While the 21st century has improved our capacities in many ways, it also brings with it many societal challenges, such as social inequality, immigration, and global warming. In the course ‘Local to Global’, students investigate the consequences of global challenges such as social inequality and climate change for local communities, such as children, adolescents and parents in Rotterdam, under the supervision of social partners.

Transdisciplinary education

A total of four teams of students got to work, each supervised by both a lecturer and a social partner. The themes that were taken up by the students are:

• Social inequality and migration (social partner: Stichting de Werkshop)
• Climate change and (rental) housing (social partner: Woonstad Rotterdam)
• Adolescent mental health (social partner: Indigo Preventie)
• Social inequality and volunteering (social partner: Move Foundation)

Through new educational videos and knowledge clips, the student teams learned how to apply transdisciplinary research skills, such as design thinking and working together in a team with different backgrounds. During so-called ‘skills sessions’, students were able to put these new skills into practice right away. Together with societal partners, they conducted a transdisciplinary study.

To the practice

At the end of the course, the students delivered not only an academic finished product, but also a social finished product. For example, they created infographics, social media posts, podcasts and workshops that the social partners could use immediately. The course ended with a festive final presentation.

In the video below, Lysanne te Brinke (Ambition Lead of ambition project Youth participation and involvement and Assistant Professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam) shares her experiences with impact-driven education. For this project, she received a Healthy Start Sprint grant.

Video: Arend Verbrugh (Eagle Vysion)

Conclusion and follow-up

Both the students and the social partners found the course not only instructive and challenging, but also a lot of fun. Students indicated that they felt more connected to the city of Rotterdam after taking the course. For the 2024-2025 school year, we want to focus even more on the integration of the newly learned transdisciplinary skills with the knowledge that students have already gained earlier in their education.