ASU-Leuphana joint master's degree program gains German accreditation


|

A joint master's degree program in sustainability science between Arizona State University and Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany, has been approved by Acquin, the German Accreditation Agency.

This marks a major milestone for the joint program, which is part of ASU’s global education efforts. The program, a first of its kind at ASU with a foreign university, is in global sustainability science. As part of their studies, students spend time at both universities, work on joint projects and receive a degree from both.

“Reaching sustainable development goals requires a different type of international education and new forms of institutional collaborations among universities and other institutions of higher learning,” said ASU President’s Professor Manfred Laubichler, who directs the joint ASU-Leuphana Center for Global Sustainability and Cultural Transformation. “Students need to learn to engage complex societal problems collaboratively and within a global setting that includes awareness of intercultural differences. This is exactly what this program attempts to do.”

ASU and Leuphana have a history of collaboration. In addition to the dual master's degree program and the Center for Global Sustainability and Cultural Transformation, they have worked on a “global classroom” project taught by professors from both institutions, and they continue to work together on an increasing number of joint research projects.

“Universities, as places for both education and research, have to learn how to work and collaborate in networks that actively utilize differences, as a focus on exclusivity and exclusion is preventing us from reaching the full potential of creative solutions needed to address the challenges of sustainable development,” Laubichler said. “In that sense the collaboration between ASU and Leuphana is breaking much-needed new ground.”

More Environment and sustainability

 

Mossi farmers in Burkina Faso

When resource competition leads to cooperation

The United Nations has estimated that in the past 60 years, more than 40% of all internal armed conflicts have a link to…

Fulton Schools Assistant Professor Dwarak Ravikumar, left, and Dileep Nakka, associate research technologist, right, review data in their joint research project with Yum! Brands on circular economy strategies to replace single-use cups with reusable cups. Photographer: Erika Gronek/ASU

Single-use or reusable cups? New project seeks answers

Arizona State University researchers are collaborating with Yum! Brands on a joint research project to assess and better…

Group of people standing on a stage holding a large novelty check.

ASU Global Futures to lead Student Council Sustainability Officer Program

For over 11 years, through the Student Council Sustainability Officers Program, the city of Phoenix has engaged with…