The need for transnational networks and transdisciplinary education for sustainable development in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in the Global South

Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

Authors

  • Denise Margaret Matias
  • Mukona Kone
  • Paulina G. Karim
  • Diana San Jose
  • Bryan Joel Mariano
  • Andrea Monica Ortiz
  • Pradeep K. Dubey
  • Gino Garcia

As learning sites for sustainable development, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserves (BRs) are unique sites that promote human–nature interactions in biodiversity conservation. BRs are part of a World Network of BRs, which provide opportunities for transnational collaborations. With the 50th anniversary of UNESCO's Man and Biosphere Programme, we systematically analyzed literature on BRs in the Global South and assessed whether transnational connections emerged from the network especially in fulfilling the shared goal of being learning sites for sustainable development. We found little evidence of transnational networking between BRs in the Global South. While there are nonformal environmental education initiatives in BRs, there is a lack of reported transdisciplinary approaches and formal education about BRs in BRs. Furthermore, Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) is rarely integrated into initiatives. Equitable and inclusive partnerships, integration of ILK, and co-production of knowledge could be enabling factors for transdisciplinary education.

Original languageEnglish
Article number101553
JournalCurrent Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
Volume75
Number of pages5
ISSN1877-3435
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 08.2025
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Authors

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Money, not protection. Assisted return programmes and the timing of future harm in refugee status determination
  2. Progress and challenge for magnesium alloys as biomaterials
  3. A Decision Support System for Crew Rostering in Public Transit
  4. Entangled Identities
  5. Mindfulness as self-confirmation? An exploratory intervention study on potentials and limitations of mindfulness-based interventions in the context of environmental and sustainability education
  6. Explorations in social spaces
  7. Transgressive Use of Technology
  8. A switching model predictive control for overcoming a hysteresis effect in a hybrid actuator for camless internal combustion engines
  9. Putting inquiry-based learning into practice
  10. Organizing for innovation through accelerators: An introduction
  11. Sustainability in Business: Integrated Management of Value Creation and Disvalue Mitigation
  12. Pathways towards sustainable and just futures with and for disabled populations
  13. Who wants to take an intelligence test? Personality and achievement motivation in the context of ability testing
  14. Diversity and specificity of host-natural enemy interactions in an urban-rural interface
  15. CSR communication on corporate websites compared across continents
  16. A new and benign hegemon on the horizon?
  17. High temperature deformation mechanisms and processing map for hot working of cast-homogenized Mg-3Sn-2Ca alloy
  18. Incremental analysis of springback and kinematic hardening by the variation of tension during deep drawing
  19. Impact of prescribed burning on the nutrient balance of heathlands with particular reference to nitrogen and phosphorus
  20. Advancing Decision-Visualization Environments—Empirically informed Design Recommendations
  21. A single PD plus gravity compensation control for global asymptotic regulation of robot manipulators with actuator constraints
  22. Enhancing SME Production Efficiency
  23. Augmented space
  24. Credit Constraints, Foreign Ownership, and Foreign Takeovers in Germany
  25. Weisheit
  26. Notting Hill Gate 3 Basic
  27. Precipitation Kinetics of AA6082: An Experimental and Numerical Investigation
  28. Implementation intentions and the willful pursuit of prosocial goals in negotiations
  29. Developing European conservation and mitigation tools for pollination services: approaches of the STEP (Status and Trends of European Pollinators) project
  30. Insights into the accuracy of social scientists’ forecasts of societal change
  31. Self-regulated learning and self assessment in online mathematics bridging courses
  32. Glen Mills Schools
  33. Implications of Material Flow Cost Accounting for Life Cycle Engineering
  34. Unpacking the Personal Initiative-Performance Relationship
  35. EEG 2014
  36. A Motion-Sensorless Control for Intake Valves in Combustion Engines

Press / Media

  1. Ice binds workpieces