Researchers from Eduardo Mondlane University Mozambique and UCD join forces on climate risk

26 Sep 2023

A team of researchers from Eduardo Mondlane University recently completed a visit to UCD as part of a two-way staff exchange between geographers at the universities.

In July, Dr Christine Bonnin and colleagues in the UCD School of Geography hosted the team from Mozambique concluding a series of exchanges between institutions that took place over three years. 

In 2020, UCD was awarded €97,400 in Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility funding by the Higher Education Authority, Ireland's Erasmus+ National Agency, to support the academic mobility of students and staff between the two institutions. 

The project was centred on teaching and training in geospatial technology and participatory action research for climate change applications to real world problems.

“Mozambique is one of Africa’s most vulnerable countries to climate risks, including floods, violent cyclones and drought. Yet, the impacts of climate change are geographically and socially unequal." said project lead, Dr Christine Bonnin from the UCD School of Geography.

"Groups in society who tend to be most vulnerable are often most acutely exposed to risks." she said. "In light of this, as well as the shared areas of expertise in geospatial technologies and participatory action research between our institutions, the partnership centres around climate change risk and resilience with a focus on vulnerable communities.”

During their visit to UCD, the team from Eduardo Mondlane University engaged in a range of teaching activities, sharing their extensive experience in the field of sustainability and climate risk with UCD undergraduate, masters and PhD students. Areas where UCD students were able to benefit from the experience of Mozambican geographers included disaster risk reduction, mangrove depletion and restoration, African geography and the application of geospatial technology to current sustainability challenges within Mozambique. 

The project also saw a group of 12 UCD teaching assistants travel to Maputo, Mozambique in May 2023, where they delivered a programme of seminars and workshops at their host institution, generating significant interest within the student and academic community. At the seminars, UCD staff shared their specific areas of expertise in areas including the use of remote sensing for seabed mapping and investigating urban heat, drone-related research applications, river systems typologies, nature-based solutions, and participatory and mental mapping while gaining experience of international teaching practice.

The UCD teaching team also had the opportunity to engage directly with the Irish Embassy in Maputo and played an active role in an EU Scholarships Fair hosted by Eduardo Mondlane.  

Eduardo Mondlane's Professor Inês Raimundo, co-project lead with Dr Christine Bonnin said;

"This Erasmus+ project has given students and teachers from both universities opportunities to experience first-hand the work going on outside of our own institutions in relation to climate resilience and the growing role of ICTs in this area. 

"A highlight was the arrival of a team of UCD teaching assistants to Eduardo Mondlane. The programme of lectures they delivered in critical research areas such as seabed studies, geopolitics, the use of drones for resource management and GIS and remote sensing opened up new perspectives for our students. 

"The project has more than fulfilled the ambitions we had in mind and we are already planning future collaborations to build on the energy and the positive work done!"

Summing up the project, Dr Bonnin said: “This Erasmus+ ICM project enabled staff and students in both our institutions to share knowledge, collaborate on research methods and build a whole new circle of international connections in the area of geospatial technology and participatory action research for climate change and sustainability teaching and research. This will have a lasting impact for our work.

"Overall, the experience has been transformative - not only because of the progress made at an academic level, but because taking part in this type of exchange really helps us to gain new perspectives and see the world through a different lens. There is enormous potential for our institutions to continue to build on our work together in these areas of shared interest and expertise, so I hope that this is just the beginning of our collaboration in this field.” 

Find out more about Erasmus+ ICM exchange 

• This project was funded under the Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility  funding programme (now known as Erasmus+ Key Action 171). 
• Erasmus+ Key Action 171 is an EU-funded programme that supports the academic mobility of students and staff between Europe and the rest of the world. 
• From 2015 to 2022, UCD obtained over €1.4 million in KA171 funding to support the academic mobility of 340 students and staff between Ireland and 32 partner countries worldwide. This call covers projects carried out between UCD and partners from third countries not associated with the Erasmus+ Programme in 12 defined regions (Regions 1-12).
• Find out more about Erasmus+ ICM at UCD. 

If you are interested in finding in applying for funding under this programme please contact erasmusicm@ucd.ie.

Image captions:

Top - Left to right: Cândida Bila and Professor Inês Raimundo of Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique and Dr Christine Bonnin (UCD) pictured at Howth Head. 

Centre - The team from Eduardo Mondlane University during their visit to UCD. Left - right: Cândida Bila, Filipe Mate, Berta Macamo and Inês Raimundo,