Project Based Courses

Each year your will take a course that incorporates practical work in real world applications. In the first year this is the Regional Integration Project, the second year course is the Global Transformation Project and the third year course is named the Consultancy Project.

In each of these courses you will tackle a sustainability based issue, gather data and present a solution. Students work in groups together with local administrations, NGO's, companies and other stakeholders, and have the opportunity to develop their skills and networks while working on solutions that have real life impacts. For more information about each of the project based courses, and also some case studies from previous years, please see below.

Regional Integration Project

Project Highlights

Shape Texel’s future – dive into nature, water, energy, and bold sustainability visions

Skills you will gain
  • Develop innovative solutions to sustainability challenges
  • Design and carry out your own research
  • Collect data in the field and analyse it
  • Integrate research outcomes for policy
  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

  • Case 1: Effect of rewetting on forest biodiversity

    Drainage of wetlands results in the loss of specialized biodiversity. Rewetting is a solution to restore such altered ecosystems. The students compared the plant biodiversity in rewetted and drained forests. They measured plant diversity and evenness and found that rewetted forests contain higher biodiversity than the drained counterparts.

  • Case 2: Power to the people

    To combat climate change, Texel aims to become self-sufficient in terms of energy by 2050. However, it is unknown whether the view of the residents align with the municipality’s plan. The students set up a survey and carried out 61 interviews across the island. They found that residents are motivated to contribute to the energy transition, but faced bottlenecks in funding and in legislative modifications needed for the transition.

Global Transformation Project

Project Highlights
  • You will be working with international experts to develop inspiring and grounded pathways to a better future based on real challenges in countries all around the world.
  • Powerful and radical ‘Seed’ projects that already exist in the present will be the basis for your imagining of a better world.
  • You will strategise deeply about how to change political, physical, social, cultural, economic and technological systems for the better.
Skills you will gain
  • You will master strategies and methods to imagine achievable and inspiring pathways to a better future.
  • You will develop your skills to collaborate with international policymakers and experts, and learn from a wide range of practical perspectives from business, government, civil society and academia.
  • You will learn how to identify and work with ‘Seeds’ – radical projects and initiatives that already exist all around the world, and that can provide inspiration for a better future.

  • Case 1: Imagining a future where community meets mobility in Slovenia

    A student team worked together with the Kersnikova Institute to develop a pathway for the future of mobility in Slovenia. Slovenia is, at the moment, very dependent on cars because of many beautiful but difficult to reach parts of the country. The team combined a number of present-day ‘Seeds’: Tactical Urbanisation, a RideAmigos app, Demand Responsive Transport, and Sopotniki (co-‘ travellers’) to make a pathway where travelling through Slovenia becomes a popular social and community experience.

  • Case 2: Closing the circuit on E-Waste in India

    A team created a pathway to overcome the massive problem of electronic waste in India, working together with the United Nations Development Programme. The team combined work by environmental action group Chintan, the international WEEEForum on electronic waste, the Indian company Koscove E-Waste, and other initiatives into a pathway to a better future for E-waste in India. The focus of the pathway is a brilliant combination of new rules and ways of working, positive incentives for change, and new technologies.

Consultancy Project

Project Highlights

Work as a consultant for real-world organizations and make an impact on sustainability issues

Skills you will gain
  • Apply academic theories and methods in a transdisciplinary environment
  • Apply a systems approach which uses interdisciplinary insights to help make systems more sustainable
  • Get to know how different perspectives can be combined to achieve real-world sustainable change
  • Learn how different organizations are working toward sustainability and how you can position yourself within this landscape to affect change

  • Case 1: Genmab: a multinational cancer research laboratory

    Challenge Genmab laboratories use a lot of energy to keep biological samples frozen to temperatures of -70°C. Each freezer uses the energy of two households. Genmab wanted to understand how they could lower their energy footprint. 

    Method Students carried out interviews of lab workers and observed how they work in the lab. They also did a technical analysis of the energy use of the equipment in the lab. 

    Findings They found that employees used the freezers inefficiently and that by raising awareness of this, they could reduce energy use. 

    Impact Students designed stickers to be placed on fridges which remind laboratory staff to close the door to save energy. The stickers have been rolled out to Genmab labs around the world.

  • Case 2: Knuta Knits: a startup focused on selling sustainable wool

    Challenge How to scale a business focused on selling local and sustainable wool. 

    Method Students carried out a value chain analysis of sustainable wool and did a market analysis to identify the target group and what would appeal to them. 

    Findings They identified that a small start-up in this sector should focus on social media campaigns focused on a specific target group 

    Impact They designed social media campaign based on the insights of their scientific findings

Consultancy project - Final presentations 2025