That is why we offer an innovative form of education that places the industry at the heart of our learning programmes: Design Based Education (DBE). In this educational concept, our students work on real life challenges, in an interactive and inspiring learning environment.
This inquisitive approach is based on Design Thinking and creates a learning environment in which attention is paid to international developments.
By implementing DBE, we are shifting from traditional to future proof education. There is less one-way passing on of information, and more room for experimenting and co-creating in small interdisciplinary groups. There are no conventional classrooms; we work in ateliers that stimulate creative processes. We don’t have traditional teachers, but we work with lecturers, facilitators and coaches to guide our students. And lastly, we don’t believe in one fixed learning path for all our students, DBE enables our students to shape their own.
Play Video”"DBE allows us to anticipate the challenges that our students will face when they enter the industry. It matches our goal: educating game changers, in the hospitality industry and beyond."
While working on their design challenges, our students follow these design thinking process: they develop an understanding of the challenge (empathise), articulate the problem that needs to be solved (define), brainstorm potential solutions (ideate), design a prototype of the solution (prototype), and continue to test and improve the designed solution (test).
Develop a deep understanding of the challenge
Clearly articulate the problem you want to solve
Brainstorm potential solutions: select and develop your solution
Design a prototype (or series of prototypes) to test all or part of your, solution
Engage in a continuous short-cycle innovation process to continually improve your design
Design Based Education is an intensive collaboration between students, professionals and educators. Working with design challenges from our industry partners makes sure our students are prepared for current issues the industry is facing. For our industry partners, collaborating with our students means gathering valuable input for their business, while directly contributing to the learning experience of students.
Are you looking for a feasibility study for a new product or concept? Can we contribute to your efforts in sustainability? Are you in need of a strategy to increase staff engagement? Or are you looking for support in developing a new business model? Let our students think along. We are continually looking for design challenges for our students to work on. Want to learn more? Get in touch!
During a full semester (September-January or February-June), our 2nd and 3rd year students work on design challenges in project teams of 4-5 students. They spend approximately 12 hours per week on the design challenge, guided by a facilitator and supported by experts on relevant topics. We advise our industry partners to allocate approximately 1 hour per week to the collaboration, to answer questions and discuss progress.
Be inspired by some of our best practices.