In our education we are using teaching cases, assignments and videos to highlight the issues as well as the business challenges posed by the SDGs, and confront students with the complexities of working with the SDGs. Here we share these materials per SDG, showcasing material that is most directly relevant.
More than half of the world’s population lives in cities. By 2050, two-thirds of people will live in an increasing number of megalopolises of at least 10 million inhabitants. But growing urban populations mean increasingly congested cities with concentrated areas of poverty and traffic congestion. There is also concern that planning and creating green spaces in such cities gets lower priority, especially in older cities and in cities in emerging countries.
Cities are amongst the most complex forms of organisations known.
Tobias Brandt - Assistant Professor in RSM’s Department of Technology and Operations Management.
Ulrike Hahn, who graduated from the MSc Global Business and Sustainability in 2018, says: “Cities and their organisation have a great impact on the daily life of most people on the planet. They should guarantee everyone fair access to decent housing and the basics of life.”
Dr Tobias Brandt is Assistant Professor in RSM’s Department of Technology and Operations Management. He explains how cities function as complex systems; each issue or change interacts with multiple issues. These can also be seen as the nodes of a greater scheme of globalisation, particularly in Rotterdam.
Maurice Unck is CEO of RET, Rotterdam’s public transport network. Here, he explains the difficulties of transitioning Rotterdam’s complex public transport network to renewable energy and sustainable practices – while keeping it affordable for the public to use.
Want to start applying your knowledge? Here are easy tips related to SDG 11:
- Bike, walk or take public transport to work. Save the car trips for when you’ve got a big group.
- Learn about your city’s carbon footprint and action that are taken to reduce it.
- Reach out to underprivileged areas, ask for inclusive decision making.
Want to do more? Here are the Good Life Goals.
RSM has developed a case series addressing the Sustainable development goals, which contains at least one case that specifically touches upon one of the 17 SDGs.
Cases with a primary focus on SDG 11:
- Public Transporter RET: Taking a New and Sustainable Route in Rotterdam
You might also be interested in:
- Business and the Sustainable Development Goals – a framework for effective corporate involvement, a short book by Prof. Rob van Tulder.
Explore all SDGs
SDG cases
The SDG teaching cases of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, explore the complexity of sustainable development.
Positive Change
Learn more about RSM's mission to be a force for positive change in the world
