4.4 Cooperazione tra Università per la formazione in conservazione della biodiversità, sicurezza alimentare e sviluppo sostenibile

A PROGRAM IN HIGHER EDUCATION FOR FOOD SECURITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Carlo Semita - Università di Torino, Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca e di Cooperazione tecnico scientifica con i Paesi del Sahel e dell'Africa Occidentale (C.I.S.AO.)  (Elena Ferrero , Gabriella Trucchi, Angela Calvo - Università di Torino, C.I.S.AO.; Chantal Yvette Zoungrana Kaboré, Aboubacar Toguyeni - Laboratoire d'Etude et de Recherche des Ressources  Naturelles et des Sciences de l'Environnement de l'Université Polytechnique de Bobo Dioulasso (LERNSE/UPB) - Burkina Faso; Abdourahamane Balla, Alhassane Yenikoye - Centre Régional d’Enseignement Spécialisé en Agriculture (CRESA), Faculté d'Agronomie de l'Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey – Niger; Yacoub Idriss Halawlaw, Issa Youssouf - Institut Universitaire de Sciences et Techniques d'Abéché et Universitè de Ndjamena- Tchad)

The CISAO, interdepartmental centre of the University of Turin, in partnership with three Sahelian Institutions of the Higher Education, has submitted the project “Réseau des Universités Sahéliennes pour la Sécurité Alimentaire et la Durabilité Environnementale (RUSSADE)” to the EuropeAid-ACP-EU Cooperation Programme in higher education (EDULINK II). The overall objective of the project is to mobilize knowledge and know-how to fight hunger and poverty and to increase environmental care in a sustainable development perspective, improving life conditions of the population and reducing the gender gaps in employment access and in sharing knowledge. The specific objective is to enhance higher education systems through Master courses to give technical, scientific and methodological bases to the students, allowing them to manage natural resources and improve agriculture and food security. Programs are multidisciplinary and treat both challenges and difficulties of the agricultural development in Sahel with the purpose to enhance abilities in different strategic fields: livestock productions, food security and safety, environmental protection, sustainable and fair development. For these reasons the high level Master is planned with innovative multidisciplinary integrations, structured in a common early training followed by specialized education courses chosen among three options (animal and vegetal productions and environmental protection), to give to young people work opportunities in key sectors of their countries. To ensure mutual exchange and harmonization of expertise, it is necessary to establish an active network between the four involved universities, integrating theoretical, practical and experimental knowledge with special focus on local and regional issues. The target groups are the students of the Master: graduates in agronomy, biology, veterinary medicine, geography, geology, environment (or equivalent degree), local teachers, researchers and professionals.

FOSTERING “LITTLE GREEN GUARDS” THROUGH A COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE CONSERVATION EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR RURAL CHILDREN IN GUIZHOU, CHINA

Chia L. Tan - San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research (Yeqin Yang, Kefeng Niu, Weiyong Zhang - Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve Administration; Isidoro Riondato, Cristina Giacoma, Emilio Balletto, Marco Gamba – Università di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi)

San Diego Zoo Global (USA), Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve Administration (China), and the University of Torino (Italy) have partnered in a collaborative effort to promote environmental sustainability and biodiversity conservation in Guizhou, China. The objectives of the partnership are twofold: (i) train researchers and wildlife professionals using a multidisciplinary program that employs the latest methods and tools in order to deepen their understanding of wildlife and the environment, and (ii) foster positive attitudes and behavior toward wildlife in rural children through a creative education program called the Little Green Guards. A recent development of the education program is the Little Green Guards Club for children whose houses border nature reserves. During club meetings, staff of the three cooperating institutions and volunteers participated in teaching English and natural history lessons. Club activities included animal themed art projects, games, movies, and field trips designed to cultivate empathy for animals and appreciation for nature in these children. Evaluations conducted before and after implementation of the education program showed a significant increase in children’s knowledge of and affection for wildlife, and sometimes coincided with positive behavioral changes toward native species. Here we feature our collaborative effort in China as a model which can be adopted in other geographic regions where species and habitat conservation must become a top priority. We will discuss the role of Universities in critical assessment of previous experiences in order to enhance the effectiveness of cooperation with other development stakeholders (e.g. governmental and local authorities, civil society and NGOs, foundations and private companies, and local associations).

COOPERATION EXPERIENCES WITH HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION IN SOUTH AMERICA

Giancarlo Bounous – Università di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari (Paola Bonfante, Silvia Perotto - Università di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi; Gabriele L. Beccaro – Università di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari)

The University of Torino have many agreements with South America Higher Education Institutions and many different activities in the academic field, such as exchange of  master and PhD students, have been already carried on these last years. The topics of the cooperation regard biodiversity exploitation (including microbial diversity) and its active conservation, dissemination of rural innovations, especially oriented to generate new incomes, use and valorisation of local agro-biodiversity, innovative agronomic techniques.

Biodiversity is dramatically declining in many South America Regions, due to the on going lost of forest cover, especially into the Amazonas Region in Brazil and Bolivia. Since local economy is mainly based on natural resources exploitation, preserving forests and biodiversity is pivotal for the sustainable economic and human development of this Country.

The involvement in the projects carried on by UNITO in South America of excellence centers, universities and civil society is pivotal to strengthen their capacity to play their distinctive roles in this process of policy making to be able to address development needs, and to manage the research capacity and the professional skills to permit the contextualization of the development policies. Rural development, environmental and social sustainability, by providing staple food as well as promoting economic growth of the local communities, strictly linked with ecotourism resources, in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chile and other South American Countries will be the main topic of the paper. The cooperation will be carried out through existing and new collaborations with Institutions in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chili and in other South American Countries.

The University of Torino have many agreements with South America Higher Education Institutions and many different activities in the academic field, such as exchange of  master and PhD students, have been already carried on these last years. The topics of the cooperation regard biodiversity exploitation (including microbial diversity) and its active conservation, dissemination of rural innovations, especially oriented to generate new incomes, use and valorisation of local agro-biodiversity, innovative agronomic techniques.

Biodiversity is dramatically declining in many South America Regions, due to the on going lost of forest cover, especially into the Amazonas Region in Brazil and Bolivia. Since local economy is mainly based on natural resources exploitation, preserving forests and biodiversity is pivotal for the sustainable economic and human development of this Country.

The involvement in the projects carried on by UNITO in South America of excellence centers, universities and civil society is pivotal to strengthen their capacity to play their distinctive roles in this process of policy making to be able to address development needs, and to manage the research capacity and the professional skills to permit the contextualization of the development policies. Rural development, environmental and social sustainability, by providing staple food as well as promoting economic growth of the local communities, strictly linked with ecotourism resources, in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chile and other South American Countries will be the main topic of the paper. The cooperation will be carried out through existing and new collaborations with Institutions in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chili and in other South American Countries.

COOPERATION EXPERIENCES WITH HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION IN SOUTH AMERICA

Cristina Giacoma – Università di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi (Marco Gamba, Valeria Torti, Daniela Antonacci, Maria Chiara Paire - Università di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi; Ahmed Ouledi, Kamaliddine Afraitane - Université des Comores, Union des Comores; Hantanirina Rasamimanana -  Ecole Normale Supérieure de Antananarivo, République de Madagascar; Julien Randrianodiasana, Nicole Andriaholinirina - Faculté des Sciences, Université de Mahajanga, Mahajanga; Eustache Miasa - GRENE Université de Toamasina, République de Madagascar; Gabriele Beccaro, Giancarlo Bounous, Università di Torino, DiSAFA)

The University of Torino have partnered in collaborative efforts with Higher Education Institutions in Madagascar and Comoros Islands to conserve and protect biodiversity in this priority hotspot of the Indian Ocean. The actions involving the University of Torino and its partners aimed to: i) implement academic education curricula devoted to the study of biodiversity and sustainable development; ii) foster cooperative attitudes and cooperation activities of the HEIs;

iii) support endogenous sustainable development processes for food security in the projects target countries; iv) build a field station in order to facilitate student and researchers mobility; v) promote community based sustainable development; vi) increase the diversity in the partnership involving international and local ONG, local and national associations, professional organizations.

Activities in Madagascar started thanks to private funds of Zoological Parks (Parco Natura Viva of Verona) who supported the cooperation with the main Zoological Park in Madagascar. Then, cooperation with the local Universities started with the project SCORE (Supporting Cooperation for Research and Education). This project has been financed and implemented in the framework of the EDULINK Program (9th European Development Fund, Reference: EuropeAid/126851/D/ACT/Multi), with the objective of contributing to the improvement of academic quality in Malagasy and Comoros partner Universities and to the availability of skilled human resources in the field of Sustainable Biodiversity Management and Conservation. A second EU project B.I.R.D “BIODIVERSITY INTEGRATION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT” (Reference: FED/2009/217077) further enhanced professional training of the master students. This implemented the local action plans and supported the socioeconomic development of local communities. The main strategy was to start a research field station that acts as a multipurpose centre