E-learn Weblog of Willem van Valkenburg

Yesterday I attended the presentation of Dan Wagner about MOOCs4D and the new SDGs at the ICDE Conference. Now you think what the heck is he talking about. MOOCs4D is an initiative of University of Pennsylvania about MOOCs for Development, with a special focus on the bottom of the pyramid. SDG are the recently declared Sustainable Development Goals of the UN.

One of the things what triggered me where those 17 goals and how they match up with our TU Delft MOOCs. One of the objectives of our Open and Online Education programme is "Contribute to the Grand Challenges". I think we have to rephrase that to "Contribute to the SDGs". Back to our MOOCs, I could directly match 10 of our 20 MOOCs to 6 SDGs. In the table below the break-down of it.

We have some more MOOCs in development, but I decided not to add them yet. And there are also MOOCs that have a more general subject, such as our Leadership for Engineering and Creative Problem Solving and Decision Making.

Goal	MOOC
	Introduction to Drinking Water Treatment Learn about urban water services, focusing on conventional technologies for drinking water treatment. Introduction to the Treatment of Urban Sewage Learn about urban water services, focusing on basic sewage treatment technologies.
	Solar Energy Discover the power of solar energy and learn how to design a complete photovoltaic system. Wind Energy in development
	The Next Generation of Infrastructure Explore the challenges and complexity of both global and local infrastructure (IT/Telecom, Energy, Water and Transportation) and how to make the best decisions to improve it. Industrial Biotechnology Learn the basics of sustainable processing for biobased products to further understand their impact on global sustainability.
	Sustainable Urban Development: Discover Advanced Metropolitan Solutions Learn why cities are key in resolving global urbanization and sustainability challenges and how you can engineer tomorrow’s cities today.
	Responsible Innovation Responsible Innovation – exploring the interface of ethics, society and technological innovations Circular Economy: an introduction Learn how to contribute to a sustainable economic system by implementing novel business and design approaches
	Introduction to Water and Climate Explore how climate change, water availability, and engineering innovation are key challenges for our planet.

I also left out Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning. Because that includes all our MOOCs and our online courses for lifelong learners.