6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4016190FNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
English
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Business Technology and Operations
Educational team
Cathy Macharis (course titular)
Philippe Lebeau
Wannes Croonenberghs
Juliana Betancur Arenas
Activities and contact hours
20 contact hours Lecture
20 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
84 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

Logistics and mobility are essential aspects of the economy. At the same time, they also induce a lot of external effects such as emissions, climate change, noise nuisance and congestion. This course focuses on how logistics and mobility can be organized in a more sustainable way. Following the framework of the 8A of sustainable mobility and logistics, the course presents the most recent research results and trends in the transport sector. The lectures contain the recent advancements in terms of awareness,  avoidance, act and shift, anticipation of new technologies, acceleration, actor involvement, adaptation and all in love. Next to the lecture, the WPO’s have the ambition to co-create innovative solutions together with the students to make mobility and logistics more sustainable by means of a hackathon. This hackathon called HackEUTOPIA is part of the EUTOPIA program and offers the students the opportunity to team up with students from other European universities.

Course material
Course text (Required) : Sustainable Mobility and Logistics, Handboek Edition 2017, Macharis, C. and J. Van Mierlo, Edition 2017, VUB, 2220170004648, 2017
Digital course material (Required) : Slides, scientific papers, notes
Additional info

Teaching Methods

  • Lecture: collective contact-dependent moments during which the lecturer engages with learning materials
  • Seminar, Exercises or Practicals (Practical): collective or individual contact-dependent moments during which the students are guided to actively engage with learning materials
  • Independent or External Form of Study (Self): independent study

This description of the teaching methods is indicative, in order to assess the expected study load.

  • Lecture: 20 hours (includes 10 lectures of 2 hours dedicated to go across the framework of the 8A of sustainable mobility and logistics)
  • Practical: 20 hours
    • Hack EUTOPIA: A hackathon organized within EUTOPIA where students team up with students from different universities online to create and pitch a solution for a more sustainable mobility and logistics system
    • Attendance is compulsory during the different sessions, amounting to 7 sessions of 2 hours. The sessions gives support to the students to develop their solution through workshops on ideation or business modelling for example
    • Defense of the teamwork in front of a jury (students attend each other's defenses): 6 hours
  • Self: 84 hours
    • Keeping up with the course material during the semester and run through background info, amounting to 3 hour per lecture: 30 hours (10 x 3 hours)
    • Keeping up with the hackathon, amounting to 2 hour per lecture: 14 hours (7 x 2 hours)
    • Preparation exam: 40 hours (5 days of 8 hours)
Learning Outcomes

General Competencies

GENERAL COMPETENCIES

The students should be able to understand and use the basic principles of Mobility and Logistics. The objectives are that the students gain insight in and knowledge in the sustainability aspects of this domain.

The class aims also at training softer skills. The student should be able after the class to show a creative, problem-solving, result-driven and evidence-based attitude, aiming at innovation and applicability in industry and society. They should also show a critical attitude towards one’s own results and those of others. Finally, they will be able to be more conscious of the ethical, social, environmental and economic context of his/her work and strives for sustainable solutions.

TEAMWORK

In the Hackathon, groups of 4 students will develop a business solution to improve the sustainability of mobility and logistics. By doing so, they will learn to cooperate to achieve a common goal.

PRESENATION SKILLS

The result of the hackathon will be presented in a written and oral form. The written and oral form should be concise and convincing. The oral presentation in particular will be done through a pitch and a Q&A session in front of a jury. 

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 60% of the final mark.
Practical Exam determines 40% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Written Exam with a relative weight of 60 which comprises 60% of the final mark.

Within the Practical Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Assingment with a relative weight of 40 which comprises 40% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The written exam (60% of the final result) consists of a number of open questions.

The assignment (40% of the final result) is obligatory as it is an essential part of the learning objectives of this course. It takes the form of a seminar of 7 work sessions and involves teamwork. Students need therefore to attend all the sessions in order to fulfill the assignment. Everyone should have done the assignment during the first semester. In case of second session, the grade of the assignment of the first session will be kept.

The partial result of the hackathon, with a result of at least 10/20, will be carried over to the next academic year. Students who still wish to retake the hackathon send an e-mail to the instructor no later than September 30 of the new academic year.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Business Engineering: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Business Economics: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Applied Sciences and Engineering: Applied Computer Science: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Geography: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Master in Applied Sciences and Engineering: Applied Computer Science: Standaard traject
Master of Geography: Standard track
Master of Urban Studies: Standard track
Master of Urban Design and Spatial Planning: Track 1 (Bachelor via SCH of VRB) (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Urban Design and Spatial Planning: Track 2 (Master indirect) (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Urban Design and Spatial Planning: Track 3 (Bachelor of Master direct) (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Business Engineering: Business and Technology: Standaard traject
Master of Sustainable Land Management: Urban Land Engineering