University of Groningen awards microcredentials to professionals for the first time

As part of the national pilot microcredentials for professionals , the University of Groningen awarded the first microcredentials to professionals who participated in the summer school, Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Social Sustainability, from 11 - 22 September 2023.

What are microcredentials and how does it work?

Microcredentials are digital certificates that allow learners to showcase the knowledge and skills they have acquired after completing a small unit of accreditation-worthy education.

Along with the UG, 33 other Dutch Higher Education institutions participate in the national pilot microcredentials for professionals. The microcredentials that are developed in the context of the pilot are subject to a national quality framework that requires all learning outcomes to be assessed against transparent standards. In the Netherlands, the size of the microcredentials currently ranges from 3 to 30 ECTS and they can only be issued to professionals and not (yet) to regular students. The microcredentials are registered in the SURF Edubadges platform which makes them portable and easily verifiable.They can be shared online, for example via Linkedin.

The first succes is a reality

The summer school, Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Social Sustainability, which was held in Groningen for the 13th time, was aligned with the national quality framework for microcredentials, with the result that, after their successful completion of the course, 38 participating professionals from almost 20 countries were awarded a microcredential as proof of successful achievement of the learning outcomes.

Conferring added value

The summer school greatly matches the concept of a microcredential due to the high-level expertise of the trainers, both in academia and practice, the possibility for participant-practitioners to learn from each other as well as the fact that their individual backgrounds are being taken into account in the learning process.

The microcredential adds a quality label to the summer school and facilitates recognition of the achieved learning outcomes by other Higher Education institutions and employers.

What will you learn during the summer school?

The summer school is offered by the Faculty of Spatial Sciences and is taught by Prof. Frank Vanclay together with some of the leading social assessment and resettlement practitioners, including from Community Insights Group, Intersocial and from the World Bank/International Finance Corporation..

The practical training course promotes understanding about and develops skills in managing the social risks and impacts associated with the development of public and private investment projects (e.g. mines, dams, highways, industry parks, electricity transmission corridors, agricultural developments, etc), and particularly issues related to land acquisition and resettlement. The course is intended for (international) practitioners or applied social researchers from public and private institutions interested in the practical aspects of social assessment, project-induced displacement and resettlement.

More in the future

At the UG, more microcredential-certified educational activities for professionals are in the making. The next courses to be offered are designed for professionals from the region.

More information

More information on the summer school.

More information on the pilot microcredentials.