Last November 18th, UNIMED member Universities, the University of Girona and the University Abdelmalek Essaâdi – coordinators of the UNIMED SubNetwork on Climate and Environmental Change – along with IUAV University of Venice, contributed to the panel session Towards climate-smart university curricula in the Mediterranean, organised by the Union for the Mediterranean in cooperation with UNIMED in the framework of the COP29 Mediterranean Pavilion in Baku.
The panel session brought together universities from the Euro-Mediterranean region, providing them with a platform to exchange the lessons learnt about adapting curricula to the challenges posed by climate change.
The discussion also focused on the financial dimension of curricula reforms in a changed climate. Ensuring adequate financial means is a precondition for the reform’s success. To assess the costs accurately, it is essential to understand the value of climate-smart education and the return on this investment in the long term.
During the session were presented the preliminary results of the survey launched by the UNIMED SubNetwork on Climate and Environmental Change to gather information on the existing curriculum offered by the universities of the region. In addition, the main outcomes of the ASMeC project, coordinated by UNIMED and co-funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, were shared to feed the session also with the views and perceptions of the Mediterranean students about the effects of climate change and the consequent migration flows.
The panel session was also the occasion to launch the recently released UfM study Integrating Green Skills into Education and Research (available here), which is the result of the two regional trainings realised by the UfM during 2024 in Spain and Algeria following up the recommendations included in the study Green Innovation and Employability in the Med through the Triple Helix, conducted by UNIMED and commissioned by the UfM.
The recording of the session is available here (from 01:32:21).
