Global Project and Change Management

Bachelor of Sustainable Development and Innovations

Our four year programme in Global Project and Change Management (Sustainable Business and Innovations) is a Bachelor of Business Administration offered by Windesheim Honours College, the first professional college in the Netherlands. Sustainable Development is the main focus of the programme.

Do you want to change the world in a positive way? Do you want to study Global Project and Change Management in the context of international development? Are human rights, global health, social responsibility, circular economy , global warming, sustainability and civil society themes that you care about? These and the other UN Global Sustainable Development goals are central in our programme. Do you want to contribute personally and professionally to a better world? Are you pro-active, motivated and do you have an entrepreneurial, business mindset? In our four-year NVAO accredited and selective English-taught programme you can learn how to make a difference in the world you live in.

Start your application

Brochure request

Curriculum

Our curriculum combines theory and practice, project and change management, business and research with global challenges. The BBA programme consists of courses, real projects with companies right from the first year, an international internship and professional career counselling.
Each semester in this Bachelor of Sustainable Development you will work in a small group on a larger project with a real-life client. Your schedule and assignments will give you a study load of roughly 40 hours a week. We teach in an interactive style, expecting you to work together with a lecturer instead of only listening to a lecture.
In the end you will know how to lead a project team and how to put innovative ideas into practice. You will become a change maker, aware of your own strengths and ambitions and able to create sustainable value for society.

Would you like to talk to students, visit our information market or attend a presentation? Come to our Open day.

Main Learning Lines

Triangle Picture- Core of the curriculum: Global Challenges, Project Management, Research, Business Skills

What's our Programme like? Curriculum Year 1 and 2

YEAR 1 & 2

In the first two years you will learn everything about the basics of being a Project and Change Manager. You get to see what the profession entails and what skills you need to develop, with the first year focussing on introductions and the second year focussing on more advanced information. Our programme is based on 4 Principles: Business Skills, Research Skills, Global Challenges and of course Project and Change Management (Figure 1). Throughout the first two years their will be assignments, projects, online activities, lectures and events. During the Projects executed within local Non-Profit (organizations), the Municipality or other initiatives, you will get the opportunity to practice your knowledge in real-life. Not as an assignment, but as a real project with clients expecting real results. Therefor Year 1 and 2 mostly focus on Project Management.

Outside of the core of our 4 principles, you can find three statements from Personal and Professional Development (Figure 1). With the support of your Career Counsellors, you get the opportunity to explore your strengths (knowing what your passion is) and work on your personal and professional skills. This can be by having one-on-one sessions with your Career Counsellor, workshops, the 7 Habits course based on Covey and exploring your talents in our bi-annually Personal Development Weeks.

Curriculum Year 3 and 4

The last two years of our curriculum are designed to allow you maximum flexibility to plan your own learning journey and develop the skills and knowledge you need for your future. The focus in these years is on Change Management. You will have the opportunity to plan the 4 semesters yourself in an order you prefer:

Managing Projects in a Globalized World

During this semester you will work in small and diverse project teams on a complex project assignments from an external client in the Netherlands or abroad. Countries where we implement and execute projects include a.o. Uganda, Kosovo, Ghana, Aruba, Hong Kong, Philippines and Chili. The assignment is broadly related to one (or more) of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). Besides the application of knowledge and project management skills, emphasis is placed on developing ‘Twenty-First Century skills’ such as collaboration and leadership, critical thinking, problem solving and creativity. During the first half of the semester project teams prepare their project plan and research proposal with guidance from a project coach and engage in course work at Windesheim. This is followed by an 8-week stay in the country of destination, where you will work on the project deliverables. The semester ends with presentations and assessments at Windesheim.

Value Creators

Value Creators is a new educational concept developed by Windesheim Honours College, which invites the students into a journey to become change agents by addressing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals in collaboration with professional networks. Together with other students you will approach wicked challenges and contribute to attain the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Together with professional networks you will co-create different soulutions for a more sustainable, inclusive society.

Today’s society faces multiple challenges. You will have the opportunity to gain more insight in the SDGs you are interested in further and to take ownership of your own learning pathway by finding courses, attending conferences and connecting with professional networks. In addition you will also be trained in Theory U methodology. Knowledge is a tool, not a goal. This part of our curriculum enables students to make a change in society and work on complex issues in direct contact with local, national or international communities.

If you like to read more about Value Creators or to get in touch with the Coordinating Team of Value Creators please visit their website: www.valuecreators-whc.com.

Elective

An Elective is also called a Minor which is a semester at a Partner University (abroad). Windesheim has over 100 Exchange Partners you can choose from. We encourage our students to go abroad and gain knowledge on topics they would like to continue to work on in the workfield, but are not provided in our Programme. For example, students have chosen minors in the field of Global Health, Communication and Psychology in Amsterdam, Sweden, Mexico and South-Korea.

Internship

In the last semester of our programme you will do an international internship of approximately 17 weeks. We want you to have an international experience so we expect you to find an organization abroad or an internationally focused organization in the Netherlands. You are free to choose the organization and the topic of your research, however we have guidelines to ensure the organization will allow you to meet your learning objectives. Together with a lecturer as your coach and your own in-company mentor, you will carry out independent research as a basis for a professional product that satisfies clients’ needs. The last two weeks before graduation you will be back at the College and meet with all your fellow students to prepare for graduation. You will demonstrate that you have achieved all set competences. Together with fellow students you will work on your own professional portfolio and defend your final thesis.

Sustainable Development Goals

[No text in field]

Contact information

Windesheim Honours College
Phone number: +31 88 469 8400
E-mail address:
honourscollege@windesheim.nl

After college: what's next?

Our college graduates are tomorrow's Project and Change managers. Instead of going straight into a job, you might want to continue your education with a Masters degree. WHC has a strong network of contacts in other universities and it lots of different fields. About 80 % of our students continue with a Masters degree, whilst others choose to start working or set-up their own (sustainable) business. Below a few examples of our Alumni to give you an idea.

• junior project manager at an international NGO for involuntary dissapearances in the Phillipines
• trainee for the European Parliament
• business consultant at business organization Ordina
• junior project manager at Dance4life
• start your own company like BIKUH, KRANG or Ragnarøk Clothing
• continue with a Masters Degree in Climate Change in Birghton or Human Rights in Maastricht.

Feel free to join our Alumni Network on LinkedIn

Academic Impact

This is an initiative mandated by the United Nations General Assembly, UNAI aligns institutions of higher education with the United Nations in supporting and contributing, through research and education, to the realization of the Organization’s goals and mandates. Some member institutions, for example, are engaged in ‘greening’ their campuses (using solar panels, conserving water, recycling etc.), hosting academic and scientific conferences on sustainability, doing outreach and/or promoting community and volunteer service to help the most vulnerable.
More information about our partnership can be found here.

SGD Nederland

SDG Nederland is a collective initiative of Stichting SDG Charter and OneWorld with Windesheim Honours College. Since the Sustainable Development Goals are integrated into our programme and our partnerships with the UN, we are also connected to the Dutch SDG collective.
More information about SDG Nederland

Well-being Economy Alliance

The Well-being Economy Alliance is an International network of all international economic networks (circular economy, blue economy, sustainable economy, the commons) gathered in one alliance. Windesheim Honours College is partnered with the alliance on projects, guest lectures and discussing wicked challenges.
More information about the alliance

UN Habitat

Windesheim Honours College is the 2nd Dutch University (after Delft) that is a partner of United Nations Habitat. Our collaboration consists of creating opportunities in projects for our students or collaboration in existing projects run by our students, network capacity, research and development, internship opportunities for our students, exchange opportunities and possibly guest lectures.
More information about our collaboration can be found here.

SDG Academy

Windesheim Honours College is excited to announce that we have become a Partner in the SDG Academy Community of Practice. The SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), creates and curates the best available educational content on sustainable development and makes it available as a global public good to prepare this generation and the next to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

More information about the SDG Academy