MSc in Sustainable Resource Management and Energy Transition

Students in this course build the analytical toolkit needed to address complex sustainability and energy transition challenges through data covering statistical analysis, predictive analytics, machine learning applications, optimization-based decision models, sustainability analytics, and environmental data interpretation applied to socioecological and industrial systems. Students develop the ability to analyze complex datasets, evaluate sustainability indicators, and support evidence-based decisions in dynamic socioecological and industrial environments.

This course examines advanced modeling and optimization methodologies applied to complex environmental, industrial, territorial, and energy systems. Students develop the ability to analyze, design, and optimize integrated systems under environmental, economic, and operational constraints.

Sustainability is no longer a peripheral concern for organizations it is increasingly a condition of their legitimacy and long-term viability. This course examines sustainability principles, ethical frameworks, ESG approaches, and resource governance strategies, analyzing how they interact with environmental management, social impact, and organizational decision-making across industrial and territorial contexts. Students analyze the interactions between technological development, operational performance, environmental management, and social impact.

Designed to equip students with rigorous interdisciplinary research, this course covers qualitative and quantitative research methods, sustainability assessment frameworks, systematic literature review, experimental design, and the interpretation of scientific and technical information relevant to sustainability, environmental management, and energy transition. Students develop competencies in problem identification, research design, evidence-based evaluation, and technical communication applicable to complex sustainability and energy challenges. A central output of this course is a formal Capstone Research Proposal, which constitutes the foundational document for the applied research project completed in CAP 690 and CAP 695. The proposal must clearly articulate the research problem, research question, theoretical and methodological framework, data sources, and expected contributions to knowledge or professional practice in sustainability or energy transition. This deliverable is reviewed and approved by the faculty supervisor before the student advances to the design phase.

The linear model of take-make-dispose is being replaced progressively but urgently by circular approaches that eliminate waste and keep materials and energy in use. This course examines circular economy principles and resource efficiency strategies applied to sustainable production systems, industrial operations, and environmental management, covering industrial symbiosis, life cycle assessment, eco-efficiency, and circular economy business models. Students develop the ability to evaluate resource flows, optimize material and energy efficiency, and design sustainability-oriented operational strategies.

This course examines environmental impact assessment methodologies and environmental management strategies associated with industrial, territorial, energy, and infrastructure projects. Students develop the ability to evaluate environmental impacts, design mitigation and monitoring plans, and support environmental decision-making processes.

The global energy system is undergoing its most significant transformation in a century driven by climate imperatives, technological change, and shifting policy landscapes. This course develops a rigorous understanding of contemporary energy systems, covering conventional and renewable energy, energy production and distribution, energy efficiency, sustainability assessment, energy governance, and strategic approaches for managing the energy transition. Students develop the ability to analyze energy systems from environmental, operational, economic, and sustainability perspectives.

Decarbonizing the global economy is among the defining engineering and policy challenges of this generation. This course examines renewable energy technologies and decarbonization strategies within the context of the global climate transition, covering solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, biomass, and emerging renewable systems, as well as carbon reduction strategies, decarbonization pathways, energy policy, and climate mitigation approaches. Students develop the ability to evaluate renewable energy systems, assess decarbonization strategies, and analyze sustainability implications associated with energy transition processes.

This course examines the strategic role of critical minerals in global energy transition processes and sustainable technological development. Students develop the ability to evaluate the relationship between mineral resources, energy systems, sustainability, and global transition strategies.

Responsible mining does not end when extraction stops it extends through the full process of closure, environmental rehabilitation, and community transition. This course develops competencies in mine closure planning, post-mining transitions, and sustainability strategies, covering closure methodologies, ecosystem restoration, post-mining land use, socioenvironmental risk management, and long-term territorial governance. Students develop the ability to evaluate closure processes, design post-mining sustainability strategies, and support responsible territorial and environmental transitions.

Students completing this course develop advanced competencies in modeling and optimizing energy systems, with direct application to sustainability planning and energy transition strategy. The course covers energy system simulation, optimization models, energy demand analysis, resource allocation, renewable integration, scenario analysis, and decision-support methodologies. Students develop the ability to analyze and optimize energy systems using quantitative and computational approaches.

Hydrogen, long-duration storage, smart grids, and carbon capture are no longer speculative they are live investments reshaping global energy infrastructure. This course examines the technologies driving energy transition, covering renewable energy systems, energy storage, hydrogen systems, smart grids, carbon capture, electrification, digital energy systems, and low-carbon technological innovation. Students develop the ability to evaluate energy transition technologies and assess their environmental, operational, and sustainability implications.

This course examines sustainable territorial planning and land management strategies associated with socioecological systems, environmental governance, and sustainability transitions. Students develop the ability to evaluate territorial systems, design sustainability-oriented planning strategies, and support evidence-based territorial decision-making.

Why do some regions and industries lead the energy transition while others lag and what role do innovation ecosystems play in that difference? This course examines how innovation systems, technology transfer, multistakeholder collaboration, and policy frameworks drive sustainable resource management and energy transition, equipping students to analyze and design collaborative strategies for industrial and territorial transformation. Students develop the ability to analyze innovation ecosystems and design collaborative strategies that support sustainable resource and energy transitions.

This course constitutes the design and development phase of the applied research capstone project in the MSc in Sustainable Resource Management and Energy Transition. Building directly on the research proposal approved in ESE 515, students develop a comprehensive Project Design Document that serves as the formal blueprint for the implementation phase in CAP 695. Required deliverables include: (1) a refined sustainability or energy transition problem statement and research question; (2) a complete literature review situating the project within current scientific and policy knowledge; (3) a detailed methodology specifying data collection instruments, sustainability assessment frameworks, and analytical approaches; (4) a systems and stakeholder analysis relevant to the territorial, environmental, or energy context; and (5) a project execution plan with milestones, feasibility evaluation, and risk assessment. Each student is assigned a faculty supervisor and, where applicable, an industry or governmental co-supervisor. The Project Design Document is formally evaluated by the supervisory committee before the student proceeds to CAP 695.

This course constitutes the implementation, evaluation, and final presentation phase of the applied research capstone project in the MSc in Sustainable Resource Management and Energy Transition, completing the three-stage research sequence initiated in ESE 515 and designed in CAP 690. Students execute the approved methodology, conducting data collection and analysis, implementing sustainability-oriented solutions or policy frameworks, and evaluating outcomes against the stated research objectives. Required deliverables include: (1) a Final Applied Research Report structured as a formal academic document containing introduction, theoretical and sustainability framework, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions, and recommendations; (2) an oral defense presented before a supervisory committee composed of at least two faculty members and, where applicable, one professional representative from industry, government, or civil society; and (3) an executive summary suitable for professional and policy dissemination. The oral defense constitutes the formal act of sustentation required for degree completion. The Final Applied Research Report and the record of the oral defense are the primary documents submitted in the event of a degree recognition or validation process.