PEBES – Pedagogics of Biodiversity and Environmental Sustainability

The PEBES project (2022-2024) was created by merging the strengths and needs of four universities in three countries: Finland, Botswana, and Namibia. Our aim is that future professional teachers, educators and environmental experts gain transdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of dynamics related to biodiversity and sustainability, and how to apply this knowledge in the society with diverse pedagogical methods. It is only through close collaboration among professionals from different disciplines and cultural backgrounds – and with involvement of communities – that the global challenges of biodiversity loss and unsustainability can be faced. The project is funded by the Finnish National Agency of Education, under the Team Finland Knowledge (TFK) programme.

Four main activities will be carried out during the project:

  1. We will open selected, mostly online courses to be available freely for students of the Partner universities.
    2. We will plan and implement assignments for international student teams, supervised by each Partner university. The team work includes short mobilities to target countries both for students and staff.
    3. We will produce a series of online lectures on the theme of the project.
    4. We will prepare a roadmap for future collaboration among the four universities.
Website: https://www.utu.fi/pebes
Project manager/Humak: Laura Keihäs
Email: laura.keihas@humak.fi
Phone: +358 50 5175542
Duration: 1.8.2022 – 31.12.2024
Partners: University of Turku (main coordinator), Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Namibia & Humak
Funder: Opetushallitus, Team Finland Knowledge
Budget: 64 000 €