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Winners of the Sustainability Education Grant 2025–26

At Maastricht University, one of the key aims of Sustainability Roadmap 2030 is to integrate sustainability into all educational programmes. Sustainability education empowers learners to take informed decisions and responsible actions for environmental integrity, economic viability and a just society, for present and future generations, while respecting cultural diversity. The Sustainability Education Grant is designed for course coordinators and teachers who wish to integrate sustainability topics and related competencies into their existing or new courses, providing the necessary time and support to (re)develop educational modules or components for this purpose. 

Here are the three winners of the 2025-26 Sustainability Education Grant, each receiving €5000:

Winner 1: Development of a Biodiversity Finance Case with an Action Learning Component

Course: Climate Finance & Investments (SBE)

Course level: Master

Course Coordinator: Dr. Juan Palacios

The grant focuses on the development of a biodiversity finance case with an action learning component, which is intended for integration into the Climate Finance and Investments course within the MSc International Business – Sustainable Finance track. This initiative aims to stimulate the further integration of sustainability into UM’s core curricula by providing students with practical, real-world learning around biodiversity and financial instruments.

For more information, check this article published by SBE: https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/news/turning-conservation-investment-student-journey-biodiversity-finance

 

Winner 2: Optimization for Sustainable Decision-Making

Course: Optimisation (FSE)

Course Level: Bachelor 

Course Coordinator: Dr. Monica Salvioli

The redesign will integrate sustainability by developing six new case studies, one for each major topic of the course (unconstrained optimization, iterative methods, constrained optimization, linear programming, optimization on graphs, and game theory). Each case study will frame optimization techniques within real-world sustainability challenges (e.g. sustainable fisheries, energy efficiency, green transport, sustainable agriculture).

 

Winner 3: From Code to Kilowatts: Making Energy Consumption Tangible in Computer Science

Course: Introduction to Computer Science (FSE) 

Course Level: Bachelor 

Course Coordinator: Dr. Ashish  Sai

The adjustments will be realised through a combination of hands-on demonstrations, guided experiments, and a short reflective assignment, supported by dedicated hardware. In lectures, programs will be executed on a laptop connected to a power meter, allowing students to observe in real time how different code choices affect energy consumption. In tutorials, students will work with simple programs themselves and observe changes in energy use using both software tools and external meters.

As part of a short assignment, students will select a program, test its effect on energy use, and reflect on the observations. The emphasis is not on precise measurement or advanced technical analysis, but on observation, comparison, and developing an intuitive understanding of how computing uses energy. 

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