Smart Sustainable Cities

In our Smart Sustainable Cities (SSC) programme, you will work with an international group of fellow students and lecturers on designing sustainable cities for the future. How do we solve problems related to energy, mobility and waste in the city? How do we create healthy, inclusive cities, where citizens are actively involved? 

These questions challenge us to develop integrated smart sustainable solutions for economic, social and environmental problems. Our future depends largely on whether we’ll be able to boost the sustainable development of cities. So join the SSC minor programme and become the smart sustainable city professional of the future!

Going abroad

During this minor you will get the unique opportunity to go abroad for a short period. You will work on one of the ‘Sustainability Challenges’ for clients in The Netherlands or abroad. The project locations abroad may differ per year. Past projects abroad took place in e.g. Valencia (Spain), Turku (Finland), Manchester (UK) and Bochum (Germany). The costs for travel and accommodation are for your account. Students that have a full-time registration at HU may be eligible for ERASMUS+ short term mobility funding.

The programme consists of a 15 EC Introductory Course and a 15EC multidisciplinary Sustainability Challenge. In the Introductory Course you will learn more about energy, mobility, circular economy and healthy urban living in various workshops and excursions, and you’ll learn how to apply relevant methods and techniques for researching, designing and advising on/about Smart Sustainable Cities.

During the Sustainability Challenge, you work independently with your team on behalf of a real client (for example the municipality). In this challenge you are supported by a tutor and experts. You will explore the sustainability challenge that they are facing, you will design smart, creative, innovative and viable solutions for this challenge. You are of course also responsible for project management.

Example projects

Examples of past projects are:

• Valencia (Spain): how can an urban neighborhood in Valencia be redesigned to accommodate for a higher adoption rate of Electrical Vehicles (EV’s)?
• Utrecht (The Netherlands): how can we optimise zoning measures to reduce energy use at the HU buildings at the Utrecht Science Park?
• Turku (Finland): how can the charging system of an electrified public bus network in Turku be arranged in order to contribute efficiently to the carbon neutrality goals?
• Utrecht (The Netherlands): how can the municipality of Utrecht utilise their plastic waste in the public space to add value as a circular city?
• Manchester (United Kingdom): how can an effective marketing campaign to promote cycling in the Greater Manchester region be designed?
  
   

This multidisciplinary minor is open to all students who are interested in the development of smart sustainable cities. Everyone with the right motivation is welcome, your previous education could be related to sustainability, engineering, IT, social studies, communication, business or design.

English CEFR level B2.

Please note: you may be asked to take a language assessment test before the start of the programme. If your English proficiency is below the required level, you may not be able to enter the course, as you need to be able to actively participate in (parts of) the programme. In all cases, the programme manager makes the final decision.