The programme offered valuable insights into the types of challenges governments around the world face, and how potential solutions can be designed.
Chido Schurgers
Alumna Urban Governance of Inclusive Sustainable Cities
With the path our world is taking, from unprecedented urbanization and demographic shifts to the challenges of climate change, the importance of urban governance and the need for skilled practitioners has never been greater. The city of Rotterdam, as one of the largest cities in the Netherlands, home to one of Europe’s biggest ports and the most diverse population in the country, provides the perfect environment to learn how to tackle the urban challenges of the future.
During my BSc, I developed a growing fascination with everything related to the urban. Having grown up on both the African and European continents, I witnessed firsthand how each faces different but equally urgent challenges. Combining my background in International Law with my interest in cities, I joined this master’s programme with the ambition to act as a bridge between the multiple layers of governance needed to create a resilient future for all. For me, collaboration between local, national, and regional governments, as well as international cooperation on issues such as climate change adaptation and mitigation, is crucial.
The programme offered valuable insights into the types of challenges governments around the world face, and how potential solutions can be designed. It teaches you how to work effectively in diverse teams and provides opportunities to engage with real-life cases from national and international organisations. By combining public administration, policy, and urban management, the MSc trains you to become a well-rounded urban governance specialist, while learning from and alongside inspiring peers and professors.
One of the highlights for me was the opportunity to conduct field research abroad for my thesis. I returned to Zambia, the country in Southern Africa where I grew up, to study women’s experiences of environmental urban governance in Kabwe, a city ranked among the most polluted in the world due to legacy lead contamination from mining. Although large-scale mining ended in 1994, the contamination continues to affect residents’ health, particularly women and children. I am deeply grateful for the chance to apply the theoretical knowledge and research skills I gained in this master’s programme to a real-world issue and to shed light on an important and vulnerable community