Think along with us about education at the UvA

The climate crisis calls for creative and innovative solutions. The IIS challenges all UvA students to help think about how sustainability can be incorporated into education more effectively. With this special edition of The UvA Create a Course Challenge on sustainability, we are challenging students to explore uncharted terrain, to think and act outside the box, in order to think along with us about ways to make sustainability education fun, challenging and meaningful. What topics should be taught and which teaching methods should be used? What roles do students and lecturers play? 

With this challenge, the IIS wants to give students a say in the way education is organised at the Institute and within the University. The Challenge gives you the opportunity to make your vision on education a reality. The winning course will be launched in the following academic year. 

How does it work?

The Challenge is open to all UvA students, Bachelor’s and Master’s alike, and will consist of four rounds. In the first round, you submit your idea, in the second round you further develop your idea, in the third round, all UvA students and staff can vote and the best ideas will be nominated, and in the fourth round, you pitch your course idea to a jury of experts. The jury chooses the final winner, who will work with the IIS to make the course an actual part of the curriculum. The winning course will be launched in academic year 2021-2022, with the winning student appointed by the UvA as the course's student assistant!

Students without borders

Crossing boundaries is what this Challenge is all about. Not just between students and lecturers, or between faculties and disciplines, but also between academia and society.

Special edition: Sustainability

The world is changing and education is changing alongside it. The future calls for innovative solutions to contemporary challenges. No issue is more relevant to the leaders of tomorrow than sustainability. For this special edition of the Challenge, the emphasis is on contributing to the sustainable transformations society needs.
The broad concept of sustainability can be approached from many angles, such as technological, socio-economic, ecological, political, psychological and philosophical. When developing your course, think outside the box and across perspectives and disciplines. 

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