Description of the project
CAPACITY BUILDING FOR EDUCATION AND APPLIED RESEARCH IN MEDITERRANEAN UNESCO’S BIOSPHERE RESERVES
Summary
The Edu-BioMed project aims to strengthen, foster and upgrade academic activity at four Moroccan and Lebanese universities in the context of Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves.
‘Biosphere Reserves’ (BRs) is a UNESCO label for territories that compromise with the sustainable development goals. The designation falls under the auspices of UNESCO’s “Man and Biosphere” (MAB) program, which aim is to explore solutions for the improvement or relationships between people and their environments on a multidisciplinary scientific basis. BRs are supposed to be ´science for sustainability support sites´: places where to test and apply solutions to face the socio-ecological crises of our days.
At the premises of Edu-BioMed, there is the recognition of three shortcomings:
(i) the ´sectorialization´ of knowledge within universities. In socio-environmental studies, it is important to overcome the monodisciplinary traditions and make experts from different disciplines to communicate
(ii) the lack of knowledge transfer between Universities and territories. From one side, academies produce useful knowledge about sustainability issues, which usually stagnate within the walls of the campuses. From another side, sources of knowledge comes from territorial realities
(iii) the lack of communication between academies and policy makers. Not always universities assume the role of policy advisors, despite their knowledge would be useful to orient the work of legislators.
After an in-depth analysis of the inertias at the intersection of (i) knowledge fragmentation between and within HEIs, (ii) needs and demands from BR citizens and management staff, and (iii) policy frameworks, the Consortium will gather to set the work agenda by means of thematic workshops.
The idea is to build an infrastructure for the flow of knowledge made of IT systems for data management and sharing; ‘citizen science’ tools to engage civil society as co-producer of knowledge; training for teachers and researchers; international mobility and internship schemes for teachers and learners to conduct collaborative case study research in BRs; scientific and education materials –including a MOOC course; curricula upgrading; and policy recommendations.
The initiative will align the academic activity with territorial needs; innovate the research capacity of universities; promote internationalization and openness; enrich staff’s expertise; enable mutual learning between stakeholders; enhance the interdisciplinary character.
Project coordinates:
- Start: 15-11-2018 – End: 14-03-2022
- Project Reference: 598924-EPP-1-2018-1-ES-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP
- EU Grant: 929230 EUR
- Programme: Erasmus+
- Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
- Action Type: Capacity Building in Higher Education