Civic Studio - Explore Societal Challenges (15 EC)

Pursue self-directed inquiries and design exploratory interventions addressing societal challenges.

Please note: This minor is a single 15 EC trajectory running over 10 weeks in the second block of the first semester, starting on 9 November 2026 .
It is designed for students who need to complete 15 EC after finishing a 15 EC minor in the first 10 weeks.

This minor enables you to design and carry out a self-directed inquiry connected to a broad societal challenge such as health, sustainability, social justice, or the digital society. You are encouraged to step beyond disciplinary boundaries and work across fields, integrating different perspectives to explore meaningful interventions. You will explore how to make your research meaningful to society and experience personal transformation in the process.

You will work in a small group and develop a focused, evidence-informed contribution for a societal context or partner. Throughout the minor, you learn to approach complex challenges from multiple levels and viewpoints, examining how issues, people, and systems are interconnected. You will design and justify your own inquiry architecture, making explicit methodological and ethical choices.
The minor guides you in conducting field-based inquiry with reflexivity and methodological awareness. You will engage with stakeholders, gather insights, and critically assess the implications of your work. At the same time, you will reflect on your personal development, your values, and your emerging professional identity in relation to societal engagement.

This is not a lecture-driven minor. It requires initiative, collaboration, and active participation. In return, it offers a structured yet open space to explore what it means to engage responsibly with society through your academic work.

After completing this minor, students will be able to:

1. Explore complex societal challenges by examining them at different levels and from different viewpoints,
2. Understand how issues, people, and systems are connected.
3. Design and justify an appropriate inquiry architecture, including ethical and methodological considerations.
4. Conduct a field inquiry with reflexivity and methodological awareness.
5. Reflect critically on personal development, values, and professional identity in relation to societal engagement.
6. Communicate your analysis, choices, and outcomes clearly to academic, professional, and community audiences in an engaging and accessible way.

The minor is offered in English.
Attendance is required due to the collaborative and studio-based nature of the minor. Learners engage in fieldwork and stakeholder activities across multiple locations in Rotterdam and Delft.
Active participation in reflective practice is expected throughout the programme, including the cultivation and demonstration of relevant Inner Development Goals capacities (for example: Being – self-awareness, presence; Thinking – complexity awareness, critical thinking; Relating – empathy, humility; Collaborating – trust, inclusive mindset; Acting – courage, creativity).

It's also possible to follow the 30 EC programme of this minor.

Teaching Methods
Self-directed project work, workshops, coaching sessions, peer exchange, field inquiry, and guided reflective exercises. The emphasis is on student autonomy, experiential learning, and transdisciplinary sensemaking rather than instruction-heavy teaching.

Teaching Materials
Academic articles and book chapters; IDGs guide and selected materials; stakeholder documents; field data; videos; workshop resources on design, reflection, and collaboration; transdisciplinary tools.

Method of Examination
The minor includes multiple moments of feedback, intermediate outputs, and assessments. Grading takes place only at the conclusion of the minor, based on the full body of work developed throughout the learning process.
Throughout the minor, students engage in formative assessment activities that support learning, reflection, and progression.

Final assessment
At the end of the 15 EC minor, students submit two summative components:

1. Project Portfolio (group-based)
Students submit a comprehensive Project Portfolio documenting their engaged and transdisciplinary inquiry process. The portfolio includes:
• Problem framing and contextual grounding of the societal challenge
• Systems analysis and stakeholder mapping
• Field inquiry activities and empirical or experiential findings
• Iterative sensemaking and refinement of the inquiry focus
• Development and justification of a modest, evidence-informed contribution
• A brief evaluation of the contribution, drawing on feasibility, relevance, ethical considerations, and stakeholder feedback

2. Critical Reflection Report (individual)
Individually, students submit a Critical Reflection Report that integrates personal learning, ethical positioning, and relational dynamics across the minor. The report explicitly connects experiences from inquiry, collaboration, and engagement with societal contexts, and may draw on relevant Inner Development Goals capacities where appropriate.
Both the Project Portfolio and the Critical Reflection Report must be completed successfully in order to pass the minor and obtain the full 15 ECTS.

Composition final grade
• Project Portfolio (fieldwork documentation, empirical analysis, iterative design cycles, structured intervention evaluation) – 60%
• Critical Reflection Report covering personal, relational, and ethical development across both phases – 40%