Information for students

Climate neutral Campus in Europe – The ECIU University’s Strategic Challenge

Unique master’s thesis opportunity

ECIU University seeks for learners who take responsibility and shape a sustainable future with new mindsets, behaviours, technologies, and innovations. The big idea for 2022 is to develop a concept for a climate neutral campus.

Background

The UN’s eleventh sustainable development goal (SDG-11) aims at creating sustainable cities and communities. ECIU University supports this goal, and wants to contribute to a more sustainable future. Climate change is one of the major challenges facing global society. Extreme weather, such as droughts and heavy rain, are expected to increase with climate change, and as recent events show, expose unforeseen vulnerabilities. ECIU University can contribute to realizing the SDG by reducing its carbon footprint, and by providing technological solutions that help increase resilience to climate and weather extremes.

Big Idea

To reduce climate change is a very important issue and one of the most discussed questions in politics and society. While climate change outpaces the current scientific understanding, new technology can offer opportunities to face the impact of climate change as well as contributing to making a more climate neutral world. The big idea is to develop a climate neutral campus with innovative ideas and bold solutions and thereby, advance climate protection and reduce CO2 production. Develop a concept that enables your home university or any other university to have a climate neutral campus in the future.

Strategic Challenge – Call for master’s thesis

The strategic challenge involves writing a master’s thesis with respect to a workload of about 900 hours (or about 30 ECTS). Timescale, examination and grading are conducted according to home university guidelines and regulations. Start is in early 2022.

According to ECIU University’s Challenge-Based -Learning (CBL) framework, the strategic challenge includes three phases:

  1. Phase of engagement: Students from 12 different European universities enter the challenge team, narrow down the topic, develop essential questions, and define their precise challenge.
  2. Phase of investigation: Research and activities are done to define a solution to the challenge. Though each student works towards his or her own master’s thesis ways of collaboration within the challenge team will be created in this phase.
  3. Phase of action: Solutions are prepared and master’s theses are written. The challenge team opens the findings for society (includes implementation / delivering a product).

Continual reflection, documentation will accompany all three phases as well as pursuing opportunities to share with the wider community.

Schedule

  • 13th December 2021, 12.30-13.30 CET: Strategic Challenge Information Meeting for Academic Advisors and Master Students
  • 7thand 8th February 2022: Strategic Challenge Kick Off (online)
  • 28th and 29th March 2022: Milestone Meeting at TUHH (in presence)
  • 17th May 2022: Milestone Meeting Interim Results (online)
  • 30th June 2022: Closing Event (incl. final presentation)
  • End of July: Submission of the CBL report by the challenge team

Benefits for participating students

  • You work on a „real life problem“, a „Big Idea“ and shape a sustainable future.
  • You work in an international, intercultural and interdisciplinary team.
  • You work with stakeholders of the industry.
  • You get the chance to travel to other ECIU universities for collaborational research and work. The ECIU provides financial means for student and staff mobility.
  • You become part of the ECIU Community. You get the chance to network across Europe and set the ground for future cooperation.
  • You get ready for the job market by developing transversal skills

Further information

You can watch a learners’ video by University of Barcelona to learn more about ECIU University

… and a challenge.

Contact

Dr. Nadine Stahlberg
Phone: +49 40 42878 4677

This informational webpage about Challenge-Based Learning is part of an Innovation of Ecucation lab of ECIU university and a product of workpackage 3.

The European Commission’s support for the production of the ECIU University content does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.