11 oktober 2021

Degrowth vs. Ecomodernism

In this exercise, students will consider a prominent conceptual distinction in current debates about economy and sustainability: the opposition between Degrowth theory and Ecomodernism. This opposition is a useful one to think about new technologies, strategies for sustainability, and the future in general. After some introductory steps, students are tasked with creating an assignment about a certain technology they chose themselves.

2019

How to 'Design for Values'

If we were to design a technology from scratch, how could we design it in a way that it preserves the values we as the society hold dear? How can we systematically codify these values and translate them into design requirements? These questions, and more, will be answered in this module, where we will be discussing 'Designing for Values' (DfV) also known as Value Sensitive Design (VSD). This resource provides a link to materials (web lectures, readings, examples) that address the following learning objectives: o Recognize why values should play a key role in design and innovation process. o Make better decisions in the design process to enhance socially acceptable products and technologies. o Apply the 'design for values' method to systematically integrate ethical and societal values (such as sustainability, safety, equity and privacy) into the design of your own technology or projects. o Develop/adapt strategies for dealing with value conflicts. These materials are also part of the MOOC Responsible Innovation

17 juni 2026

AgriLemma 2.0: A serious game for exploring dilemmas in agriculture

In AgriLemma, you are a farmer in Europe managing your own farm across 8 seasons. You grow six types of crops — potatoes, sugar beets, rapeseed, corn, wheat, and chickpeas — each requiring resources such as seeds, water, nutrients, and workers. Players must run, invest in, and improve their farm with sustainable technologies while balancing competing priorities and navigating uncertainties like weather events and pest attacks. The objective is to maximize overall farm health, which is determined by three dimensions: environmental health (positive ecological impact), social health (worker satisfaction), and financial health (farm profitability). Players must strategize across all three dimensions simultaneously — decisions that boost profit may come at an environmental cost, and vice versa. The game makes these trade-offs tangible, encouraging reflection on what sustainable farming really requires. ------------------------------ Learning objectives: · Experiment with different strategies — to operationalize and adapt an approach under pressure, and to reflect on how well it held up. · Expose students to issues of risk management — to plan, control, and explain the reasoning behind in-game choices relating to sustainability, soil conservation practices, integrated crop management, weeding, and pest management, and to learn how to respond when conditions change. · Experience the complexity of decision-making — to take into account weather and policy uncertainties, sustainability pressures, economic realities, and the broader context in which farm decisions are made. --------------------------------Practical information: · Format: Board game (physical/ print-and-play) · Players: 2-4 players (extendable to 8 by playing in teams of 2) · Duration: 3 hours, including onboarding and debrief · Level: Higher education / Stakeholder engagement · Language: English --------------------------------Credits: AgriLemma was originally designed as part of the WATERAGRI project. The second version, including a full redesign of the graphics, was developed with funding support from the TU Delft Open Science Programme course "Civic Engagement in Action: Empowering Researchers and Educators to Make an Impact". Game design: Dr. ir. Aashna Mittal - TU Delft, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management Graphic design and illustration: Gracia Bovenberg-Murris and Michelle de Smit – TU Delft GameLab Note on image generation: The images in the tech cards and the border of the main game board were created using AI-generated imagery. The constructed wetlands card image is also AI-generated. All other cards and box art are hand-drawn or created in Adobe Illustrator. Note on usability: The print-and-play version of the game has been optimized for office printing.

1 augustus 2016

The Biobased Economy (introductory modules of societal aspects)

21 augustus 2021

Co-creation of Sustainable Cities

This set contains a series of 6 short (<15 min web lectures on ' Co-creation of Sustainable Cities' (see https://online-learning.tudelft.nl/courses/citizens-co-creating-sustainable-cities/) Around the world, major challenges of our time such as population growth and climate change are being addressed in cities. Here, citizens play an important role together with governments, companies, NGOs and researchers in creating social, technological and political innovations for achieving sustainability and resilience. Citizens can be co-creators of sustainable cities when they can engage in city politics or in the design of the urban environment and its technologies and infrastructure. In addition, citizens influence and are influenced by the technologies and systems that they use every day. Sustainability is thus a result of the interplay between technology, policy and people’s daily lives. Understanding this interplay is essential for creating sustainable cities. This set provides an overview of the dynamics of co-creation for sustainable cities worldwide. In different contexts, different forms of co-creation are preferred in specific urban systems. These materials will provide you with an understanding needed to investigate how water, waste, energy, air, food, mobility, and green spaces have a vast effect on city life. Additionally, the videos will teach you about the dynamics of co-creation and the key principles of citizens interacting with service providing companies, technology and infrastructure developers, policy makers and researchers. You will gain an understanding of major types of co-creation and their interdependence with their socio-technical and political contexts. You will become equipped to indicate how you can use co-creation to develop innovative technologies, policy arrangements or social practices for a sustainable city in your own community. You will demonstrate this by developing an action plan, research proposal or project idea. Basic knowledge of sustainability in urban settings, urban environmental technology and urban management is assumed. These materials relate to the collection "Governance and Institutional Arrangements of Complex STE Systems."

7 juni 2019

Business & the sustainable development goals

(RSM, 2018, 123 pag) . In dit boek presenteert Rob van Tulder een raamwerk voor ontwerpen vanbedrijfsstrategieën die effectief zijn voor duurzame ontwikkeling. Bevat daarnaast case studies van bedrijven die SDGs toepassen in hun strategie.

12 september 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.

28 november 2016

Societal Aspects of the Biobased economy

23 april 2024

Navigating the Landscape of Blended Higher Education

In recent years, blended teaching formats have become increasingly important in higher education. Designing effective blended education is challenging and requires a profound knowledge of digital tools and technologies, as well as the didactical proficiency to deploy them effectively and efficiently within the learning environment. However, little is known about didactical design principles to support teachers in creating an effective blended design. This chapter reports on the combined results of two independently conducted extensive literature reviews that investigated (a) didactical strategies, methods, and techniques concerning online education in the existing empirical research on higher education, and (b) the effects of different blended teaching formats, compared to face-to-face education, on learning outcomes and/or psychosocial outcomes in higher education students. It was found that blended education can enhance student achievement and psychosocial well-being, yet that the instructional approach plays a crucial role. Combining the insights of both studies has subsequently led to a series of evidence-informed recommendations to design effective blended education with a view to the broad development of students. Readers will be provided with practical guidance on how to implement these design principles in educational practice.

14 oktober 2017

Air Quality in Amsterdam

In this module, we will visit the Amsterdam-based NGO ‘Waag Society’ to see how they address air pollution and help co-create solutions. This institute for art, science, and technology works on many topics that involve citizens and socio-technical change. The Waag Society also works with citizens to counter air quality problems, but in a very different way. Let’s have a look! LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Explain shocks and stresses on critical services and infrastructures (CSIs) of STE systems resulting from a range of disastrous events. DURATION: 1 short video (~4 minutes long)