The responsible management of natural resources, including land, water, air, minerals, forests, and biodiversity, directly impacts the preservation of the natural environment and the quality of life of present and future generations. It creates a balance between social, economic, and environmental factors. It leads to the well-being of people and communities, the preservation of jobs, and biodiversity protection.
Sustainable natural resource management is of high priority in the 21st century as it can contribute to the avoidance of land degradation, the avoidance of desertification, mitigation of climate change, and more. It is included in UN sustainability goals, such as sustainable cities and communities, responsible production and consumption, climate action, life inland, and life underwater. Achieving sustainable natural resource management starts with awareness-raising and education. Society is faced with climate change, the rise of temperatures, and the destruction of habitats, directly impacting biodiversity presentation and the long-term health of natural ecosystems. In this environment, it is imperative to develop educational initiatives that prepare the younger generation to become responsible, active adults in relation to environmental sustainability in all aspects of life, in industry and in communities.
In this context, NATURE will develop an experiential learning intervention for building the capacity of higher education students to adopt responsible behaviour on natural resources management and to design solutions for environmental sustainability in everyday and professional activities.
The project aims to achieve the following objectives:
- Educating students: building theoretical knowledge and soft skills applicable to responsible natural resources management.
- Training instructors: supporting the seamless integration of the proposed experiential learning design and digital learning games in existing instructional practices through reference material in diverse media.
- Modernizing higher education through digital technologies by developing open digital games explicitly designed for learning purposes.
The outcomes of the project will be:
- An active, game-based learning methodology for environmental education through exploration, collaboration, and experimentation.
- A serious digital game that challenges students to engage in responsible natural resource management scenarios inspired by real life.
- Educator support content in the form of learning activities, videos, and a reference guide that facilitates the integration of project outcomes into teaching practices.
For more information, please, visit the project website
http://www.projectnature.eu/.
ITA