‘’Hello! I'm Jackie, a 3rd year International Relations and Organizations student. I thought the minor was exactly what I hoped for coming from a large classroom. It incorporated outdoor activities, hands on activities and a small classroom where you were able to connect to students and teachers! I loved being able to learn more about the basics of sustainability and focus on practical information, rather than it being so theoretically focused. The best part was biking around in Leiden with friends I have met coming from different fields of studies. It was also interesting that in the first semester we switched professors every two weeks which was nice because they had various different perspectives and backgrounds.”

’’Studying philosophy has taught me to think across different domains, so the interdisciplinary character of the Sustainable Development minor felt like a natural extension of my academic interests. The programme weaves philosophical reflection together with teaching in the physical and social sciences, creating a framework that makes the complexity of the climate crisis far more intelligible. As someone drawn to environmental and political philosophy, I found it hugely valuable to deepen my understanding of the scientific and societal dimensions of sustainability, and to see how ideas translate into concrete strategies for change. Working alongside students from diverse academic backgrounds has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the minor; encountering how people trained in different fields analyse the same issue broadens your own perspective in unexpected ways. Along the way, I’ve formed lasting friendships and gained a real sense of collaborative purpose. The minor strikes a strong balance between theoretical grounding and hands-on work, showing not only how the climate crisis manifests in the world but also how sustainable solutions can be designed and implemented in practice.’’

"I did a major in biology and was very interested in environmental sciences and sustainability. I found this minor a great opportunity to explore sustainable development a bit more. This minor consists of people with all kinds of backgrounds and has an interdisciplinary approach. That is also what I liked a lot about it, because you get to hear opinions from all different perspectives. It taught me to look at problems from multiple angles. The first course has a big theoretical part to make sure everyone has the same base of knowledge. But during this course you also assess environmental impacts of diets in an interdisciplinary group. This was very interesting to me. After this course we continued with Sustainability in Practice and the Area Study. In these courses, the theoretical framework was put into practice. In the Area Study course, a real-life sustainability challenge is studied in an interdisciplinary group. This could be done in the Netherlands or in Portugal. I went to Portugal to study the impact of tourism and invasive species on coastal ecosystems. This was a great experience and again taught me the importance of looking at problems from multiple perspectives.’’