The main purpose of the SAMAJ project is to firmly integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at IOE in all education and R&D activities by utilizing socio-economic, environmental and cultural potentials of Nepal. This has reciprocal validity and learning potential for NTNU, where the SGDs have become an important part of the university strategy plan 2018-2015.
SAMAJ will contribute to create synergies between higher education and society. Facilitating transdisciplinary education and R&D through stakeholder collaboration and implementing gender mainstreaming strategies on all project levels are actively pursued policies. Transdisciplinary education means developing methodologies for academia to collaborate directly with societal stakeholders.
Applying and refining methods such as co- design, contextual case studies and fieldwork within existing communities of practices will enhance dialogue, mutual learning and respect.
SAMAJ generates knowledge on SDGs at Master and PhD level in sustainable planning and design at IOE and NTNU through long-term student mobility, peer learning and online info hub. Results oftransdisciplinary education will enable students to plan and design solutions that are feasible, applicable and desirable for societal stakeholders and yield SDGs policy adaption.
Existing partnerships between IOE and NTNU have built a solid common ground for mutual education e.g. through the M.Sc. in Energy for Social Sustainable Development (MSESSD) http://msessd.ioe.edu.np/ a collaboration project with the Department of Design (ID). Both the Department of Architecture and Planning (IAP) and ID offer corresponding Master education in sustainable planning and design. Together with shared values and complementary expertise, this foundation creates an onset for successful conduction of SAMAJ.
