TU Delft celebrates Sustainability Day with discussion on sustainability in education
10 October 2023 is Sustainability Day. During the previous academic year, Monika Roeling, researcher Sustainability in Education at TU Delft, conducted research on the number of sustainable subjects at TU Delft in 2022/2023. On the 10th of October, she will share the intermediate results of this research, together with students from GreenTU. They created a a digital database for sustainable courses at TU Delft. These results will be the basis for discussion with the entire community of TU Delft.
TU Delft's ambition is to be carbon neutral, climate-adaptive and circular by 2030, with attention to biodiversity and quality of life. In doing so, TU Delft is opening its campus as a living lab for innovations, where the power of the engineer, designer, scientist, government and business come together. To educate the engineer of the future, TU Delft will integrate the theme of sustainability into more subjects in education.
Inventory
At the beginning of academic year 2022 - 2023, Monika Roeling, researcher of Sustainability in Education, started the inventory of sustainability themes in education. Together with Hans Hellendoorn, Pro Vice Rector Joint Education Affairs, and Andy van den Dobbelsteen, Sustainability Coordinator of TU Delft, Engineering for One Planet (EOP) was chosen as a framework making education at TU Delft more sustainable. In collaboration with students from GreenTU and the GreenTeams of each faculty, more than 1800 subjects from the Study Guide of the 2022/2023 academic year were analysed on the basis of sustainability keywords.
Defining sustainability
This study lays the foundation for monitoring education in the coming years. The theme of sustainability is a wide-ranging concept that manifests itself in different ways in education at TU Delft. The emphasis may vary for each faculty. For instance, at Architecture and the Built Environment, it is often about circular construction whilst other programmes emphasise critical materials or the design of environmentally benign products.
Digital database
Informed by the results of this research, GreenTU has set up a digital database. The database enables easy access to subjects that contain the theme of sustainability. In the coming years, the database will continue to grow when more subjects adopt sustainability elements. You can find the GreenDatabase, here.
Education in 2030
The inventory is a starting-point for the plan to implement sustainability in all educational programmes at TU Delft. Monika says: 'By 2030, sustainability will be integrated in education in a logical way. As a result, we will educate engineers who apply sustainability in professional practice and in their lives.'
Day of Sustainability
On the 10th of October, Sustainability Day, Monika Roeling will present the results of her research. During this event, organised by Studenten voor Morgen (Students for Tomorrow) and GreenTU, there will be room for discussion with the entire community of TU Delft. That day, the Sustainable Teacher of the year 2023 will be announced as well.
