in Curaçao’s fractured rock hydrogeology
  • Jordy van der Beek | Crossing the border between biodiversity and health, mosquito diversity on the ABC-islands
  • Cees van Westen | Designing a Sub-Regional Trigger Model for Anticipatory Action to Hurricanes in the Eastern Caribbean
  • Rebecca Lellau | Caribbean pollen and spores as proxies to observe past vegetation dynamics

  • Barbara Lubelli | Protecting Caribbean heritage from salt damage - the SALTCURA project
  • Durwin Lynch | “Do I belong here?”: uncovering racialized experiences of Dutch Caribbean students in The Netherlands through a participatory action research-based intervention.
  • Rosemary Hoen | Systemic Sensitive-Responsive Pedagogical Transformation of Intergenerational Legacies of Slavery and Colonialism in Dutch Caribbean Education
  • Regine Croes | Language values, ideologies and beliefs in Aruban Primary Education policies and practice
  • Merlynne Williams |  TiPICo: Co-creating and Sharing Indigenous Knowledge on Teaching in Plurilingual Island Communities
  • Menelik Arnell | 

  • Sofie Carpaij | Tracing (Post-) Colonial Planning and Urban Blue Justice in Paramaribo, Suriname
  • Brechtje Huiskes | Incompatibility regulations for public office holders in the Dutch Caribbean
  • Daphina Misiedjan | Mitigation, Adaptation, and Equality: The Significance of the Bonaire Climate Ruling
  • Bastiaan de Jong | Ensuring the equality of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba within the constitutional system of the Netherlands
  • Hannah Meijer | ECHR obligations and the necessity to collaborate: how to do so considering the Murray-case?
  • Thais Franken | Public Value Creation by Civil Society Organizations: Insights from Social, Health, and Cultural CSOs in Aruba and Bonaire
  • Pitch Poster Winner DCRW2024 Dylan Power

Networking and poster presentations

Each conference day of DCRW2026 offers dedicated time for networking and poster presentations, creating opportunities for exchange between researchers, practitioners and societal partners. At the on-site locations, space is available for live poster presentations. In addition, online participants will present their posters in the interactive online platform Gather. On-site participants who wish to explore the online posters are invited to bring their own laptop/tablet and headset and join the Gather environment, allowing for interactions with online presenters and participants abroad.

Explore the full programme

The complete programme for all six days of DCRW2026 - including sessions, timings, keynote speakers and participation formats - is now available online.

View the full DCRW2026 programme

About the Dutch Caribbean Research Week

The Dutch Caribbean Research Week 2026 (DCRW2026) is a free multi-day conference aimed at providing a platform to bring researchers from the Caribbean science community together. This event is packed with lectures, panel discussions, cultural performances and networking opportunities. On 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24 of June 2026, the Dutch Research Council (NWO) will organise the fifth Dutch Caribbean Research Week (DCRW2026).