Education as a Foundation for Transdisciplinary Research

Healthy Start sees education as a way to valorize transdisciplinary research and to train the next generation of researchers and professionals who can work across disciplines and societal sectors.

Our research projects generate valuable insights—not only in terms of outcomes, but also in how transdisciplinary collaboration itself unfolds. These insights deserve to be shared, reflected on, and embedded in education. That’s why we are building an educational infrastructure from the ground up: one that grows from within research, and is shaped by those who do the work.

Our Vision on Education

Our vision is inspired by holistic and humanistic educational traditions. Learning does not happen in isolation. It emerges through dialogue with the world across disciplines, professions, communities, and ecosystems. By building on these relationships, learning becomes more in tune with both local needs and global challenges. This allows students to work across boundaries, act with integrity, and make a meaningful contribution to the world in which they are part.

 

Why Education Matters 

In Healthy Start, education is not an add-on. It is a pathway for impact. By translating research findings and collaboration experiences into scalable, online modules, we create accessible learning opportunities for students, professionals, and researchers. These modules are designed to be labour-efficient, open-access, and rooted in real-world cases.

We also support researchers in becoming educators—offering training in educational development and helping them turn their expertise into teaching materials. This builds a small but growing community of educators who understand transdisciplinary work from the inside out.

A Growing Educational Ecosystem

Our goal is to create a learning ecosystem that connects research, education, and societal impact. One that is flexible, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of learners and communities.

Unlike traditional education programs, Healthy Start education does not yet have one institutional home. It is emerging within the Convergence alliance—a collaboration between TU Delft, Erasmus MC, and Erasmus University Rotterdam. This means we are designing new innovative ways to host, organize, and sustain education across institutional boundaries but with a fundament in the educational organization of these universities.

Our Learning Community

Healthy Start is building a learning ecosystem—a community of educators, students, practitioners, and partners committed to nurturing growth, imagination, and responsibility. We invite you to collaborate, explore, and co-create with us. Together, we can reimagine education as a force for human and societal flourishing.

Are you ready to shape a different future through learning? Reach out our education team and get involved.

Start your learning journey here!

Whether you’re a student seeking training to develop skills to make a difference, a (research) professional interested in methods to co-create knowledge or translate science into society, or an educator looking for ready-to-use modules on transdisciplinarity to enrich your courses—you’ll find a variety of educational programs, tools, and activities designed to support you.

Explore our educational offer specifically designed for…

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