Una Europa Virtual Exchanges for Sustainability (UnaVEx)
Holly Hoch, J.D., UZH PhD candidate, and lecturer at the University of Zurich Law Faculty, is working on a 3-year ERASMUS+ project (2024—2027) funded by the European Union where higher education institutions from Europe and Sub-Sahara Africa co-design and implement transversal and intercultural virtual exchange on the topic of sustainability (funded by the European Union, Horizon 2020), as part of the Una Europa Virtual Exchanges for Sustainability (UnaVEx). The UnaVEx is an international, interdisciplinary, and intercultural online bridge betwee European and African students for sustainability education. UnaVEx is a project coordinated by the University of Helsinki and other leading research-intensive universities in Europe and Africa: University of Bologna, KU Leuven, University of Johannesburg, University of Nairobi, and University of Kinshasa. UnaVEx offers accessible, affordable, and sustainable international online student exchange opportunities to all students interested in Global Sustainability education. The first UnaVEx virtual exchange was organized in Spring 2025. In total, five iterations of the virtual exchange will be organized in 2025-2027. UnaVEx aims to increase environmental awareness, knowledge of the green transition, and skills in the sustainability transformation of young generations and societies both in Europe and Africa. The virtual exchange looks at sustainability from economic, socio-cultural, technological, political, legal, and scientific perspectives.
The course requires a research element whereby student groups plan a "sustainability action" to draft a reflection report on at the end of the course. The action itself is broad: either attempting to implement a sustainability task, event, or conducting information gathering surrounding cultural or social knowledge on sustainability. Students exchange cross-cultural findings and develop a summary of their learnings and reflections for the final report.
More information on the course and project can be found at the UnaVEx link. (Image from UnaVEx)