From the podcast: Ciencia al Punto – UPNA
Episode: La revolución de la sostenibilidad desde la universidad (The sustainability revolution from the university)
Published on: 20 November 2023
Language: Spanish
This episode of UPNA’s podcast Ciencia al Punto, features coordinator of the Erasmus+ funded project NEMOS and professor of Food Technology at the Public University of Navarra (UPNA), María J. Cantalejo Díez. She explains the NEMOS project approach, aimed at defining a new educational model that integrates sustainability as a transversal skill in higher education curricula through service learning.
Starting from the simple observation that the model of production and consumption underpinning the more economically developed countries is intrinsically unsustainable and unfair, Cantalejo emphasizes the need to raise awareness and provoke a change in our mentality towards more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable paradigms.
Education at all levels plays a crucial role in shaping the mindset of current and future generations towards more responsible practices. Specifically, universities are a fundamental part in this transformative process, that is better achieved by students through experiential learning and a deeper engagement with their community.
By promoting the integration of service-learning as a pedagogy in higher education curricula, the NEMOS project encourages students to take on a more active and participative role, and work with local stakeholders on their actual sustainability challenges. This invaluable learning method will ultimately contribute to train future professionals who are able to respond to the sustainability needs of our society, for example by designing new zero-waste enterprises or innovative processes to transform waste into new products.
About the NEMOS project
The NEMOS project acknowledges sustainability as an increasingly crucial skill for graduate and post-graduate students to tackle important global challenges such as climate change, food waste and the loss of biodiversity in their professional future. Therefore, the project aims to define a new educational model to integrate sustainability competences in the curricula of food-related degrees by means of service learning.
Co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, the NEMOS project is led by the Public University of Navarra and includes the following consortium partners: Technological University Dublin (Ireland); Technological University Graz (Austria); Rhône-Alpes Higher Institute of Agriculture (France); University of Pisa (Italy); and IGCAT.
More information at www.nemosproject.com
