The study programme in a nutshell
A curriculum designed for Real-World impact
The Economics of Sustainability specialisation offers a unique and interdisciplinary approach to understanding and addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The programme is structured across five blocks, combining academic depth with hands-on experience and collaboration with external experts. This programme distinguishes itself from other specialisations due to its Impact Case assignment that is done in close collaboration with external stakeholders and runs through block 1 to 4.
Programme structure
- Block 1
You begin with an introduction to sustainable development (4 ECTS), exploring the complexity of the SDGs, their interconnections, and the challenges of balancing short- and long-term solutions across different levels of policy intervention. The real-world cases on which you will work during the following blocks - such as climate change, urban development, migration, and healthy ageing - are introduced, with external case owners joining the classroom to present their topic and share their experiences. - You also follow Applied Microeconometrics (4 ECTS) to strengthen your empirical skills and choose an elective (4 ECTS).
- Blocks 2 and 3
You select your seminar electives (18 ECTS) from a curated set of options, allowing you to shape your own learning path. During these blocks, you also work in teams on the real-world cases introduced earlier. In Block 2 you have a course dedicated to your work on the Impact Case (4 ECTS) Supported by the case owners and teachers, you explore relevant literature, reports, and conduct expert interviews. - Block 4
You participate in an intensive seminar (10 ECTS) focused on policy interventions for sustainable development. You prepare a comprehensive report on your case, shifting from problem analysis to solution design. Interaction between teams ensures that you gain insights into all four cases presented in the programme. At the end of the block, you will present your final report to the case owners. - Blocks 4 and 5
You complete your master thesis (16 ECTS), ideally related to the case you studied throughout the year. You are supported by a mentor and a study group of peers working on similar topics.
A teaching approach that mirrors real sustainability challenges
Sustainability issues are complex, cross-border, and deeply interconnected. That is why this programme brings together expertise from across economic disciplines, including:
- Micro- and macroeconomics
- Health and environmental economics
- Urban and regional development
- National and international policy analysis
To reflect the complexity of real-world challenges, you will work on an impact case throughout the year. In this long-term assignment, your team is asked by an external case owner - typically a Dutch ministry, major corporation or international organization such as the OECD - to develop a policy plan for a specific sustainability issue. This collaboration ensures the real-world relevance and potential impact of your work, as the academic knowledge you gain is continuously linked to practical insights from professionals. Your final report thus provides actionable input for the case owner in their policy design.
What the programme entails
In teaching about sustainability challenges, we use a different teaching approach than other master programmes. Sustainability challenges are complex, do not stick to national boundaries, and are deeply interconnected. Therefore, our master programme brings together expertise across economic disciplines: from micro- to macro-economics, from health to environmental economics, from regional and urban development to national politics and international trade. When talking about sustainability challenges, there are a lot of different opinions on the issues and the solutions. How do you design solutions when everyone seems to disagree on the problem? To train you on working in such situations, we have designed the impact case. In this assignment, that runs throughout the year, you and your team will be asked by an external case owner to develop a policy plan for a specific sustainability challenge. This guarantees that the scientific knowledge you build up during the year is combined with the practical knowledge from experts working daily on these issues.
Study schedule
| period | course code | course name | EC |
|---|---|---|---|
| block1 | FEM61000 | Take-Off Master | 0 ec |
| block1 | FEM11149 | Introduction to Data Science | 4 ec |
| block1 | FEM11150 | Strategic Marketing Decision Making | 4 ec |
| block1 | FEM11151 | Programming for Data Science and Marketing Analytics | 4 ec |
| block2 | FEM11152 | Seminar Data Science for Marketing Analytics | 12 ec |
| block3 | FEM11153 | Seminar Case Studies in Data Science and Marketing Analytics | 12 ec |
| block4 | FEM11154 | LLMs for Marketing Analytics | 4 ec |
Elective Digital Marketing and Data Science or one Economics and Business master's course | 4 ec | ||
| block4+5 | Master's Thesis Data Science and Marketing Analytics | 16 ec | |
| total | 60 ec | ||
Disclaimer
The overview below provides an impression of the curriculum for this programme for the academic year 2027-2028. It is not an up-to-date study schedule for current students. They can find their full study schedules on MyEUR. Please note that minor changes to this schedule are possible in future academic years.