The 15-month project is to design a joint Master’s degree programme in protection and management to be offered by a consortium formed by three universities of the Transform4Europe Alliance: the University of Silesia (the project leader), the University of Trieste, and Vytautas Magnus University.
Learning path overview
Education plays a key role in climate action, both in terms of raising awareness of the scale of the problem and in figuring out the best solutions. Thus, the joint Master’s programme features an innovative curriculum that blends theory with practical application. The programme, carried out in English, is to train and educate experts capable of managing the complex and multi-faceted dimensions of challenges stemming from climate risk and global environmental changes by integrating the scientific and socio-economic aspects into a unique programme. The learning path is organised in blocks of regular and laboratory classes in multiple fields, from biology through ecology to economy.
With their comprehensive knowledge base, practical skills, and global perspective— graduates will emerge as highly skilled professionals equipped to make a meaningful impact in the field of global changes and sustainability pillars. By preparing future leaders and innovators, the programme contributes to the collective effort to address environmental challenges and promote sustainable development worldwide.
The degree programme will address the following issues, among others:
– how the environmental crisis questions the social sciences: development models, social injustices, the deterioration of the quality of life;
– the socio-ecological crisis: migration issue, the environmental crisis and the fiscal crisis of the state;
– the social construction of sustainability: different theories of sustainability and policies for sustainability and how often they conflict with each other;
– the ecological transition as a project: the relationships between ideas of sustainability, models with which the ecological transition is implemented and public policies will be shown;
– conflicts for sustainability: environmental conflicts that arise from different forms of inequality in the distribution of environmental bads and goods;
– the actors of eco-social change: collective movements, companies, associations, local authorities mobilising for sustainability by defining their logic and methods of action.
Consortium set-up
To ensure the best possible solutions and define the role of each member of the consortium, the agreement will describe in detail the tasks of each partner, the distribution of resources, teaching issues and the administrative functions. The key staff involved in designing and structuring the Joint Master Programme have a long-standing collaboration within the T4EU Alliance. Experts from three European universities will work together and contribute their complementary knowledge and experiences in environmental transformation to create a new and unique programme entitled Ecology and Sustainability of Global Changes.
The total budget for the project is €60,000 and will be implemented for 15 months.
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