Table 1 Case study descriptions.

Case 1 is the Open-Source Global Justice Investigations Lab, a 20-week transdisciplinary extracurricular mixed-level BA/MA course at Utrecht University (UU) in which 25–35 students from law, history, and other fields collaborate with five NGOs on global justice and human rights topics focused on open-source skills.

Case 2 is the minor ACT: Act for Change Together at Avans University of Applied Sciences, a 20-week transdisciplinary program where 20 students from various disciplines work on societal challenges around the new economy, collaborating with self-chosen stakeholders.

Case 3 involves two TDE programs at the Vrije Universiteit (VU). The first is Science With Society in collaboration with Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA), a project connected to an elective master module in which students and residents of Amsterdam co-define research agendas. The second is ‘Broader Mind for Students’, an umbrella for the 4-month interdisciplinary extra-curricular Broader Mind Course, Community Service Learning, where students connect with societal partners and dream team: a team of 8–14 Bachelor’s and Master’s students from diverse disciplines who tackle a societal challenge.

Case 4 describes an independent organization with projects based on participation, transdisciplinary collaboration and co-creation at the intersection of art and society. The organization develops teaching programs, varying in length and topic, for universities such as HvA, Erasmus University of Rotterdam (EUR) and Delft University. They function as coordinators and coaches of these programs.

Case 5 is the transdisciplinary master-insert Shaping Responsible Futures at University of Twente with one, two or three 3-month courses that can be followed as electives or extracurricular. 10–12 students, from various disciplines, collaborate with one or two active stakeholders coming from the government, companies, or NGOs on topics of creative intelligence, responsible Futuring and Leading Systemic Change.

Case 6 involves various transdisciplinary projects at the Wageningen University, (WUR) in which students are engaged as interns, thesis writers, or consultancy participants. Projects blend education and research, emphasizing collaborative learning and societal challenges.

Case 7 is the TDE program Placemaking atUniversity of Amsterdam, an 8–16-week elective involving 600 students from various disciplines who collaborate and co-create with companies, NGOs, and municipalities on urban issues in the social, ecological and cultural domain.

Case 8 involves Food 4 Health and Safety, a 20-week extracurricular program by Eindhoven University of Technology, WUR, UU, and University Medical Center Utrecht. Seventy students from diverse fields collaborated with six stakeholders to tackle sustainable supply chain challenges.

Case 9 refers to Inclusive Community Lab at NHL Stenden, a project in a neighborhood of Leeuwarden, in which each semester approximately 50 students from social work, theater, and other fields collaborate with 15–20 societal partners during their minor, atelier, or specific learning outcomes in semester-long projects to work on social challenges.

Case 10 involves a research group at inHolland with expertise in collaboration involving co-creation tools and a manual for TDE learning for a 10–20-week collaborative program with students, their coaches and working field partners on a societal challenge. The expertise is based on experience with various TDE programs with a focus on design thinking.