Sustainability in healthcare is no longer a distant goal; it is an urgent responsibility. As World Kidney Day 2026 approaches, KitNewCare partners across Europe are launching a series of webinars that explore how kidney care can evolve to meet the environmental, social and economic challenges of our time.
In response to the growing environmental challenges facing healthcare systems, the KitNewCare project is marking World Kidney Day 2026 with a dedicated European webinar series focused on accelerating the transition towards sustainable kidney care.
Kidney care is essential and life-saving — yet it remains one of the most resource-intensive areas of modern healthcare. Dialysis treatment alone requires significant volumes of water, energy and materials. As climate change intensifies, healthcare systems must confront a difficult but urgent question: how can we continue delivering high-quality kidney care while reducing environmental impact?
Through a week-long programme of expert-led online events, KitNewCare partners are addressing this challenge head-on, exploring practical pathways to align kidney care with environmental sustainability, economic responsibility and patient-centred innovation.
A Week of Action for Sustainable Transformation
The World Kidney Day 2026 series includes five key events:
Exploring the systemic conditions that enable sustainability to move from strategic ambition to operational reality.
Examining how clinical pathways can be redesigned to reduce environmental impact while preserving patient outcomes.
Highlighting technological advancements aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of dialysis.
Bringing patient perspectives into the sustainability debate and examining the intersection between climate change and vulnerable populations.
Launching updated learning modules designed to build capacity among healthcare professionals across Europe.
Each session brings forward evidence, implementation experience and policy-relevant insights, reinforcing the project’s holistic approach to sustainable transformation.
World Kidney Day has long served as a global moment to raise awareness about prevention, early diagnosis and equitable access to care. In 2026, KitNewCare extends that message further. Awareness, while essential, is no longer sufficient. The environmental footprint of kidney care, particularly dialysis, demands not only recognition but transformation.
Across Europe, healthcare systems are under increasing pressure to reconcile two imperatives: protecting vulnerable patients and reducing environmental impact. This requires more than isolated technological solutions. It calls for systemic change — rethinking clinical pathways, investing in innovation, embedding sustainability metrics into decision-making and ensuring that patient voices remain central in shaping policy and practice.
The World Kidney Day webinar series reflects this broader ambition. It is not simply a collection of events, but part of a coordinated effort to turn sustainability from a strategic commitment into measurable action. By connecting implementation experience, innovation, governance and education, the initiative demonstrates that sustainable kidney care is achievable — and that the transition must begin now.
People interested in participating can register to the webinars through the following link.
For more details, visit our website or stay updated on LinkedIn.
Photo credits: RDNE Stock project
Contacts
Project coordinator:
Brett Duane - Trinity College Dublin
brettdu@tcd.ie
Communication Officer:
Cesar G. Crisosto - ICONS
cesar.crisosto@icons.it
Project website: https://kitnewcare.eu/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kitnewcare/