Founded in 1993, Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) is one of the oldest and leading private universities in Bangladesh where academic excellence is a tradition, teaching a passion and lifelong learning a habit. IUB currently has more than 9,800 undergraduate and graduate students and over 13,700 alumni. The students of IUB experience an exciting academic life with copious opportunities to explore and nurture their innate talent.
Live in Field Experience (LFE) is a signature course of IUB. It allows IUB students, most of whom come from urban settings, to have an immersive experience of everyday life in rural Bangladesh. Unique in Bangladesh, the overarching idea, which owes its roots to some of the leading social thinkers of this region, is to bridge the gap in knowledge that an urban student has about their rural counterparts. As part of the LFE, which is a mandatory course, small groups of students (usually 5-10, mix of male and female, and English and Bangla medium backgrounds) spend a certain amount of time at different locations in Bangladesh and experience life in the fields.
IUB wins ERASMUS Grant to advance climate education and green skills
10/05/2024
A pioneering multi-country consortium comprising Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and the University of Heidelberg in Germany, has been awarded the prestigious ERASMUS grant for capacity building in higher education for "Adapting Climate Change Education, Skills and Sustainability for Advancing Locally-Led Solutions" - ACCESS4ALL.
The project officially commenced on November 1, 2023, and is set to unfold over a two-year period. The initiative aims to co-design and co-develop innovative, practice-based short courses on climate change education and green skills in order to advance contextualized knowledge and locally-led solutions.
K Ayaz Rabbani, Ph.D, Head of IUB’s Department of Environmental Science and Management and the university’s point of contact for the project, said: “ACCESS4ALL seeks to address climate change education and sustainability in Bangladesh to prevent vulnerability to the impacts of climate change due to the country’s deltaic nature. The project takes a unique approach by tapping into indigenous knowledge and proven techniques from local communities.”
The key activities include on-the-ground research to identify green skills, organizing field events to engage stakeholders, and creating a portal for knowledge dissemination. To engage with local communities and raise awareness about climate change, the project plans to conduct roundtable discussions and conferences, building on initial discussions held at a pre-project conference at ULAB. The main action is set to begin in the field, where real data will be extracted and processed. The anticipated outcome comprises publications, in-depth stakeholder engagements, and the creation of a Green Hub - an online portal that will make knowledge on locally-led adaptation and green skills accessible.
As IUB, along with BRAC, ULAB, Maastricht University, and the University of Heidelberg, embarks on the "ACCESS4ALL" project, the consortium of universities continues to play a pivotal role in advancing climate change education, fostering sustainability, and creating locally-led solutions to address the challenges posed by a changing climate.
This marks the third grant received by IUB’s Department of Environment Science and Management in the past few years. This achievement follows the recent grants for the COLOCAL and RISK-E-SCAPE projects, solidifying IUB's commitment to advancing research and academic initiatives