Restoring Ecosystems in Madagascar and Mozambique: Collaborative Training of Future Experts on Global Climate and Biodiversity Crises

In response to the accelerating climate change and socio-ecological crises, an unprecedented political will has emerged to engage in ecological restoration (ER) to repair damaged and degraded landscapes. International pledges, including the UN’s Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) and the Bonn declaration have set targets to restore vast areas of degraded land across the world. In Madagascar and Mozambique, the potential for ER is high with committed governments and international funding increasingly targeted to ER.

Despite the potential, initial research suggests that many ER efforts may worsen climate change-induced vulnerabilities, social precarities, and ecological conditions. Research has only started to emerge on the impact of the global ER pledges and flows of capital from the global North to the South on the communities where the projects are implemented. Skillful local professionals are the link needed for the planning and implementation of the ER activities between the global funding and communities at ER sites. Thus, there is a need to educate such future experts in Madagascar and Mozambique to face the multifaceted challenges of ER, with state of the art knowledge in multidisciplinary ER research.

REMM aims to address this gap through research and educational collaboration among Finland, Madagascar and Mozambique. It is a joint initiative of the University of Helsinki, Hanken School of Economics, University of
Antananarivo (UoA, Madagascar) and Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM, Mozambique). The main objectives are to support international collaboration between partner institutions and to enhance the holistic teaching of ER.

Project activities focus on:
1. Enhancing internationalization and strengthening long-term partnerships between the partner institutions through student and staff mobilities and joint education and research.

2. Developing ER study content and piloting hybrid intensive courses at UoA and UEM focusing particularly on the identified gaps:
a) enhancing holistic ER expertise through multidisciplinary teaching
b) focusing on practical application of theoretical knowledge through case studies and field visits

3. Developing interdisciplinary dialogue and study content on ER by organizing a PhD seminar at Hanken
involving experts on the financial aspects of sustainability management, biodiversity and ER (Hanken) and socio-ecological and political aspects of ER (UoA, UEM, UH).

The fundamental challenge that REMM addresses is the existential risk caused by biodiversity decline and climate change. By promoting holistic, practise-oriented ER research and education in Madagascar and
Mozambique and the internationalization between universities’ staff and students, the project addresses local educational needs, enhances the holistic understanding of the ER practice, and promotes the more efficient
and sustainable use of the ER funding from Finland and elsewhere from the global North.