By Joy Crane
Dr Tatenda Mapeta explaining the FUTURE21 project.
Dr Tatenda Mapeto of the Department of Forestry in Nelson Mandela University’s Natural Resource Science and Management Cluster is leading Future21, the EU-funded project to reshape how universities prepare students for work in the sustainability-driven economy.
Future21: Multidisciplinary Socio-Ecological Education in South Africa for Sustainability sees seven organisations from South Africa, Finland and Norway collaborating to redesign teaching and learning methodologies around real-world socio-ecological challenges.
Reimagining education
It marks a significant shift toward embedding sustainability across disciplines and equipping graduates with the systems-thinking skills required to navigate complex environmental, economic, and social pressures.
Future21 focuses on integrating socio-ecological systems thinking into curricula, teaching methodologies and institutional practices. This includes developing new learning materials, revising existing modules and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration among staff and students.
Socio-economic challenges cannot be solved within a single discipline. “Climate change, food security, water scarcity and biodiversity loss are interconnected issues. Our teaching needs to reflect that interconnectedness”, Mapeto explains.
“We want to ensure that graduates are academically prepared and capable of working across disciplines to address complex sustainability challenges”.
Read the full story here – https://www.woodbizafrica.co.za/april-2026-issue-58/5/