October 24, 2025

Measure Sustainability: LCA

In this video, Angelica Rota explains the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology and its specific application to glass products. The LCA is a standardized process that evaluates a product's environmental impact from raw material extraction ("cradle") to final disposal ("grave"). The assessment follows four phases: defining the goal and scope, conducting a life cycle inventory, assessing the environmental impacts, and interpreting the results. For construction products like glass, the life cycle is divided into modules covering production, use, end-of-life, and potential benefits from recycling. The findings of an LCA are often published in an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), a verified document that communicates transparent environmental data. For flat glass, the manufacturing stage is the most environmentally intensive, contributing the vast majority to its global warming potential due to the high energy required to melt raw materials. Increasing the use of recycled glass cullet is a key strategy for reducing this impact, as it significantly lowers the energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions of the melting process. Understanding LCA is crucial for identifying environmental hotspots and driving more sustainable practices in glass production and use. The video was produced by the Open GLASSroom project. Special thanks to Angelica Rota for contributing to the Open GLASSroom OER collection. The creation of these resources has been (partially) funded by the ERASMUS+ grant program of the European Union under grant no. 2022-1-DE01-KA220-HED-000089750. Neither the European Commission nor the project's national funding agency DAAD are responsible for the content or liable for any losses or damage resulting of the use of these resources.

October 21, 2025

Adaptive Expertise Assessment

Adaptive expertise verwijst naar het vermogen van individuen om hun kennis op innovatieve wijze te hercombineren om onbekende problemen op te lossen. Deze vaardigheid is essentieel voor interdisciplinair werken, en het effectief aanpakken van grote maatschappelijke uitdagingen. Wat Op deze pagina zijn te vinden: • Adaptive Expertise scenario’s. Deze kunnen ingezet worden om de adaptive expertise van studenten te meten. • Een link naar een voorbeeldassessment waarin de Adaptive Expertise scenario’s worden gebruikt. Binnenkort verschijnt op deze pagina een link naar een boekhoofdstuk waarin de theoretische achtergrond en toepassing van de Adaptive Expertise scenario’s worden toegelicht. Voor wie De materialen zijn bedoeld voor onderwijskundig adviseurs, beleidsmakers, curriculumontwikkelaars, docenten en onderzoekers in het hoger onderwijs, met name binnen interprofessionele en praktijkgerichte opleidingen. Waarom Het stimuleren van adaptive expertise draagt bij aan de ontwikkeling van veerkrachtige, reflectieve en lerende studenten en professionals. Door adaptive expertise te meten kunnen docenten beter inspelen op hoe studenten zich ontwikkelen als oplossers van maatschappelijke problemen buiten hun eigen kennisdomain.

October 1, 2025

An analysis of the current developments and scenarios for the transition to a fossil-free energy society this century

This century, greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen oxides must be significantly reduced. Greenhouse gases absorb and emit infrared radiation that contributes to global warming, which can lead to irreversible negative consequences for humans and the environment. Greenhouse gases are caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as crude oil, coal, and natural gas, but livestock farming and agriculture are also to blame. In addition, deforestation contributes to more greenhouse gases. Of the natural greenhouse gases, water vapor is the main cause of the greenhouse effect, accounting for 90%. The remaining 10% is caused from high to low by carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides, chlorofluorocarbons, and ozone. In addition, there are industrial greenhouse gases such as fluorinated hydrocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride, and nitrogen trifluoride that contribute to the greenhouse effect too. Greenhouse gases are a major cause of climate change, with far-reaching consequences for the welfare of humans and animals. In some regions, extreme weather events like rainfall are more common, while others are associated with more extreme heat waves and droughts. Sea level rise caused by melting ice and an increase in forest fires are undesirable effects of climate change. Countries in low-lying areas fear that sea level rise will force their populations to move to the higher-lying areas. Climate change is affecting the entire world. An estimated 30-40% o f the carbon dioxide released by the combustion of fossil fuels dissolves into the surface water, resulting in an increased concentration of hydrogen ions. This causes the seawater to become more acidic, resulting in a decreasing of carbonate ions. Carbonate ions are an important building block for forming and maintaining calcium carbonate structures of organisms such as oysters, mussels, sea urchins, shallow water corals, deep sea corals, and calcareous plankton.

February 27, 2024

Pressure Cooker Interdisciplinary Research Process (IRP)

What – This pressure cooker is an introduction to the Interdisciplinary Research Process (IRP) by Repko & Szostak (2021). This pressure cooker can be used to quickly familiarize a group of people with interdisciplinary research and have them experience the integration process themselves. For whom – The format can be used (and adjusted) for a team of teachers that are not yet familiar with the IRP, as well as a group of students (all levels; any group size) . Why – Guided training in integration of disciplinary insights. How long – Approximately 3 hours.

September 12, 2023

Creating a circular healthcare economy: Circular strategies for a sustainable healthcare

Our world is the only planet, as far as we know, which harbors life. The number of humans on our planet has grown tremendously in recent centuries. In 1800 one billion humans occupied our earth; on 15 November 2022, this number reached 8 billion. A result of this growth, the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary greenhouse gas emitted by human activities, drastically increased. The increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere foster the long-term increase of our earth’s temperatures, also referred to as global warming. While the earth’s population grew, so did our mass consumption society. After the Second World War humanity witnessed gigantic global economic development with great technological improvements. Computers, laptops, airplanes, tablets and Internet of Things connected humans all over the world. The hunger for plastics and steel grew as all products had to be manufactured in ever-increasing volumes. As the economy developed, our consumption grew apace. The healthcare sector has seen the same increase of consumption. The number of patients grew, and so did the number of single-use medical products. As products become more complex and more different materials were combined., recycling became more difficult. Thus, hospitals transformed into waste factories with ever-growing waste streams. The consumption of (disposable) medical devices takes up scarce raw materials and contributes to the growing CO2 emissions. In this book, Van Straten, Alvino and Horeman present their findings on how to create a sustainable healthcare economy by introducing different circular strategies. In 9 chapters, they present a wide variation of studies as practical cases to show what strategies and actions can be taken in order to implement sustainable strategies for a circular healthcare. This book was written in line with the courses the authors developed at TU Extension School, the open online education edX platform of Delft University of Technology/TU Delft, a leading university in science and technology, recognized for its world-class research. This book is a manual for everyone who follows the online course ‘Circular strategies for a sustainable healthcare’, but certainly also for everyone who wants to discover more about circular strategies and wants to understand the principles and practices of circular economy and urban mining. This book is suitable for students, researchers, policymakers and practitioners in the fields of healthcare sustainability, management, business and economics.

October 19, 2021

The Environmental Impacts of Agriculture

October 19, 2021

Copernicus - Climate Data Store and Toolbox

July 19, 2021

Organizing for Sustainability - A Guide to Developing New Business Models

This upper-level Open Access textbook aims to educate students and professionals on how to develop business models that have a positive impact on people, society, and the social and ecological environment. It explores a different view of how to organize value creation, from a focus on an almost exclusively monetary value creation to one that creates positive impact through multiple values. The book offers students and entrepreneurs a structured approach based through the Business Model Template (BMT). It consists of three stages and ten building blocks to facilitate the development of a business model. Users, be they students or practitioners, need to choose from one of the three offered business model archetypes, namely the platform, community, or circular business models. Each archetype offers a dedicated logic for vale creation. The book can be used to develop a business model from scratch (turning an idea into a working prototype) or to transform an existing business model into one of the three archetypes. Throughout the book extra sources, links to relevant online video clips, assignments and literature are offered to facilitate the development process. This book will be of interest to students studying the development of business models, sustainable management, innovation, and value creation. It will also be of interest executives, and professionals such as consultants or social entrepreneurs seeking further education. Is supported by a self-paced MOOC, also Open Access, holding seven chapters and over 50 teaching units ready to use: https://bit.ly/3oFZ3jj

January 2, 2021

Introduction to Climate Change

Climate change is a problem that concerns us all and is closely related to urban development. In this video, we will provide you with knowledge about basic concepts, issues, regulations and challenges related to climate change and cities. With this knowledge, between Professor Dr. Rik Leemans and Professor Dr. Huub Rijnaarts will discuss climate change problems and possible solutions to address climate change. LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Explain shocks and stresses on critical services and infrastructures (CSIs) of STE systems resulting from a range of disastrous events. DURATION: 1 short video (~12 min long)

October 5, 2020

Air Pollution in Tokyo

This report investigates the effect of air pollution on Tokyo. The global effects of air pollution on human health and environment are mentioned. Next, the historical context and current status of air pollution in Tokyo are mentioned and evaluated. The most impacted sector is identified, and projections are made how these effects will develop under climate change until 2050. In addition, the current ethical consequences of the presence of the shock are identified. Next, different solution strategies are found and evaluated, including policy based and technological solutions. Technologies mentioned are hydrogen and urban vegetation. Policies include increased laws and regulations, or increased investment in public transport. Lastly, the ethical consequences of these solutions strategies are mentioned, as well as the resources needed for monitoring of the effectiveness of these solution strategies. A potential stress is the increased negative effect on human health by the deterioration the air quality, making people unable to breath the air in the most affected areas. The most present solution strategies include lowering the amount of exhaust fumes, lowering the amount of air pollutants released by industrial activity, and the capture of already present pollutants by urban vegetation.