‘’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.’’

’’My bachelor trained my quantitative skills. I chose this minor to find out how I could use my background to address sustainability challenges.

During group work in the programme – especially the Area Studies course – I learned to apply transferable skills from my bachelor in a new environment (e.g., coding and data visualisation). Moreover, I found it fascinating to see how students from different disciplines contributed to the project from a different angle. The interdisciplinary collaboration showed me a practical side to research, that I lacked from astronomy. The minor has thereby complemented my bachelor really well.’’

’’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.’’