Opening Minor Sustainable Development
The new CML minor Sustainable Development started on Monday 7 September 2009 with an official opening by the Vice-Rector Prof. Rietje van Dam.
Leiden University introduced this year a new minor system and students can now choose between more than forty minor programs. One of these minors is the specially developed interdisciplinary minor Sustainable Development. This minor – developed and taught by the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) – started on Monday 7 September with an official opening by Vice-Rector Prof. Rietje van Dam.
The minor is taught in the first semester of this academic year (2009/2010) and is open for students of all Bachelor programs. Monday, the program started with a diverse group of around twenty-five students. As the Vice-Rector noted, students of all faculties have joined the minor; the program is followed by students with academic backgrounds ranging from Arabic to Biomedical Science and from Biology to Laws.
Not only the students come from different academic backgrounds, also the classes will be taught by professors and lecturers from different disciplines. The main contribution, however, will come from the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML).
Researchers of both CML’s research programs, Conservation Biology and Industrial Ecology, will introduce the students into the field of Sustainability Sciences and will teach them about their own work.
After the opening speeches of Professor Rietje van Dam and Professor Wouter de Groot, the minor started with an introduction day in which students became acquainted with each other and with the subject.
This introduction day will be followed by a few weeks of introductory courses with a focus on general sustainability issues, theories and methods. Hereafter, the students will have an intensive program whereby they learn about specific issues like industrial transition, modeling System Earth, land use and biodiversity.