Sustainability for Businesses, Organizations and Society (Sustainability for Businesses, Organizations and Society)

Acquire practical skills and experience advising businesses and organisations to achieve their social, environmental, and economic sustainability ambitions aligned with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a framework defined by the United Nations to end poverty and inequality, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy health, justice, and prosperity. This minor opens the doors of organisations championing the SDG agenda in South Holland, including the United Nations Global Compact, IKEA, Fair Trade associations, the Port of Rotterdam, Neighbourhood Entrepreneurs, and others driving systemic change in their business operations.

Take a look at the video and learn what you will get and contribute to real businesses and organisations taking part in this minor: link

These organisations will challenge you to scope and address specific sustainability concerns, and you will learn how to overcome these challenges by providing practical inputs such as partnership visions and strategies, sustainable business models, and legal solutions for sustainable impact. An experienced team of educators from the Delft Center for Entrepreneurship (Delft Technological University), Rotterdam School of Management (Erasmus University), and the Department of Corporate Law (Leiden University), and PortCityFutures will guide you to engage with businesses and organisations and successfully address the sustainability challenges they pose you.

Q1: September 2025 – November 2025

• Sustainable Development Goals and Businesses - Rotterdam School of Management
• Organizations and Societal Partnerships - Delft Centre for Entrepreneurship
• Diagnosing Challenges and Opportunities with System Thinking (Project Module 1 - Practical) - Delft Centre for Entrepreneurship

Q2: November 2025 – January 2026

• Sustainability in Action: legal frameworks for ESG & SDGs - Department of Corporate Law (Leiden University)
• Integrating Legal Solutions for Impact-Driven Development (Project Module 2 - Practical) - Department of Corporate Law (Leiden University)
• ustainable Business Model and Entrepreneurship (Project Module 3 - Practical) - Delft Centre for Entrepreneurship

This minor aims to train bachelor students to (1) engage with real businesses and organisations to address their concerns for sustainability within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, (2) investigate the social, economic and legal roots of such concerns and opportunities for transformation, (3) provide evidence-based advice on how to act and materialise transformation opportunities through public-private-community partnerships, entrepreneurial business models and corporate legal solutions. This challenge-based education is, therefore, structured under the Engage-Investigate-Act structure:

Engage: the students will be able to engage with businesses and organisations to identify, develop, and take ownership of a concrete Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) challenge.

• Students learn the Sustainable Development Goal framework and their role in shaping the contemporary ambitions of sustainability of Businesses and Organisations.
• Students learn how to engage with a Business and Organisations to identify sustainability ambitions and scope a specific challenge aligned with their organisational stakes, societal needs and the SDG agenda.

Investigate: the students will be able to conduct evidence-based research to scope the complexity of social, environmental and economic sustainability challenges as a foundation for actionable solutions.

• Students learn to use System Thinking to articulate facts, visions and ideas of their client organisation and their stakeholders to identify shared responsibilities and partnering opportunities for change.
• Students learn the juridical and institutional aspects of businesses and organisations influencing their scope of action for sustainability, including regulatory frameworks for measuring environmental and social impact (Environmental, Sustainability and Governance metrics – ESG).

Act: the students will be able to offer actionable advice to businesses and organisations to materialise their SDG ambition into legal and business solutions

• Students learn to materialise SDG ambitions and partnership vision into organisational arrangements utilizing legal instruments
• Students learn entrepreneurship skills to translate SDG priorities into the social, financial and environmental value propositions grounding business models.

Registration for this thematic minor is on a first-come, first-served basis and available places.

Student at Leiden University, TU Delft or Erasmus University Rotterdam
Check the eligibility matrix to see if your bachelor’s degree programme offers access to this and other minors at https://www.tudelft.nl/minor

Student at another educational institution
External students cannot register via EduXchange. Interested in this minor, read the whole registration procedure at https://www.tudelft.nl/minor

The minor adopts a challenge-based learning approach. A challenge is a dilemma/problem in society that provides an opportunity to actively engage students, teachers, and stakeholders in real life. Therefore, students will develop skills for engaging and providing actionable knowledge to partner organizations by means of lectures, tutorials, and coaching. It is expected that students work as a team on a real SDG challenge that partner organizations offer, validating and delivering a transformational solution, including an implementation strategy at the organizational level. Hence, the assessment includes formative components (participation, customer satisfaction rate, intra-group assessments, active presence, case analysis, and own initiatives) and end-products like pitches, posters, learning reports, and executive recommendation briefs. Theoretical courses include quizzes, essays and exams.