Sustainability in education at Erasmus University Rotterdam means educating about sustainability and educating for sustainability. Educating for sustainability challenges us to think critically about our impact on the world and to develop the necessary competences for contributing to sustainable futures. Through an integrative and critical approach to sustainability, we prepare our students to become agents for positive societal change.
Our ambition 'sustainability education for all students' aims to ensure that all students are exposed to sustainability education, including the climate and ecological emergency, during their study career at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Erasmus University Rotterdam currently offers different bachelor and master programmes and courses in which sustainability plays a major role.
Bachelor students at Erasmus University Rotterdam have to follow elective courses. If they are interested in sustainability issues, then there are many courses to choose from in order to deepen or broaden their knowledge on topics such as responsible consumption and production or climate change.
- Cheap: A Critique of Capitalism in the Web of Life
- Degrowth (ISS faculty)
- Economics of Fashion and Sustainability
- Economic Geography of Creativity and Urban Development
- Economics of Sustainability
- Economics of Sustainability (EUC)
- Ecophilosophy: Beyond Sustainability and Environment
- Environmental Economics
- Ethiek, duurzaamheid en compliance (Dutch)
- Finance for Positive Change
- Food and nutrition
- Global Challenges
- Global Environmental Politics
- Governing just sustainability transitions
- Organizations & Social Movements
- Plant Physiology & Sustainable Agriculture
- Pluralist Economic Perspectives on Climate Change
- Principles of Ecology
- Sustainability in the Visual Arts and Crafts
- Sustainable Development in Historical Perspective
- The Climate Crisis: Ecology, Economy & Politics in the Anthropocene
Our students can choose from several minors about sustainability and related issues. Have a look at all the minors of EUR or view a selection below.
External minors
Delft
- Climate Change, Adaptation and Mitigation
- Offshore Wind Energy
- (Re)Imagining Port Cities: Understanding Space, Society and Culture
- Sustainable Urbanism: The Green-Blue City
LDE
The minor Public Health consists of modules that cover important contemporary challenges, such as environmental care, mental healthcare and the care of youngsters and of elderly citizens. Within each module, different lecturers will speak about these themes, which will underpin the diversity of urban challenges.
The masters on sustainability are only taught in English.
- Agrarian, Food and Environmental Studies (AFES)
- Cultural Economics and Entrepreneurship
- Economics of Sustainability
- Global Business & Sustainability
- Societal Transitions
- Strategic Urban Planning & Policies - Managing Socio-Spatial Dynamics for Sustainable Cities
- Urban Environment, Sustainability & Climate Change
- Urban Governance of Inclusive Sustainable Cities
The two available majors are:
For ambitious students, Erasmus University Rotterdam offers honours programmes. Innovative solutions for sustainability challenges are created from multiple angles in these interdisciplinary programmes.
Are you a professional who wants to gain more insight into sustainability issues? Have a look at our executive education.
- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- Ecophilosphy (course, not specifically listed as executive programme)
- ESG reporting expert
- Sustainable finance
- Sustainability in de Financiele Marktpraktijk (course, not specifically listed as executive programme)
These MOOC's are in English:
- A Business Approach to Sustainable Landscape Restoration
- Circular Economy: An Introduction
- Driving business towards the Sustainable Development Goals
- Eearth Economics
- Landscape Restoration for Sustainable Development: A Business Approach
- Local Economic Development
- Planning for Climate Change in African Cities
- Principles of sustainable finance
Engaged education
EUR aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to examine complex sustainability challenges through engaged (or impact-driven) education. Impact-driven education is defined as education in which students acquire the knowledge, competencies, attitudes/thinking and values to identify and address social urgencies in our society. They do this by establishing a reciprocal relationship with actors involved in a specific societal urgency and becoming aware of the ethical dimension of their actions. Impact-driven education therefore focuses on developing students' impact capacity in a co-creative learning environment that offers space for safe experimentation and personal growth. Autonomy, coaching guidance and maintaining relationships are at the core of the pedagogy.
This approach re-imagines how we teach, by integrating knowledge from multiple disciplines and actively involving societal stakeholders to address challenges through collective problem-solving and critical reflection, fostering interdependence and community empowerment.