Joint minor: Sustainability for Businesses, Organizations and Society

The minor adopts a challenge-based learning approach.  You will learn actionable skills for engaging with real businesses and organizations facing complex issues, define their ambitions for sustainable impact, and use legal and business model tools to materialize them in concrete actions across 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. 

We are looking for students who can work in teams, actively engage with a real organization, and proactively respond to its needs by delivering actionable insights into complex social, economic, and environmental sustainability challenges. 

We have successfully run two editions. In the previous cohort (2024-2025), our students engaged with the following practical challenges: 

  • UN Global Compact: (SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy for the Netherlands)
  • IKEAsdg
  • Fairtrade Gemeente: (SDG17 Partnerships for the Goals in Bodegraven-Reeuwijk)
  • Afrikaanderwijk Cooperative: (SDG8 Sustainable cities and communities in Rotterdam)
  • KnowledgeXY: (SDG4 Quality of Education in Rotterdam)

Have a look at our first cohort testimonies in this video.

 

The second cohort (2025-2026) engaged with the following practical challenges:

  • UN Global Compact: (SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation for Zuid Holland Corporations)
  • IKEA: (SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth in the context of high inflation in Turkey)
  • Province of South Holland: (SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy for deprived neighborhoods in Rotterdam)
  • Polycentric: (SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy using geothermal energy in Delft)
  • Nuestra Casa: (SDG10 – Reduced Inequalities for migrant population in Rotterdam)
  • Concrete Blossom: (SDG10 – Sustainable cities and communities by sponsoring urban culture in Rotterdam)
  • Ridderkerk Municipality: (SDG10 – Responsible Consumption and Production for small retailers)
  • Unilever: (SDG15 – Life on land by boosting regenerative agriculture in Europe)

Have a look at our second cohort students explaining:

Why is this minor practical?

Why is this minor interesting?

What type of students is this minor for?

 

LDE

Reasons to choose a Leiden-Delft-Erasmus minor:

1. Joint education by three top-class universities.
2. Important societal challenges and new solutions.
3. Educators and students from different academic fields.
4. Cases by companies, governments and NGOs.
5. Expand your network in Leiden, Den Haag, Delft and Rotterdam.

More Leiden-Delft-Erasmus minors

Additionally, you will learn theory on Social Corporate Responsibility, Sustainable Entrepreneurship and the state-of-the-art instruments for reporting Environmental, Sustainability and Governance for corporate governance and compliance. 

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 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) & SDGs - Department of Corporate Law (Leiden University)
  • Integrating Legal Solutions for Impact-Driven Development Partnership Design (Project Module 2 – Practical) - Department of Corporate Law (Leiden University)
  • Sustainable Business Model and Entrepreneurship (Project Module 3 - Practical) - Delft Centre for Entrepreneurship
  • Admission requirements: This Leiden-Delft-Erasmus minor is open to all students of Leiden University, TU Delft and Erasmus University Rotterdam.
  • Number of places: 40 students can participate.
  • Language: All Leiden-Delft-Erasmus minors are taught in English.
  • Credits: All minors have a coherent program of 30 EC. It is possible to only follow the first block of 15 EC. Attending the full length of this minor (30 ECTS) is recommended.
  • Location: The lectures and seminars are held in one or more of the following cities: Leiden, Delft, The Hague, Rotterdam.
  • Applications: You apply for a Leiden-Delft-Erasmus minor via EduXchange in this link.
  • Selection: Not a selection minor.

eduXchange

Lecturers about this minor: 

Camilo Benitez AvilaCamilo Benitez Avila is one of the teachers in this minor. From TU Delft's Faculty of Technology, Governance and Management, he worked with colleagues from Rotterdam and Leiden during the past few years to shape the minor. Benitez Avila: ‘Students have to think for themselves which SDGs are relevant to the case they are working on. Is it about democracy, climate, education, health, prosperity? Practices such as transparent reporting according to ESG (environmental, social, governance data) are also taught. We focus on South Holland because we find it important that students can relate what they learn to their daily life and environment. It also contributes to an understanding of their own role in society. I especially hope to produce engaged citizens who want to work together to make their environment better.'  Read full interview