UM & sustainability

The Maastricht Sustainability Hub is a unique initiative: a space dedicated to collaboration, experimentation, and knowledge exchange between different students and student organisations with an active interest in sustainability. Everything started last year when the building was opened and it’s an ever-growing, ever-evolving project, actively looking for new people to get involved/become active in promoting sustainability.

The Hub is run by Sustainable UM2030 and the UM Green Office.

An extraordinary multidisciplinary and multinational team will work together the next 42 months developing innovative and sustainable processes to produce biofuels from organic waste with negative emissions. CARBIOW (Carbon Negative Biofuels from Organic Waste) is a new research and innovation project funded by the European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Executive Agency (CINEA) that addresses green transition and circular economy by proposing novel technologies that cover the whole process of conversion of organic waste to biofuels. 

The sudden and extreme increase in energy prices and the subsequent emergence of broader inflation is a significant negative shock for the economy, hurting households and firms. Fighting inflation is a task for policymakers, in particular central banks. However, the different trade-offs that central banks face, make the fight against inflation complex. The recipe is simple: reduce energy demand by becoming more sustainable and increase the supply of alternative sustainable energy sources. Governments can and should support this behavioural change.

MBA programmes usually pay a lot of attention to the P of Profit. The MaastrichtMBA programme goes a step further and, in addition to the P of Profit, has equally integrated the focus on the Ps of Planet and People in the curriculum. 

From 3 November, UM students and employees can hand in their redundant bicycles at Tapijn A and Randwyck UNS 50. Fietsbank Maastricht collects these bikes and repairs them for people with a small budget. 

One third of the world's population cooks on biomass or other polluting fuels. Every year, 3.2 million people die from inhaling smoke released by open fires. Cooking on open fires also has a major impact on the climate. In a new study, PhD student Esther Boudewijns is therefore developing two practical tools that should improve the implementation of cleaner cooking.