15 November 2023 – Coordinator of the Erasmus+ funded project NEMOS, María J. Cantalejo Díez from the Public University of Navarra, contributed to the 16th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation – ICERI 2023 (13-15 November 2023, Seville, Spain) by illustrating two practical cases on how to integrate sustainability in higher education curricula through service-learning.
In her first presentation on How to Combine Research and Teaching in Sustainability through Service-Learning, she explained the benefits of combining the hands-on approach of NEMOS – encouraging students to find solutions to existing challenges affecting the stakeholders in the food sector – with the learning experience of the research project
BIRBIZI, funded by the Government of Navarre and focused on good practices related to zero residues in the food industry – specifically, investigating the reuse of whey and underused agro-industrial waste.
Both cases demonstrate how an increased engagement with the community (for example, through service-learning) can more effectively contribute to enhancing the students’ sustainability skills with respect to more traditional pedagogies. As a result, students would be more prepared to face the demands related to social, economic and environmental sustainability in their professional future.
Cantalejo’s second presentation showed how Service-Learning is Key to Integrating Sustainability Competencies in a Food Degree Programme. Concretely, she reported about a specific activity implemented at UPNA in the framework of the NEMOS project related to paper composting and its use as bread packaging. A pilot was carried out in collaboration with Pamplona City Council and the Tajo Social’s printing, employing people in a situation of social exclusion. Students were called to develop a new compostable packaging product to be manufactured in the Tajo Social plant.
The service-learning methodology involved students in active, hands-on learning, fostering community engagement, critical thinking and the development of leadership, project management and communication skills. It cultivated a deeper understanding of sustainability and prepared the food degree students to become informed, ethical and proactive professionals in the pursuit of sustainable food systems.
About ICERI
ICERI is a prominent global educational conference which allows lecturers, researchers, technologists and professionals from the educational sector to not only share their research but also to learn about the most up to date educational innovations from other global experts. Every year, ICERI gathers more than 800 delegates from 80 different countries (source: https://iated.org/iceri/announcement).
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
