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Working with the Sustainable Development Goals can be a highly motivating factor in Problem Based Learning, especially if the solutions produced can be used afterwards and have an actual impact on people and communities. This paper describes how three engineering students from Aalborg University, Denmark, collaborated with the South African Organisation Green Shoots on bringing IT-supported Math education out to some of the most disadvantaged learners from townships and rural areas of the Western Cape. The project provided the Danish students with a unique learning experience and have a lasting impact on the communities involved. While the content of the project focused on bringing IT-supported Math education to learners in previously disadvantaged areas around the Western Cape, the project also provided valuable insight into how such students’ projects, where the outcomes benefit people and communities suffering from socio-economic challenges e.g. poverty, can be carried out. In addition to demonstrate that such projects are actually possible, we studied three critical aspects: How to ensure a good fit between learning objectives and project outcome, how to ensure that the project creates value for the partner organisation and communities, and how to ensure that the projects can be conducted without overloading the university supervisors. We believe that student projects focusing on SDGs have a big potential in terms of providing highly motivating student projects yet at the same time contribute to a better world through solutions that are being used even afterwards. However, our study was just a single case with one group of three students. We hope it will serve as inspiration for larger studies, where more quantitative data could be gathered in terms of how to establish a good framework around such projects, and in order to demonstrate the value for students and societies.

Albania’s residential sector represents a large share of the country’s energy consumption, especially of electric power. Other important characteristics of the sector include fast growing energy demand and a high level of energy losses, which challenge the possibility of sustainable development. A large share of the electricity demand is used for heating purposes – a demand that could potentially be met in a more energy efficient manner. However, the precise portion of electricity used to meet heat needs is unknown. The main objective of this article is thus to determine the share of electricity used for heating in the largest Albanian city Based on a sample of households in Tirana, a statistical model is established and applied to perform a regression analysis to derive an estimation of household electricity demand. The heating share of the domestic electricity consumption is then quantified using additional information validated by actual measurements. The distribution of the electricity consumption data is better understood through an analysis of heat-related electricity consumption. Additionally, the monthly relative share of household electricity consumption reveals the number of households with electricity demand above the monthly 300kWh limit established by the Albanian Energy Regulatory Authority, which must be met in order to avoid triggering a higher electricity tariff. It is suggested that household electricity consumption will continue to grow in the near future, due to rising incomes and changing climatic conditions that are influencing the amount of heat used by Albanians, who rely primarily on electricity to heat their homes. International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management, Vol 5 (2015)