The rapid growth and development of the Dutch dairy industry has brought a lot of challenges. These are related to the influence on our landscape, the pressure on biodiversity, the reduction of emissions and the improvement of animal welfare. The transition to a sustainable dairy industry that respects animals and the environment is a complex endeavor that will require all involved parties to cooperate and work together on solutions.

In an inter-disciplinary team of students and in close collaboration with industry you will be working on the question: ‘How can dairy farms still exist in the future, in a healthy, sustainable and economically feasible way, from the perspective of the animals, the environment, as well as the farmers?’

This challenge is aimed at third-year bachelor and master students from all disciplines in our alliance institutes in Eindhoven, Wageningen and Utrecht.
In working on this challenge, students are stimulated to employ a trans-disciplinary approach. Projects could combine technical, political, economic, social and sustainability disciplines. The proposed projects could take the form of a prototype (e.g. of a device, a platform, a tool), a system or a policy, depending on the expertise of the students and their chosen direction. In a period of 100 days students will be challenged to redefine this broad challenge to a more specific problem definition, and propose a project plan.

Practical information

• Course starts on February 5th, 2024 and ends on May 19th, 2024.
• Study load 6 EC
• All official communication and deliverables are in English but a basic understandig of the Dutch language is recommended.

Teaching Method

In order to structure the learning process, we will facilitate four different milestone events. These live events will take place at dairy farms as much as possible. To fairly distribute the traveling time, we aim to organize this in such a way that each location is close to a different institute.

In between the education will be mostly online and partly a-synchronous. The educational design is divided into different phases with an increasing level of responsibility: There will be no exams but the attendance during all live events is crucial The assessment is based on a project proposal in combination with a final presentation, and an individual reflection report.

Registration

TU/e via: EduXchange
WUR via: OSIRIS code YWU52806
UU en UMC via: EduXchange