Sustainable development for every student

Sustainability challenges are deeply imbedded in societal, ecological, and technological processes and thus wicked. They require the bridging of multiple disciplines, and a reflection on and cooperation with society. Understanding and becoming a part of sustainable transitions therefor requires knowledge, skills and experiences that include various disciplines and real-world experiences. Within the micro-credential “Sustainability” a combination of discipline-specific knowledge, interdisciplinary understanding and tools, and transdisciplinary practical experiences is offered to allow you to become an agent for change towards sustainability. 

The microcredential consists of three courses, one in the first semester and two in the second semester. More information can be found on the specific microcredential page. The courses can also be taken separately as electives within many programs.

Various disciplines come together in the elective course “Sustainability: an interdisciplinary approach” (ENG). The course combines inspiring lectures with hands-on tools to accelerate sustainable change and train students to become the changemakers of tomorrow.

How do we make choices that lead to more sustainable solutions? And how can we be sure that they are actually more sustainable? In Decision Support for Sustainability (ENG), you will learn various techniques for making sustainable decisions, ranging from more data-driven (‘hard’) techniques such as external cost calculations to people-oriented (‘soft’) methods such as participatory foresighting. The course is interactive, with workshops where participants try out the various techniques for themselves, supplemented by online knowledge clips explaining the theory. 

Sustainability Economics (ENG) takes a closer look at the interaction between the economic system and the socio-ecological system. It examines the place of sustainability in the economy and in our society, ranging from the macro and micro levels to individual behavior.

Here you can find a collection of the electives with a focus on sustainability that can be followed at the VUB.

In the course 'Project Technology and Sustainability', future engineers learn to act in an ethical and socially responsible manner, with a focus on technical, economic, human, and sustainability aspects. 

This course examines climate and environmental law and their relationship with various social factors.

This elective explores the basic principles of sustainable development. From this foundation, global, ‘glocal,’ and local challenges and perspectives are explored in depth. By working from different sustainability challenges, these challenges are developed from both a theoretical and practical perspective.

In the 'Monsoon School' project, we translate theory into practice by means of real-life cases that zoom in on a sustainability issue. For two weeks, the inter-university master's programme Oceans & Lakes takes its students to a partner state in the South. There, they act as consultants on a local problem, such as plastic waste in marine areas or the impact of tourism on megafauna. Diverse backgrounds, interests, and cultures are represented in each student group.

Here you can find some programs that include or focus on certain aspects of sustainability.

Keen to tackle important global and environmental issues? With the Master in Sustainable Land Management: Urban Land Engineering, you can specialise in urban land problems and engineering. It aims to shape experts that are able to manage and protect the land as well as manipulate the specifics and properties of the soil. The programme includes courses such as Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Environmental Impact Assessment, and offers a wide variety of electives to deepen your knowledge even further.

Interested in contributing to the debate on environmental change, globalisation, and other societal challenges? Want to make the world a more sustainable place? Then this interuniversity Master in Geography is the ideal way forward. The Master includes courses such as Environmental Change, and Environmental and Resource Economics. The different modules, such as Earth & Climate, provide more detail on specific topics and you can strengthen your knowledge even further with electives on climate and sustainable development.

As a future biologist, you'll have to tackle global biodiversity crises and changes. In the specialization 'Ecology and Biodiversity', you gain experience in the research methods used to study the ecology and evolution of organisms found in terrestrial, freshwater and coastal ecosystems. If you are interested in sustainability and how climate change influences ecology and biodiversity, you can follow courses from the track 'Global Change', such as Decision Support for Sustainability, Global Change Biology and Natural Risk Management.

Within the micro-credential “Sustainability” a combination of discipline specific knowledge, interdisciplinary understanding and tools, and transdisciplinary practical experiences is offered to allow you to become an agent for change towards sustainability. The courses provide insights in decision making processes and methods, as well as tools and methods for transition management and system thinking. It is a year-long program for 18 ECTS, including Decision Support for Sustainability, Sustainability Economics and Sustainability: an interdisciplinary approach.