Global Citizenship for Sustainable Development grant winners announced

Transdisciplinary education: designing tomorrow

Applicants

• Annechien Deelman (EDLAB)
• Hans Savelberg (FHML)

Project question
How can we enhance our educational efforts to ensure that UM graduates have developed the overarching skills and competencies necessary to address the wicked problems life presents us with? Would a transdisciplinary approach to learning help?

The challenge
At Maastricht University, various steps have been taken towards developing the competencies that students need to become successful, capable global citizens, using a CCCS-based educational approach and with GCEd supporting education makers through examples in the ‘hospitable’ framework. The university also sets high ambitions for its graduates: to become responsible, active global citizens with strong local ties and to ‘serve our communities as ethical leaders, innovative researchers, or empathic professionals who help to create conditions that mitigate some of the many wicked problems our world faces, like inequality, poverty, migration and the climate crisis’.

What will we do?
1. Gather information from students and staff, both inside and outside UM.
2. Develop and implement a course for a selected group of students, using insights from the gathered information, to learn what students find relevant in designing learning experiences that help them develop competencies for addressing complex societal problems.
3. Create scenarios for educational improvements by identifying hurdles educators have experienced in this context and suggesting ways to overcome these challenges.

Project output
We will provide concrete information on how to improve educational efforts so that UM graduates develop the competencies necessary to handle the wicked problems life presents (including suggested ILOs, learning tasks, evaluation formats, and scenarios for educational formats, likely involving transdisciplinary education).

Online module for global citizenship in international business and beyond

Applicants

• Inken Gast, Assistant Professor, Educational Research & Development, SBE
• Laurie Delnoij, Assistant Professor, Educational Research & Development, SBE
• Ainsley Loudoun, PhD Candidate, Educational Research & Development, SBE

Project question
How can Maastricht University provide structured support for students to develop global citizenship skills beyond knowledge and attitudes? Can an online, experiential learning module effectively guide students in critically reflecting on and building these skills during their study-abroad programmes?

The challenge
Global Citizenship Education (GCEd) is a key part of Maastricht University’s (UM) curriculum, and the School of Business and Economics (SBE) integrates it across its programmes. While SBE addresses knowledge and attitudes related to global citizenship, the development of global citizenship skills often receives less attention, apart from the collaboration and communication skills taught in Problem-Based Learning (PBL).

Developing these skills requires critical reflection to identify gaps, foster a global citizenship attitude, integrate knowledge, and build professional competencies. However, research shows that students struggle to develop these skills without structured guidance.

What will we do?
Our project will develop an online module to help students critically reflect on and develop global citizenship skills. This module will form part of a new Global Citizenship Skills (2 ECTS) course, supporting International Business (IB) and Economics and Business Economics (EBE) students during their final-year study-abroad programme. Hosted on PebblePad, the module will accommodate 750 students asynchronously.

Students will participate in an experiential learning cycle:

• Before departure: assess their current global citizenship skills.
• During study abroad: set goals and track progress.
• After returning: reflect on their development.
   

The module will include:

• A self-assessment tool for reflection.
• A rubric for structured skill development.
• Interactive activities to support experiential learning.
   

Project output
The project will develop a framework to support global citizenship skill development through guided reflection and experiential learning. This structured yet flexible approach will allow students to tailor and self-regulate their learning. The module will be scalable and adaptable, enabling expansion within UM and beyond. Additionally, we aim to share the module as an Open Educational Resource (OER) to support global citizenship education across institutions.

GCEd Vision Days

Applicants

• René Brauer, PhD Candidate, Educational Research & Development, SBE
• Marloes Menten, educational developer, Educational Research & Development, SBE

The challenge
While GCEd is integrated into various programmes at the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, its application is inconsistent across courses. Many colleagues struggle to adapt their teaching to the framework despite their willingness to do so, highlighting the need for structured support.

What will we do?
At the School of Business and Economics (SBE), we will design a Global Citizenship Education (GCEd) vision and organise identity and competency development workshops to embed GCEd as a core aspect of faculty identity, in alignment with Maastricht University’s broader GCEd vision.

We propose GCEd Vision Days featuring a series of interactive workshops held during departmental 'hay days' at SBE. These sessions will clarify the concept of GCEd, inspire engagement, and provide practical tools for integrating GCEd into teaching and projects. The workshops will:

• Raise awareness of GCEd’s relevance
• Inspire staff to embrace their role as global citizens
• Support staff in translating GCEd into actionable plans
   

Workshops will apply the meta-creativity model (Brauer et al., 2024), enabling participants to address complex challenges through six key dimensions: affect, cognition, behaviour, metacognition, creativity-in-action, and uncertainty. Sessions will align with UM’s GCEd competency framework, focusing on:

• Global literacy and systems thinking
• Social responsibility and normative competence
• Transformative engagement
   

Follow-up sessions will encourage cross-departmental collaboration, and participants will be eligible to apply for an SBE education innovation voucher (€10,000) to support promising initiatives.

By integrating GCEd into bi-annual departmental 'hay days' and offering interdepartmental follow-up workshops, we aim to shift perceptions of GCEd from an added task to an integral part of academic work. The relaxed setting will foster open discussion and sustained engagement.

Project output
Insights and materials will be shared across UM to support broader adoption. While the pilot will take place at SBE, all materials will be available university-wide and can be adapted into tailor-made workshops.