The first mobility week in Finland focused on Sustainable Seas

A group of eight students and six lecturers gathered in May 2023 in Turku, Finland, with the purpose of deepening their multicultural and multidisciplinary knowledge on sustainable sea environments and environmental education. This was the first short-term mobility arranged by the PEBES project and it was coordinated by the University of Turku (UTU).

Delving into the theme had begun already in February and continued through five online sessions, where experts had presented to us important perspectives to the Baltic Sea and its surroundings, such as its special ecosystem features, food production and tourism. The students, two from each partner university, had teamed-up online and they had been assigned a practical task to start planning environmental education activities for an elementary school class.

These activities, supervised by Henna Rouhiainen (UTU), took place in the island of Seili which was the primary target destination of the mobility week. School kids from Merituuli elementary school, who were enjoying an excursion week on the island, got to study tiny sea animals, demonstrate a oil-spill in the sea water laboratory, and create environmental awareness posters under the guidance of PEBES students.

Dr Arinola Adefila from Staffordshire University led workshops throughout the mobility week where we worked on Cultural Maps in order to connect what we knew and had experienced to a wider picture, under the frameworks of sustainability pedagogies and transformative learning. During the joint discussions, Pedagogies of Hope popped up multiple times.

In addition to studying and working, the guests enjoyed the warmth and greenness of Turku and its archipelago, took a bath in sauna, and explored nature trails in Seili. Self-made blueberry ice-cream as well as course diplomas were a great ending for the intensive week spent together.