Industrial designer Sjors Witjes, one of the driving forces and programme director of the new Master's programme, cites a range of examples where things have gone awry. In the United States, for instance, many companies struggle to reconcile short-term goals—shareholders' interests—with the demands of societal organisations highlighting the urgency of climate change. "Attention to sustainability is waning again, while wildfires in California are more severe than ever. We see this trend spilling over to Europe and the Netherlands. How can we turn the tide?"
Part of the answer lies with the people being trained in the new two-year Master’s in Science for Sustainability. Witjes explains: "We call these people sustainability navigators; they are the guides to the future who can assist with necessary transitions. The Master's programme teaches them to think outside the box: these navigators can engage in discussions about environmental goals as well as organisational change."
Two faculties hand in hand
Programme coordinator Desiré Dekker uses waste reduction as an example. "It starts from the very beginning of the production cycle: how to develop a product so that it has minimal environmental impact at the end of its life cycle." This requires technical knowledge, such as measuring the waste pressure in a specific environment. "But you can't implement this without knowledge of organisational change." That's why in this Master's programme, the Faculty of Science goes hand in hand with the Nijmegen School of Management.
And the collaboration extends further: companies and other organisations are also involved; they participated in designing the Master's programme and provide guest lecturers. "You can come up with all sorts of great ideas, but you must also be able to explain them and get organisations on board," says Dekker. "Navigators understand the obstacles you may encounter in practice."
Making ambitious plans realistic
Sjors Witjes, who is involved in multiple collaborations, explains that theory and practice are too far apart. Even though theoretically sound subsidy schemes for solar cells have been developed on paper, they still fall short. "There is too little reflection on the stubborn reality, and implementation can still go wrong due to an overloaded energy network." The recommendation is to return to the drawing board in time. The navigators being trained are the essential links between those worlds of knowledge and execution.
These links are sorely missed in the field, notes Desiré Dekker. That's why public and private organisations are eager to participate in the programme, and why the Master's programme has received the necessary NVAO accreditation: the trained navigators—targeting forty to sixty students—will not be unemployed. Dekker is hopeful, partly fueled by the many contacts she has already established in the field. "There is a high demand for people who can build bridges."
Published in Radboud Recharge, September 2024