‘’Coming from a major in Anthropology, I really like the holistic approach this minor has to sustainability. This is enhanced by the interdisciplinary aspect of the minor. The teachers, students and also the guest speakers all have different backgrounds, which is enriching the minor throughout the whole track. It is great to work with students from other academic backgrounds, and you learn to think outside of the box that is created by your own major. The minor provides both a theoretical and practical component, which entails working on a project for a commissioner. On top of gaining the practical skills of working for a commissioner, the practical component of the minor creates a deeper understanding of what was taught in the theoretical part. It shows you really how complicated some sustainability cases are, and how interdisciplinarity can help in finding solutions.”

’’What I appreciated most was the nuanced perspective of the minor. Recognizing that solutions aren’t always straightforward, and each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. As a linguistics major, I initially wondered how well I’d fit into the Sustainable Development minor. The humanities cover mostly theoretical concepts; however, the minor’s initial focus was on understanding our planet’s systems and human impact. The introductory course was a solid theoretical foundation. After learning what all goes wrong, you get to work with a group on your own project and contribute to solving a sustainability issue. What I appreciated most was the nuanced perspective of the minor. Recognizing that solutions aren’t always straightforward, and each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. This critical thinking is taught and practiced in the humanities, but it was exciting to apply them to real-world sustainability issues and come up with practical solutions.’’

‘’I have always been interested in sustainability and in the past I have considered majoring in it, but eventually chose Biology. So, this minor was a great way to get the experience of what that would have been like, and if I want to pursue this more in the future with a master’s. The minor is very diverse: the first half is mostly content lectures, which were very engaging, there were a lot of guest lectures and class discussions, and you also do a very interesting project in the meantime. The second half you do a big project with a company, which is just an exciting experience overall, whether you go to Portugal or the Netherlands, both are great. Working with a real company has been very rewarding, and it has given me insights and skills that I couldn’t have learned from normal lectures.’’