Introducing Education in the Area of Sustainable Development in terms of Educating Students of Social and Political Science at Selected Universities in Poland

About this project

<p>We will introduce a new course Sustainable Development in 10 majors (Political and Social Sciences) at University of Warsaw, Universitas Opoliensis and University of Wroclaw. The project will be delivered in partnership between 10 Polish academics (direct beneficiaries), universities from Iceland and Norway, an international foundation based in Svalbard and experts on sustainable development (SD). Students attending the new course will be the project’s final beneficiaries. Following a series of meetings, training workshops in Poland, Iceland and Norway, and individual work of the academics, we will develop 10 syllabuses, an innovative coursebook including audiovisual resources, also filmed in Iceland and Norway, and the recommendations on a large-scale introduction of education on SD in humanities at universities in Poland (to be sent to 30 universities in Poland). The course and its coursebook will be promoted at the nationwide university conference and the HumanDOC Film Festival.</p>

Bilateral cooperation results

As originally assumed, the perspective of universities from Iceland and Norway was crucial for the project success, as these countries have been world leaders in the implementation of sustainable development solutions for years. They have extensive experience in this field; in these countries we can observe phenomena that are a consequence of the climate catastrophe (melting glaciers) and have an impact both locally and globally (they contribute to raising the water levels in the seas and oceans, affect fauna and flora, migrations, international security, etc.) Project participants benefited from the knowledge and experience, which partners from donor countries shared as part of training and consultations. All these translated into a more effective development of Subject Cards, which later on were reflected in high quality content of the multimedia handbook. Additionally, the knowledge of partners from the Donor countries also supported the production of audiovisual materials, allowing for the development of a shooting plan and locations needed to be used as a part of the works. At the same time, the film crews participated in training, which ultimately translated into increasing their knowledge and awareness in the area of sustainable development, especially taking into account the perspective of donor countries. Further work on future educational projects with some of the partners is planned.

Project partners

• University of Iceland Donor project partner· Iceland
• The University Centre of the Westfjords Donor project partner· Iceland
• Western Norway University of Applied Sciences Donor project partner· Norway
• University of Warsaw Project partner· Poland
• University of Opole Project partner· Poland
• University of Wroclaw Project partner· Poland