Growing pressure for sustainability, efforts to reduce the environmental impact of industry and construction, and expected changes in the labour market have all led Brno University of Technology to launch a new Micro Degree programme, Selected Competencies for Environmental Engineering. The programme will be delivered jointly by the Faculty of Civil Engineering and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, with the first participants starting classes in autumn this year. The training will offer practical technical and organisational solutions for real-world application.

The new lifelong learning programme is designed as a two-semester Micro Degree worth 30 credits. It is intended primarily for company employees responsible for preparing and implementing sustainability strategies, but also for individuals seeking to improve their qualifications for new roles emerging in connection with sustainability and the green transformation of industry.

“A Micro Degree is more extensive than individual micro-certificates, which makes it possible to explore the topic in much greater depth. At the same time, it is exceptional in that it was created as an interfaculty programme. In its core module, it brings together civil engineering and mechanical engineering, two fields in which sustainability has very specific technical implications,” says Martin Pavlas from the Institute of Process Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, BUT.

The two faculties have already tested this kind of teaching collaboration in the bachelor’s degree programme in Environmental Engineering. The Micro Degree builds on that foundation in the area of further education, this time aimed at professionals from industry. The first intake is planned for the start of the 2026/2027 academic year, and the first graduates are expected to complete the Micro Degree within one year.

The programme is divided into three modules. The first, common to all participants, focuses on how a sustainable organisation operates in the context of ESG (that is, criteria used to assess a company’s sustainability and ethical impact, covering environmental, social and governance aspects), non-financial reporting, legislation, and the basics of product life cycle assessment. In the second semester, participants will split according to their professional focus into either the civil engineering branch or the branch dedicated to industrial processes, energy, and sustainability technologies.

Teaching combines in-person sessions in Brno, online instruction, pre-recorded lectures, and self-study. A major component is project-based work built on real data from the participants’ companies. “Every organisation is at a different stage in its sustainability journey. Some are only just beginning to build an overview of their data, while others are already addressing specific measures. That is why we place great emphasis on individual projects that directly reflect the needs of a particular company. For that reason alone, completing the course will bring very tangible benefits to companies,” Pavlas explains.

According to process engineer David Poul, many companies are already taking partial steps towards sustainability by addressing, for example, building insulation, energy savings, or water conservation, but they still lack a systematic perspective. “These measures are often not linked to data or to a long-term strategy. Companies then deal with ESG reporting as a one-off exercise with external consultants, but are unable to build on the results. The aim of the programme is to educate qualified partners who can define the brief and then also contribute to the implementation of technical solutions,” says Poul.

Graduates will receive a micro-certificate recognised across the European Union, documenting the achievement of clearly defined competencies.