Programme structure & curriculum
The 120 credits (ECTS) Master’s degree consists of ten modules in total divided between four consecutive phases.
This innovative four-phased structure is aligned with CHARM-EU pedagogical principles and includes gradual acquisition of knowledge, skills and competencies as well as flexibility of choice. The different phases consist of modules with a combination of lectures, seminars and workshops. Additionally, these will also be combined with self-study work, assignment preparation and project work both individually and in teams. Students’ personal and professional development is individually supported by dedicated mentors throughout every phase of their journey.
In CHARM-EU, we are using an innovative approach of assessment. The main goal is to support students in their learning process by moving away from a traditional approach and instead, assessing student development across the whole master’s programme. During the master’s programme, you will be continuously assessed as per the Programme Learning Outcomes and overall your progression. The assessment of each module won’t entail a pass or fail decision. Then, at the end of each phase, you will receive a phase decision based on the continuous assessment of each of the modules of the phase. More information on the CHARM-EU Assessment and the Programme Learning Outcomes can be found here.
Phase 1 – Preparatory phase
The aim of the preparatory phase is to provide all students with a shared foundation (regardless of location or modality) in key skills and knowledge required for the challenges ahead of them.
Modules in this phase focus on transversal skill development to prepare students for transdisciplinary learning in the following phases.
Entry requirements: In accordance with the admission requirements
Academic Year: 2025-2026
Start date and end date: September 2025 to January 2026
ECTS: 30 ECTS
Modules: Social innovation, Sustainability, Transdisciplinary research
Assessment: Continuous assessment + at the end of phase 1, you will receive the phase decision with a numeric grade from 0 to 100.
Organisation of the modules: In parallel
For enrolled students, you can find more details about the module descriptors in the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).
Module 1 – Social Innovation
Gain advanced understanding of the creative, communicative, and innovation processes that drive sustainability transformations.
After this module, students will:
- Have the knowledge, skills, and tools to turn ideas into action
- Have an advanced understanding of the creative, communicative, and innovation processes that drive sustainability transformations
The module will include workshops, lectures, and seminars on:
- Design Thinking
- Practice-Led Research
- Change Management
- Business Modelling
- Market Research
- Inclusivity, Diversity, and Integration
- Ethics
- Citizenship and Human Rights
- Stakeholder Engagement and Perspectives Gathering
Patterns of change in culture, identity and written, verbal, and digital communication:
- Communication Theory and Dialogue
- Framing
- Gender Perspectives
- European languages
- Negotiation and Facilitation
- Diplomacy
21st century skills/competencies:
- Problem Solving
- Project management
- Pitching
- Critical thinking
- Media/Digital literacy
- Data Literacy
- Creativity
- Team and collaborative work
- Entrepreneurship
Module 2 – Sustainability
Critically discuss the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development, analyse and evaluate complex sustainability challenges and develop inter- and transdisciplinary skills to design solutions for these challenges.
After this module, students will be able to:
- Critically discuss the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development as they are constructed and represented within multiple disciplines and by different societal actors.
- Acquire a systems perspective to analyse and evaluate complex sustainability challenges and develop inter- and transdisciplinary skills to design solutions for these challenges.
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- The various, sometimes contradicting, objectives and challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Relations between sustainable development, economic growth (including degrowth), poverty and inequality.
- Scientific basis, define and articulate the critical planetary boundaries influencing Earth’s resilience and stability and evaluate the scientific methods and data used to identify and quantify these planetary boundaries.
- Importance and challenges of cross-sectoral approaches to sustainability challenges.
- Linkages between (post-)colonialism, development cooperation and sustainable development.
- Governance, law and economics around sustainability.
- Geopolitics in sustainability governance, including the role of Europe and North-South relations.
- Ecological overshoot as the main driver of biodiversity loss and decrease in nature’s contributions to people
- Concepts of ecological restoration and introduction to nature-based solutions
- Economic implications of sustainability challenges, including (challenges of) the economic valuation of natural capital.
- The role of international organizations, states, businesses, civil society, marginalized groups and scientists in sustainability challenges.
- Explaining people’s individual and collective (un)sustainable behaviour.
- Participation of stakeholders in addressing sustainability challenges.
Module 3 – Transdisciplinary Research
Challenges of integrating different disciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches and research methodologies, of ethical and judicious data creation, discovery and utilization.
After this module, students will:
- Have an advanced understanding of transdisciplinarity which enables them to work in transdisciplinary / multidisciplinary / interdisciplinary teams
- Be able to demonstrate a critical appreciation of the challenges of integrating different disciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches and research methodologies
- Be able to assess for specific complex challenges how to master data as a tool for problem identification and solution building
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- The concepts, including the history, of epistemic dependence, inter-/transdisciplinarity, boundary work, boundary objects, trading zones, unity /plurality of science.
- The concepts, including the history, of reproducibility, exploratory research vs theory-testing, simulation, scientific models, scientific representations.
- Concepts and strategies for fostering stakeholder engagement for effective transdisciplinary research projects to effect change when tackling challenges framed as “wicked” problems.
- The basic knowledge to identify and formulate research questions, critically analyse and review relevant bibliography and metrics, analyse and evaluate qualitative and quantitative data, and the impact and outcomes of the research study.
- Different positivist and constructivist perspectives on science, the concept of trust in transdisciplinary research, and how success/crisis influences stakeholders.
- Communicate research effectively for different audiences in line with Open Science frameworks.
Phase 2 – Flexible phase
Entry requirements: Completion of phase 1 with a minimum score of 50 or above or completion of phase 1 with a score between 35 and 50 with a remediation plan approved by the phase 1 coordinator.
Academic Year: 2025-2026
Start date and end date: February 2026 – June 2026
ECTS: 30 ECTS
Themes: Food, Water, Life & Health, Energy & Sustainable Cities
Assessment: Continuous assessment + at the end of phase 2, you will receive the phase decision with a numeric grade from 0 to 100.
This phase consists of 4 different themes, each one consisting of 3 modules. Students are meant to choose one theme.
Module 1 – The Food-Health-Environment Nexus
This module explores the social, economic and environmental drivers and consequences for (human and ecosystem) health and social justice associated with food systems.
After this module, students will be able to:
- Reflect on the multifaceted nature of the food-health- environment-inequality nexus taking into consideration influence from cultures, energy and society.
- Describe the impact of food and its interdependencies as a result of social, cultural, historical, environmental, economic, medical and political factors.
- Systematically analyse the connections between food and different health impacts (human health and ecosystem health); with health, poverty, and climate change; and the links with social and environmental dimensions of sustainability.
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- History of food and nutrition insecurity, hunger and famine from a systems perspective
- Food systems from farm to fork: Fundamentals.
- Food – environment related nexus: Contribution of industrial agriculture to fast environmental change & global pollution
- The concept of health, both physical and mental (spiritual) and how it is shaped by food, including a gender perspective.
- Food production and link to Global Health, One health & Planetary Health.
- Food hygiene and safety, food traceability, food allergens. Food consumer information.
- Malnutrition and overnutrition
- Microbiome, Health and Dietary manipulation (including implication in disease development); the gut-brain axis (Microbiome and Behavioural modifications; CNS disorders)
- Food and diets: the importance of culture, importance of diet in every stage of life. Food and children.
- Diets, nutritional requirements in different stage of development and health
- Nutrient cycle, food web interaction, food production environment requirement and impact on the environment,
- Cultural identity and food: Cooking and eating as characteristics of human identity, taking into account anthropology and religion. Religious perspectives and food consumption: an honest mind in a (healthy?) body
- Food as pleasure and civilisation: European gastronomy, an historical perspective
- Food waste
- Interactions between food and other sectors, in particular health, environment and social justice
- Food inequalities and insecurity and their causes
- Access to resources and food insecurity
- Special topic: the future of meat (environment, culture, technology, marketing and product development).
Module 2 – Food System Assessment
This module facilitates students to develop the tools to explain and evaluate food systems, i.e. the way people and social groups organise themselves to access and consume food, and how their transformation may affect the future of humanity and the planet.
After this module, students will be able to
- Describe a food systems perspective to evaluate food-related sustainability challenges and transformations.
- Identify and evaluate food systems transformations and their consequences in terms of different dimensions of sustainable development at different levels, from local to global.
- Analyse the public health, environmental and social consequences of food production and consumption in a transdisciplinary fashion.
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- Food system: definition and approaches
- Food system mapping
- Food processing, consumption & dietary patterns, including product development, manufacturing, nutritional and sensory quality, storage, packaging engineering, marketing, advertising and distribution
- The role of food producers, retailers, consumers, etc. along the entire value chain
- Sustainable agricultural practices around the world (organic agriculture, nature-inclusive agriculture, agroecology, agroforestry, permaculture, etc.)
- Specific food industries, Big Food e.g. Nestle, Pepsi-Co, Kraft-Heinz; Danone (infant formula)
- The banana: production, distribution and consumption
- Food and conflict
Module 3 – Food System Transformation
This module focuses on policies and actions that are required to transform socially just and sustainable food systems. It enables students to develop the tools to (co- and/or re-)design policy and social actions to achieve sustainable transformations of food systems.
After this module, students will be able to:
- (Co-)design and monitor research and policy/social actions to promote socially just and sustainable food systems transformations.
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- Evaluate (development) interventions for food and nutrition security, hunger and famine in developing countries, including from a historical/post-colonial perspective.
- Assess to what extent and how the water-health-food-inequality nexus is reflected in different governance systems and social actions.
- Assess regulatory frameworks (including (legal/customary) rights) that influence the availability and access to food and related resources.
- National and international policies and regulations around food safety, dietary recommendations and their political, economic, health and environmental implications
- Evaluating different solutions to sustainability challenges, including government-based interventions (e.g. taxes, subsidies, regulations, etc.), market-based interventions (e.g. fair trade/eco-labelling, payment for ecosystem services, etc.), business interventions (e.g. food innovations/biotechnology), civil society interventions (e.g. food projects/programs) and social movements (e.g. veganism movements).
Module 1 – Extremes in the Water Cycle and Their Complex Consequences
After this module, students will be able to:
- Identify, calculate and analyse past and present extremes in the water cycle and interpret their evolution under global changes
- Assess the social, political, economic, cultural, environmental and biophysical consequences of water hazards
- Identify the complex challenges that impacted communities and various stakeholders face
- Collaboratively develop and apply strategies to debate with the public or imagine and construct playful forms of civic engagement
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- Nature, water, climate and earth sciences (ecology, ecophysiology, biodiversity, hydrology, cryology, climatology, meteorology, geophysics, hydrogeology, oceanology)
- Water economics, policy, legislation
- Land management and resilience of territories
- Water hydraulics & engineering
- Participatory sciences
- Anthropological approaches in risks management
- Mathematics applied in the field (handling of uncertainties, statistical analyses, models)
Module 2 – Adaptation Measures and Strategies in Water Management
In this module, the student will learn about the global importance of water adaptation strategies and integrated management of water in a safe, sustainable and equal manner.
After this module, students will be able to:
- Relate natural, social, economic and legal issues to water management and formulate their interdependence
- Creatively think about and find potential interventions and measures to water quality and quantity challenges in a trans/interdisciplinary team
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- Anthropological approaches to water sustainability
- Environmental earth sciences
- Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) techniques
- Virtual water (green, blue and grey water)
- Water chemistry & treatment
- Water economics and policy (including degrowth water economics) Water footprint
- Water hydraulics & engineering
Module 3 – Resilient Cities: Water in Urban Environments
After this module, students will be able to:
- Recognise the challenges of supplying urban centres with water in different geographical and social contexts
- Identify the main water needs of the urban populations
- Consider the technical, ecosystem, legal, social and historical aspects to provide present and future urban communities with sustainable and safe water resources
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- Smart cities and water supply Urban inequalities
- Urban metabolism
- Water engineering
- Water monitoring
- Water rights
- Water sharing Water-management systems
Module 1 – Research on Health Challenges & Solutions
This module is positioned as Module 1 of the Life & Health track. It provides the students with research tools and skills applicable for any future research-related tasks and career opportunities, both within and outside CHARM-EU Master programme.
The aims of this module are:
- To provide students with knowledge and skills to research sustainable solutions to address Global Health challenges, while fostering inter- and transdisciplinarity. Solutions range from fundamental science discoveries to clinical and societal issues.
- To translate obtained knowledge and skills into innovative solutions for a specific challenge towards achieving health benefit for all.
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- Burden of disease
- Sustainable interventions
- Translational medicine
- Transdisciplinary collaboration
- Health problems
- Bench to bedside
- Global health
- One health
- Environmental and Planetary health
- Health technology
- Research skills and methodology
Module 2 – Designing policies for health and wellbeing
In the module, health and well-being topics are addressed in the context of public health, whereas “life” is understood in a full life-course perspective of people, including all the aspects, circumstances, events and decisions along one’s life that eventually impact health and well-being outcomes on individual and on population level. The social, economic, cultural and environmental determinants of health and well-being will be examined in detail. Students will approach life and health from a policy perspective.
The aims of this module are:
- To equip students with knowledge for analysing and assessing the functioning and performance of broadly defined health systems, including biological, environmental and social determinants of health, as well as the health care system
- To equip students with a complex, problem-oriented, transdisciplinary approach, and skills and knowledge required for developing strategies and interventions towards sustainable, accessible and resilient health systems at international, national and local community levels.
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- Determinants and inequalities of health
- Biological determinants (age, gender, genetics and epigenetics);
- Social and economic determinants (including education, employment/occupation, income);
- Environmental determinants (including physical and psychosocial determinants, human-built and natural environment)
- Interrelations of all the above
- The model of exposure, vulnerability and outcomes
- Meaning, properties and performance of health systems and health care systems
- Sustainability in a health and well-being perspective
- Global health, issues, actors and stakeholders
- OneHealth approach in action
- Context of policy making – models, methods, stakeholders
- Health needs assessment – complexity of health
- Health impact assessment – Health in All Policies and Health for All Policies
- Methods and means of policy formulation – problem identification, identification of policy alternatives, impact assessment of policies for health and well-being, on local, national and global scale
- Ethics of resource allocation
Module 3 – Behavior interventions for healthy lives and wellbeing
This module’s aims are:
- To provide students with an appropriate understanding on the different health concepts, covering public health, global health, one health and planetary health perspectives.
- To enable students to recognise challenges associated with maintaining healthy lifestyles and wellbeing within a sustainable environment and devise and implement solutions for these challenges.
- To equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote health and wellbeing by comprehensively addressing the intricate interplay between human, animal, environmental and climate factors.
- To equip the students with the necessary skills and concepts on how to contribute to the development of high quality sustainable complex interventions that might respond to current and foreseeable challenges related to health in the context of the SDG targets.
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- Public health, global health, one health, planetary health
- Interconnectedness of Human, Animal and Environmental Health and the impact of climate on health
- Health and sustainability
- Challenges and approaches in the field of health and well-being
- Environmental determinants of health
- Biological determinants of health
- Social and cultural determinants of health from a sustainability perspective
- Behavioural determinants of health
- Models of behaviour change
- Basic epidemiological concepts
- Health Through the Ages: A Historical Exploration
- Policy and practice: the relationship between an intervention and a policy
- The nature and features of complex interventions
Project work
- Problem/challenge identification
- Intervention planning tools
- Problem tree methodology
- Needs assessment methodology
- Setting aims, goals and objectives
- Evaluation of efficacy and effectiveness (Logframe, Logic model, etc.)
- Evidence-based practice
- Examples of complex interventions
- Communication aspects of selling and implementing an intervention
Module 1 – Energy, Emerging technologies & Smart cities
In this module, students will learn to understand the principles and history of energy conversion and consumption and the importance of renewable energy sources for building and maintaining sustainable cities. They will learn to design practical solutions to the challenges and opportunities presented by emerging technologies, as well as examine the ethical, social, and environmental implications of energy and technology choices in urban contexts.
After this module, students will be able to:
- Critically analyze the principles and history of sustainable energy, including the conversion, distribution, and consumption frameworks, with a focus on the integration and importance of renewable energy sources within urban settings/sustainable cities
- ritically evaluate the role and impact of emerging technologies in the development of smart, sustainable cities, incorporating a critical perspective on the challenges and opportunities they present for enhancing resource efficiency and urban resilience
- Examine the interconnections between energy production, urbanization, and economic development, critically assessing energy policies and practices for their contributions to sustainable and just global energy landscapes
- Design innovative, practical solutions to urban energy challenges, leveraging renewable energy technologies and smart city concepts to enhance sustainability and energy security in urban planning
- Apply cradle-to-cradle lifecycle analysis to evaluate and minimize the environmental impact of product and infrastructure projects, from design through to end-of-life, promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns
- Discuss the ethical, social, and environmental implications of energy and technology choices in urban contexts, with a focus on equity, access, and justice in energy transition strategies
- Communicate complex concepts related to energy, emerging technologies, and smart cities effectively to a variety of audiences, including technical and non-technical stakeholders
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- Principles and history of energy conversion and consumption
- Sustainable and renewable energy resources
- Emerging technologies and their environmental and social impact on urban landscapes
- Energy policies and practices in urban areas
- Energy justice
- Life cycle analysis
Module 2 – Sustainable urban planning, resource management & resilience
This module aims to show students the different aspects of urban planning and how to incorporate the sustainability perspective. Students will learn how resource management plays a role in urban planning and what is needed to create a resilient and sustainable city regarding urban planning.
After this module, students will be able to
- Explain various concepts, theories and practices as central to sustainable urban planning, urban infrastructures, and resource management
- llustrate how various urban systems of sustainable transportation, resource and waste management operate and interconnect within the context of a city
- Investigate the diverse perspectives of stakeholders and cultural groups within urban areas to solve sustainability challenges
- Examine how approaches to resilience are operationalised and materialised in urban planning and design processes
- Design projects tackling resource management challenges in sustainable cities, like transforming consumption habits for the promotion of local produces and the reduction of goods arriving from large distances
- Critically assess the different qualities of cities that make them resilient and sustainable
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- Urban planning and design
- Urban inequalities and approaches to inclusive city design and management
- Sustainable solutions in cities
- Resource management
- Waste management
- Ecosystem services
- Transportation networks
Module 3 – Policy, climate change & the future of sustainable cities
In this module, the student will learn about the intricacies of urban policy and how that affects the global climate. Students will be involved with the future of climate resilient cities and the intermediate steps to get there.
After this module, students will be able to:
- Analyse the interplay between urban policy and climate change in sustainable cities, and how it shapes the development of cities action towards climate change
- Compare current climate policies to highlight similarities or differences of cities having similar environments, showing how the environmental differences of cities across Europe lead to different frameworks of urban policies and designs
- Explain the role and complexity of policy areas linked with climate change, that focus on urban areas
- Propose actions cities can take based on the framework of planetary boundaries, to align better to the environment around them
- Investigate the challenges that the planetary boundaries concept poses for different groups within an urban environment
- Compose the necessary steps towards climate justice from a case study
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- Planetary boundaries
- Urban policy in sustainable cities
- Sustainable transportation
- Green urban spaces
- Climate justice
- Climate change in cities
Phase 3 - Experiential Phase
Entry requirements: Completion of phase 1 with a minimum score of 50 and completion of phase 2 with a minimum score of 50 or completion of phase 2 with a score between 35 and 50 with a remediation plan approved by the phase 2 coordinator
Academic Year: 2026-2027
Start date and end date: September 2026 – January 2027
Modules: Internship preparation, Internship, Capstone preparation
Assessment: Continuous assessment + at the end of phase 3, you will receive the phase decision with a numeric grade from 0 to 100.
Module 1 – Internship preparation
The high-level aim of the internship preparation module is for students to create an internship proposal. The internship proposal will define the research topic of the internship project and outline a plan for the internship period. Students research the context relevant for their internship organization and research questions. They strengthen their planning skills by organizing and planning their internship project and practice their communication skills in their first contacts with the internship supervisor and academic supervisor.
The internship proposal report should be approved by both the internship supervisor and the academic supervisor.
The module will include workshops, lectures, seminars and/or online learning modules on:
- Formulating a research question from a sustainability challenge and possibly a hypothesis
- Literature review
- Analysing the organizational context of the workplace
- Qualitative methods: e.g. semi-structured interview, focus group, participant observation
- Quantitative methods: e.g. experiment, questionnaire, analysis of secondary data
- Intercultural competences at the workplace
- Oral presentation
- Personal and professional development
- Soft-skills in non-academic structure
- Project management
- Academic integrity
Module 2 – Internship
The objectives of the internship should be based on the application of students’ sustainability-based expertise to a challenge relevant for the (internship) organisation.
The focus lies on gaining professional, research-based experience by:
- analyzing the sustainability aspects of a real challenge in an institution or company
- applying research methods to provide a response to the formulated research question
- documenting the results in a concise report and transferring the knowledge to the host institution.
During their internship, students will gain knowledge on subjects and strengthen their research skills, such as:
- In-depth knowledge on a particular sustainability challenge
- Literature review
- Data collection
- Analysis of data
- Reporting on research results
- Presentation/communication skills
Module 3 – Capstone preparation
The high-level aim of the Capstone preparation module is for students to practice working on real-world challenges. Students work on existing challenges around a local area of one of the alliance cities. They collaborate in a transdisciplinary team by working together with external stakeholders related to two Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). At least SDG 11 is being addressed; make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Each team can select an additional SDG that is relevant to their specific challenge.
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- Challenge based learning
- Transdisciplinary collaboration
- Stakeholder communication
- Sustainable and inclusive cities
- Sustainable development goals
- Cross thematic sessions on: Water / Food / Life and Health / Energy
- Research design and methodology
- Management skills (e.g. project management, conflict management)
Phase 4 - Capstone Phase
Entry requirements: Completion of phase 2 with a minimum score of 50 and completion of phase 3 with a minimum score of 50 or completion of phase 3 with a score between 35 and 50 with a remediation plan approved by the phase 3 coordinator
Academic Year: 2026-2027
Start date and end date: February 2027 – June 2027
Modules: Capstone
Assessment: Continuous assessment + at the end of phase 4, you will receive the phase decision with a numeric grade from 0 to 100.
More information will become available at the time in the virtual learning environment. This module is designed to build on students’ knowledge, skills, and prior learning gained during the previous modules of the Master programme. Students will, in collaboration with extra-academic actors, investigate and evaluate a complex societal challenge from a variety of intercultural and transdisciplinary perspectives. They will cooperatively work on the challenge in teams of 4-5 students. Each student will focus on one aspect of the challenge which will be the topic of an individual analysis and reports. All reports will then contribute to solving the challenge. They will contribute to creatively devise, implement and evaluate robust, adaptable, ethical and sustainable solutions for complex societal challenges.
The module will include workshops, lectures and seminars on:
- Team formation
- Transdisciplinary collaboration
- Transdisciplinary research
- Intercultural and interdisciplinary communication
- Stakeholder engagement
- Sustainability
- Design thinking
- Problem solving
- Data collection and analysis
- Critical thinking
- Presenting
- Creativity
- Entrepreneurship
- Prototyping
- Personal development
Teaching staff
CHARM-EU is updating the information on the teaching staff for the Master’s in Global Challenges for Sustainability – 5th Edition.
Programme board
The Master’s Programme Board has representatives from each CHARM-EU partner institution and is responsible for the operation and implementation of the master’s programme, in line with the quality standards and procedures set by the Academic Council.
