Dr Jan Jorrit Hasselaar joins the GNPT Amsterdam 2026 organising team as co-chair

The Global Network for Public Theology is pleased to announce that Dr Jan Jorrit Hasselaar has joined the organising team for the GNPT Interim Meeting in Amsterdam (19–21 October 2026) as co-chair, alongside Professor Dion A. Forster.

Dr Hasselaar is an Associate Professor of Public Theology and Economics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam). He is Director of the Amsterdam Centre for Religion and Sustainable Development, where his research focuses on hope-driven sustainable transitions, especially in response to climate change, the cultivation of workplaces of hope, and the transformation of infrastructure through collaboration between academic, societal, and religious partners.

He is also a specialist on the work of Jonathan Sacks and has longstanding ties to South Africa, including close collaboration with Archbishop Thabo Makgoba. In addition, he serves as a research fellow at the University of the Free State, South Africa.

Dr Hasselaar brings important expertise, energy, and interdisciplinary insight to the planning of the Amsterdam meeting. His work at the intersections of theology, economics, sustainability, and public life resonates strongly with the conference theme, Public Theology in a Fractured World: Voices, Visions, and Vulnerabilities.

We are grateful to welcome him to the organising team and look forward to working together toward what promises to be a rich and meaningful gathering in Amsterdam.