19 January 2011

Dundee leads the way in EU-Australia environmental collaboration

The University of Dundee is at the forefront of a cultural and academic exchange programme to promote environmental sustainability which is set to lead to the first degrees jointly awarded by universities in Europe and Australia.

The Global Environmental Sustainability Project (GESP) is a unique, three-year mobility collaboration between universities in the UK, Austria, Poland, Denmark and Australia.

The sustainable management of the environment is a crucial issue for future generations. Whilst there are national and international consortia focusing on collaborative research in this area, this is the first programme to facilitate the movement of students between Australia and countries in the European Union.

Dundee has received more than £500,000 of funding from the EU to lead the project jointly with James Cook University in North Queensland. Between now and October 2013, 45 European students (including 15 from Dundee) will have the opportunity to study sustainability in Australia for a semester.

Forty-five of their Australian counterparts will come the other way and study environmental management at European universities, including Dundee. Researchers will also take part in the exchange by spending three weeks Down Under.

The project will enable future specialists and current academics in this discipline to share best practice in education and research, gain experience of environmental management in a different geographical spectrum, and confront the future challenges of sustainability in an increasingly complex international environment.

Dr Alison Reeves, GESP's academic lead at Dundee, explained how the students will benefit from participating in the project.

'The stark needs and differences in environmental management between Europe and Australia are reflected in the courses taught at the European and Australian institutions,' she said. 'The over-arching theme of the project is, however, the global imperative of the sustainable management of our environment.'

'By taking part in this project, students will gain an invaluable insight in to the additional aspects of environmental sustainability that they would not have learnt by staying on one continent.'

'All of our students learn from each other. They are already benefiting from the experiences of a new class member, who has joined us trom The University of Tasmania. Informal peer learning is an excellent way of engaging with any course material.'

In addition to Dundee, Johannes Kepler University (Austria), the University of Wroclaw (Poland), and the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) are the other EU institutions taking part in the project. James Cook, Flinders University, and the University of Tasmania are the participating Australian universities.

The project partners we will work towards a common system of credit and grade recognition which can be of future use to other institutions exchanging students between the EU and Australia.

Furthermore, as part of the project, there is the commitment for partners to investigate the possibility of launching permanent undergraduate or postgraduate programmes to be taught jointly between Australian and EU institutions.

No such joint-degrees currently exist, and their development will herald not only a breakthrough in environmental education but also a watershed moment in cross-continent academic collaborations.

'The degrees would be awarded by Dundee and James Cook University, and we would envisage students spending two years there, and two years here,' explained Christopher Bustin, International operations manager at the University of Dundee. 'This is a very exciting project and the scholarships will encourage young students to gain a fresh perspective on issues of environmental sustainability.'

'The areas of study include Environmental law, environmental engineering, life sciences, bioscience, chemistry, environmental science and environmental planning. Our EU partners in Austria, Denmark and Poland have been selected due to their expertise in emerging environmental technologies.

'So, for example, the University of Dundee is doing a lot of work in renewable technology and renewable energy, and water resources management. We are looking forward to Australian students and academics working with us on solar power, wind power, tidal energy, wave power. We have a lot to learn from each other.'

The first Australian student to come to Dundee as part of the exchange started classes in Level 3 and 4 Environmental Science and Town and Regional Planning modules this semester.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
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University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
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