The Swifft Collective brings together four principal investigators, eight PhD researchers, eight professors and promotors, and two coordination professionals across ULB and VUB. Since October 2025 it has moved from its set-up phase into full operational capacity. Four research chairs anchor the work, each pairing conceptual development with hands-on PhD research, and joint PhD agreements are being put in place to support co-supervision across the two universities.

Sustainable Transformations and Wellbeing. This chair looks at how society can shift to more sustainable ways of living, and at who wins and who loses along the way (an approach known as political ecology). Its two PhD projects are taking shape around sustainable farming (agroecology) and the way we manage water, alongside fieldwork preparation, ethics approvals, public events, and collaborations between artists and scientists.

Sustainable Engineering. This chair builds smart computer models to make energy systems work better. One model predicts how much energy buildings need for heating and cooling; another helps keep electricity grids stable as they take on more renewable power (using methods called Bayesian machine learning and graph neural networks). The chair is developing data work with Sibelga and Brussels Environment, is exploring a collaboration on district heating, and has had its first conference paper accepted.

Decarbonisation and Justice. This chair asks how the move to a low-carbon society can be fair. It looks at the wealthiest, highest-emitting groups (often called polluter elites), at living well with less (sufficiency), and at what makes a transition just. Its two PhD projects examine how these high-emitting elites view their own responsibility, and the ways wealthy people choose to redistribute their resources.

Decarbonisation and Finance. This chair works out how to pay for the shift to a low-carbon economy, bringing together government policy, private investment, and the way the financial sector handles climate risk. Recent work includes a high-level seminar on climate, risk and finance that gathered 35 stakeholders, along with mapping the key players, preparing interviews, and writing early research papers.