Abstract:

Soil bioengineering is a discipline that combines technology biology, and sociology making use of plants and plant communities to help protect and develop land uses and infrastructures, and contribute to landscape development, particular in the domain of slope stability and erosion control. These techniques rely on biological knowledge to build geotechnical and hydraulic structures and to secure unstable slopes and banks. Whole plants or their parts are used as construction materials to secure unstable sites, in combination with other (dead) construction material. Thus, soil bioengineering does not replace traditional hydraulic or geotechnical engineering (e.g. geotextiles, or concrete blocks), but complements and improves other technical engineering methods. Unlike traditional engineering methods and approaches, soil and water bioengineering make allowance for the environmental and ecological approach at the design and construction stages.
The promotion and greater adoption of soil bioengineering in the Mediterranean ecoregion is the main aim of the Erasmus + ECOMED project. This aim was achieved by generating sector-specific theoretical and practical materials and tools essential for the specialization process and enhancement of this sector in the region through specialized training. ECOMED already covered this lack developing training courses, a collection of analysed case studies and a plant database for the Mediterranean region, along with hazard assessment methods and effective selection of methods specific to the Mediterranean environment.

Objectives and methodology:
- Generate a specific theoretical-practical learning programme, essential for the process of specialization of the soil and water Mediterranean bioengineering sector.
- Develop learning modules adapted to the planning, design and construction of bioengineering techniques in the Mediterranean environment, including the selection and analysis of a representative sample of bioengineering works in the Mediterranean, over slope, fluvial and coastal scenarios, as well as, the development of a database of plants with adequate biotechnical properties for bioengineering works.
- Develop a virtual learning platform that facilitates experimental learning and assessment constructively aligned with learning objectives

Results:
A total of six learning modules were developed that were submitted to an internal and external quality evaluation. The external evaluation was carried out by a group of experts in bioengineering working all over Europe. These six learning modules plus the database of plants and a set of twenty-one case studies are included in a virtual learning platform and soon to be open online, for the implementation of a specialized training for the soil and water bioengineering sector in the Mediterranean environment.

Acknowledgement:
This work has been supported by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), through ECOMED project (575796-EPP-1-2016-1-ES-EPPKA2-KA) and ECOSTAR project (562358-EPP-1-2015-1-ITEPPKA2-KA).

Keywords:

e-learning, training, water, soil, Mediterranean, bioengineering.