The Edu-BioMed project is one of the results of the networking potential of the International Centre for the UNESCO Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves. In 2018, nine Partners from the Mediterranean area who got in contact through the Centre, wrote together a proposal for a 1-million-euro project that then became a reality.

Funded under the European Commission Erasmus+ scheme, Edu-BioMed aims to strengthen, improve and upgrade the academic activity at four Moroccan and Lebanese Higher Education Institutions (Cadi Ayyad University (Marrakesh), Mohammed V University (Rabat), University Saint Joseph (Beirut,) and the American University of Beirut) in the context of Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves (BRs), in collaboration and through networking with BRs’ stakeholders (citizens, visitors, managers and technicians), public administrations and EU Partners.

The objective is pursued by a consortium of organizations: the French Aix Marseille University, the Rome-based Union for the Mediterranean University (UNIMED), MAB France, and the Association for the Protection of Jabal Moussa (Lebanon). The project coordination is held by the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Overall, the project has been involving more than 100 people.

The project counts on several activities and actions during a lifespan of three years (2018-2021):

(i) surveys inside universities;
(ii) focus groups with BR stakeholders to understand their needs and demands;
(iii) thematic workshops;
(iv) development of IT systems for data management and sharing;
(v) and ‘citizen science’ tools to engage civil society as co-producer of knowledge;
(vi) training for teachers from the South in Europe;
(vii) international mobility and internship schemes for teachers and learners to conduct collaborative case study research in BRs;
(viii) scientific and education materials –including a MOOC course;
(ix) curricula upgrading proposals and
(x) policy review and recommendations.

Some activities developed within the Edu-BioMed framework.