System Earth is complex and dynamic with biotic and abiotic processes closely intertwined. These biotic and abiotic processes are central to teaching within the Master (Earth Sciences and Biological Sciences) and Bachelor (Future Planet Studies – major Future Earth) programmes at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Across our teaching we focus on the grand challenges of our time: climate change, land use change, change in biodiversity, and the sustainable use of ecosystems. In these programmes, we aim for students to gain the knowledge and tools for contributing to a more sustainable world, on a local, regional and global scale. Unique to the UvA is that these educational programmes are offered by one single interdisciplinary institute within the natural sciences, the Institute for Biodi