Multidisciplinary socio-ecological education in South Africa for sustainability

ongoing

FUTURE21 strengthens the capacity of South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to advance sustainable socio-ecological systems (SES) through interdisciplinary education, capacity building and collaboration. The project equips HEIs to develop and implement competence-based multidisciplinary curricula, foster collaboration and to enhance HEIs responsiveness to global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, socioeconomic inequalities, circular economy and sustainable industries. To achieve this FUTURE21 through advancing multidisciplinary socioecological education will; Develop and implement SES focused curricula, short learning programmes and educational materials; Provide professional development for HEI staff on pedagogy, systems thinking and digital learning; Facilitate multisectoral collaboration between academia, industry, society and policy makers; Establish an SES education platform to support multidisciplinary learning, continuous professional development and knowledge sharing, for HEIs staff and students, industry professionals, society and policy makers and Enhance the visibility and sustainability of SES education through targeted outreach and dissemination. Each HEI will take a specific role: Häme University of Applied Sciences (FIN) and Inland Norway University (NO) facilitate methodological and competence-based, multidisciplinary SES curricula and short learning programme (SLP) development and student-centered pedagogics. Nelson Mandela University and the University of Mpumalanga develop the SES curricula and SLPs and pilot them. Private sector and NGO partners will avail their expertise to support the SLP. All partners participate in collaborative learning ecosystem building through real-life SES challenges. Results are disseminated in South Africa and wider in Southern Africa. The Associate Partners support the project through their special capacities.