During the programme

In the first module, you specialise in sustainable business development and the circular economy. You learn to develop sustainable solutions for existing companies. You learn to evaluate different sustainable, circular and inclusive business models. These insights are paired with system thinking, and practical tools such as ecosystem mapping, which helps analyse the complex networks around organisations. You will learn to create sustainable business models, analyse complex systems, and propose a sustainable business model.

Moreover, you will work with different tools to facilitate your creative and disruptive thinking. This module introduces the roles and skills that future professionals, such as transition experts and sustainability officers, need to be equipped with.

In module 2, you’ll look at the ethical and social consequences of business models, and learn to look at the long-term consequences of “Big Tech”. You analyse new technologies and look towards the future to tackle deeper questions of power, surveillance, inclusion and value. The impact of data-driven technologies, from AI to the Internet of Things, is discussed on a deeper social and ethical level. We use concepts from critical algorithm studies, STS and other fields to assess these developments.

You will learn to critically evaluate business models and consider their ethical impact on other people and the environment, with specific attention to data-driven business models. You will learn to apply different ways of future thinking and create scenarios.

Finally, you will learn to translate your insights into business success, most notably actionable strategies that help achieve corporate social responsibility.

This module offers two courses on the theme shared value, as well as an elective of your choice. This course focuses on alternative business models, driven by strategic collaborations with the community itself and the entire business ecosystem. The focus on co-creation with different stakeholders and actors in the business ecosystem has become inevitable. As a result, new collaborative business models have emerged. Think of hybrid organisations, crowdfunding models, and even completely decentralised businesses on the blockchain.

You learn to collaborate with different actors from business, government, civil society and research organisations. You write a funding proposal for a sustainable initiative, bringing different stakeholders and forms of finance together holistically.

In the module Graduate, you will have to apply all the competences of SBT in a high-level individual project. You apply the knowledge, ways of working and ways of collaborating that you gathered throughout the programme to your graduation challenge. These challenges are formulated by clients from the work field and solved in small learning teams, where each student explores a different facet of the problem. You will work on a professional product (such as a sustainable business model or a strategy) and thesis individually.

Before the project begins, you have already worked on your research proposal and done the first phase of your research (think of desk research or competitor analysis). At the end of the module, you defend your graduation project as well as your proficiency in the SBT competences.

The Master of Engineering is based on three pillars: theory, practice and professional skills. The study load is approximately 20 hours per week, including participation in group projects, lectures, self-study and practical assignments. This is also the case during the thesis. The lectures are held on Mondays from 1pm to 8.15pm. A few times per semester, a meeting will take place on Monday morning.

You will learn not only in the classroom and individually, but also through practical experience, in project teams and through a digital learning environment. This diverse approach to education enhances the depth of the course material and enhances interaction between students and lecturers.

The Master of Engineering in Asset Integrity Management is focused on relevance, immediate applicability and flexibility. This practical programme prioritises integrating your work environment as much as possible. For example, the assignments will be tailored to ongoing projects within the company where you are employed. As a result, the outcomes will be of immediate value to your employer.

Based on the needs in the market, our Master’s and Post-HBO courses have recently been revised and adjusted. This includes the introduction of the reference framework from the Institute of Asset Management (IAM).The Master of Engineering is now a state-of-the-art programme in Maintenance & Asset Management, inspired by the framework of ISO 55000.

After an intensive audit process by the Institute of Asset Management (IAM), the Master of Engineering in Asset & Maintenance Management has been recognised by IAM as "The first recognised University to achieve the IAM standards and qualifications." With this recognition, the HU (and specifically the Master of Engineering programme) becomes the first university acknowledged by IAM, allowing graduates to obtain an accredited diploma in Asset Management.

This master's programme is also accredited by the NVAO, a Council of Advisors that oversees the quality of education in the Netherlands and Flanders and its alignment with the current professional practice.