AURORA (Sustainable AgricUltuRe and sOcial-ecological systems approaches in higheR education in the MENA region) is a subject-related partnership in higher education between University of Kassel, Germany; INRGREF, IRESA and ESA Mograne, Tunisia; American University of Beirut, Lebanon; and IAV Hassan-II, Rabat, Morocco. The project will run until 2024, is financed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) through the program “subject-specific partnerships in higher education” and is affiliated with the Global Partnership Network. it is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
The aim of the AURORA project is to anchor the analysis of social-ecological systems (SES) of agri-environmental systems in the curricula of universities in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa). Agricultural production systems in this region face numerous challenges in terms of the use of natural resources and socio-economic conditions, which can best be analysed through complex explanatory approaches. SES analysis offers an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to understand these problem areas and thus contribute to the provision of solutions. The AURORA partners have set themselves the goal of further develop approaches to the SES analysis, adapting them regionally and anchoring them in the corresponding academic curricula.
Activities in the scope of the project include (virtual) workshops, curriculum development, and, once the global pandemic allows safe travels, in-person exchange, field trips, and summer schools. As a first outreach activity, the American University of Beirut and University of Kassel present a webinar series.
Season 1:
- Webinar #1 | Socio-ecological Metabolisms and Sustainable Governance of Mediterranean Food Systems. Inaugural session of the AURORA Webinar Series
- Webinar #2 | Mediterranean Food Systems in Conflict and Crisis. Prof. Rami Zurayk.
- Webinar #3 | One Water for Food Security in the MENA Region. Dr. Akiça Bahri.
- Webinar #4 | Natural Resource Management in Semi-arid Lands of the MENA region, and Possibilities to Build on Traditional Knowledge and Agroecology. Prof. Si Bennasseur Alaoui.
- Webinar #5 | The Politics of Water Scarcity in Jordan. Dr. Hussam Hussein.
- Webinar #6 | Status and Challenges of Organic Agriculture and Agroecology in Tunisia. Prof.Dr. Bouthaina Al Mohandes
- Webinar #7 | Glyphosate: indirect effects on health via the microbiome. Prof. Dr. Maria Renate Finckh
The season 2 of the AURORA webinar series dealing with food security in the MENA region, its first webinar will take place on 16th November, you can register here:
https://uni-kassel.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYld–gpzkpGNSBfbZXBaGb5CoWza5qtqXH
All the recording can be found on his youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0UWipebY-4um7zTg6xEQcQ/videos
