1. Hogeschool Brabant CIRRUS project duurzame technologie van de Faculteit Techniek en Natuur Duurzame Chemie Multidisciplinary projects as learning tool for sustainable approaches Experience and some critical assessment L.M.F. Dejong

2. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 2 Multidisciplinary projects Students in any (technical) discipline have to learn: To understand each other’s language To start thinking in systems To dedicate their specialism to a system approach

3. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 3 Sustainable development The “CIRRUS” approach: an integrated focus on sustainability in all the study programmes, by integrating Knowledge Insight Competences In different subjects, courses and projects. Main aspects, creating an awareness of sustainability A vision on sustainability Learning a systems approach

4. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 4 Multidisciplinary projects Objectives multidisciplinay projects program: To gain experience To develop an integrated course To develop a protocol for MD-projects Important problem definition Students from various disciplines  truly cooperate ? MD-collaboration  sustainable solutions?

5. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 5 Practical approach Directly at the start of CIRRUS project, the “ENO” MD-project was carried out The results of that “ENO” MD-project formed input for a protocol The protocol was used in three further projects.

6. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 6 Protocol Intake phase Assessment project subject Allocation people & resources + acceptance Execution phase Orientation / problem definition Analysis / design Implementation Evaluation / finalising

7. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 7 “Eno” project To assess the need of information on sustainable energy options Major experiences MD-project Duration Level participantsequal Amount of time available Cohesion of the group (Belbin / Tuckman) Interactivity project project group Relation external party Projects / learning experience

8. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 8 Projects / learning experience “De Pettena” project To improve the energy economy of a home for the elderly Project result: very successful Major experiences MD-project: Protocol worked well. Coaching of teambuilding, in particular cooperation of students, is too hard for supervisors in the field.

9. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 9

10. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 10

11. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 11 Projects / learning experience “De Pettena” project To improve the energy economy of a home for the elderly Project result: very successful Major experiences MD-project: Protocol worked well. Coaching of teambuilding, in particular cooperation of students, is too hard for supervisors in the field.

12. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 12 Projects / learning experience “Xerox” project Design a process to reuse parts of a new generation copiers Partly successful Major experiences MD-project The willingness and ability to collaborate. The level of the students Large projects, hard to demarcate in time

13. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 13 Observations, conclusions and recommendations (1) Student Recruitment of students is hard “Equivalence” requires special attention Groupforming process needs attention Organisation Bringing in line of department programmes remains a problem

14. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 14 Observations, conclusions and recommendations (2) External parties Too high hopes Impact of supervision MD projects too much Inexpierence of external supervisors with tackling problems in teamwork Protocol Tuning with regard to the planning of the study programmes Teambuilding in house Proposals MD-projects planned in earlier stage of the studies

15. Project CIRRUS Expertise Center Sustainable Business Operations 15 Summary Pro MD-projects enriches the student’s learning process Companies were quite taken with such projects Students must become better in their own field Neutral Teambuilding within the Faculty Contra Students are tired of being leveled down The programming of the different studies differs too much Acquisition of external MD assignments is hard.