Leading experts from different parts of the world are currently meeting at the First Technical University, Ibadan, towards deepening scholarship on sustainable environmental management.
Among them are the Pioneer Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Ayobami Salami; Professor Jurgen Runge from Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany; and Professor Kankoenandja Laidja from the University of Kara, Togo.
With Tech-U’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Adesola Ajayi, as host, the workshop centres on ‘Harmonising the Curriculum on the International Master in Sustainable Environmental Management (IMSEM) in Togo and Nigeria. It is holding on the platform of the International SDG Network Promoting Higher Education Research in Togo and Nigeria (DAAD-TONI Project).
According to Salami, it is a tripartite partnership between the First Technical University, Ibadan (with Institute for Sustainable Development as the host academic unit in Nigeria); Goethe University, Frankfurt (with the Institute of Physical Geography and the ZIAF as the coordinating centre); and the University of Kara.
On the importance of the workshop, Salami said, “The main focus of this project is capacity building for sustainable development through north-south and south-south collaboration among higher institutions of learning in Africa and Europe. Since the inception of this project in April/May 2023, there has been a series of activities such as north-south and south-south discussions, curriculum development and academic exchanges. Noteworthy are a three-day kick-off workshop at the University of Kara, Togo in May, 2023 and internship by German students in Togo and Nigeria in October/November, 2023. Later this year, three students each from Tech-U and Kara will undertake a two-month internship in Germany, and in 2025, there will be opportunity for six students of Tech-U to undertake a four-week visit to Kara while six students from Kara will also come to Tech-U for a duration of 1 month.”
He added that it was crucial to build capacity for sustainable development because “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a universal call to action for the purpose of ending poverty, protecting the planet and creating assurance of peace and prosperity for people around the world. SDGs address several issues related to education, environmental deterioration, health and climate change, among others. Recently, it was reported that the global impact of crises such as wars, insecurities, high level of inequalities and global pandemic have caused setbacks and hindrances to the progress of achieving the SDGs by 2030. Limited capacity to achieve SDGs has further aggravated the situation in the global south, particularly in sub-Saharan African countries.
“The urgent actions for rescuing people and sustaining the planet can only be achieved by developing indigenous capacity through exchange of knowledge and sharing of experiences across the world. SDGs are globally shared visions, which cannot be achieved by an individual country. Therefore, collaborations within global south and across global north are key to achieving SDGs within a reasonable timeframe.
“In this context, this project, being a tripartite partnership between the First Technical University, Ibadan (with Institute for Sustainable Development- I4SD as the host academic unit in Nigeria), Goethe University, Frankfurt (with the Institute of Physical Geography and the ZIAF as the coordinating centre), and the University of Kara, Togo, is aimed at synergizing knowledge and experiences to address specific SDGs. The approach is to evolve a framework that positively impacts higher education in Nigeria, Togo and Germany. The incorporation of sustainability practices and principles in the national higher education curriculum, regardless of the discipline, and development of curricula in different fields of sustainable development, will provide the needed consciousness in the population and the critical mass of local expertise required for generation of knowledge, advocacy, policy formulation and development as well as implementation of action plans geared towards expediting achievement of
