Abstract:

While there have been substantial advances in sustainability education over the past two decades that have resulted in new knowledge, they do not appear to have catalysed the change needed to address today's increasingly complex challenges. More holistic approaches and pedagogies are therefore urgently needed. To fill the current gaps, I tried to align and combine a European Erasmus+ project called NEMOS with another research project called BIRBIZI.

On the one hand, the main objective of the NEMOS project is to provide an educational model, in order to integrate the acquisition of sustainability competences during curricular education. Education for sustainability invites thinking in other directions to enable innovative approaches to problem solving for future challenges. Sustainability competences are reflected in the "ability to look ahead" and go further, to change and shape the future of the societies in which one lives through active participation in the sense of sustainable development. Through service-learning (SL), students take responsibility for their own sustainability. On the other hand, BIRBIZI is an innovative project of good practices for the reuse of whey and underused agro-industrial waste. This project is funded by the Government of Navarre (Spain).

In the framework of the BIRBIZI and NEMOS Projects, as the principal researcher and the main coordinator, respectively, I tried to combine the learning experience of the research project with the focus on zero residues in the food industry with the practical experience for the students in giving different solutions when they have to face real problems of i.e. a micro-industry. Embedding sustainability in the students ́curricula, as a key competence through SL will provoke an inner awakening to this need. Specific learning outcomes, teaching and assessment methods have yet to be designed for developing the transversal skills needed to address the very complex problems posed by the sustainability challenge. From the Public University of Navarre (UPNA) side, we made some progress on the validation instruments. For instance, in the topic "Innovation in food products", surveys were conducted among the students to assess their experiences in a reflective way. Two surveys were carried out: One, in the academic year 2022, with the traditional teaching model, and the other one in the academic year, 2023, which includes the sustainability aspects through SL. The result of the comparison showed that the students got better grades and also they were more motivated with the dynamic and more participatory approach of the NEMOS and BIRBIZI projects than the traditional teaching way. It would be good to standardise the reflective process as a key underpinning to assessment of the SL projects.

In conclusion, the students will be more prepared for the demands of their professional future. They will be more aware of the importance of focusing their profession from a global perspective, with diverse elements such as social, economic and environmental sustainability, under the lens of SL and with a strong commitment with society.

Keywords:

Educational model, reflective process, traditional teaching.