Mendel University in Brno is coordinating a new international project in the Amazon region aimed at protecting biodiversity, promoting sustainable land management and improving the quality of life of local communities. Led by the university’s Faculty of Agronomy and Faculty of Forestry and Wood Science, the initiative brings together partners from Europe and Latin America, and is the first Erasmus+ project to directly address the carbon footprint of international mobility through tree planting in project areas.
The project takes an interdisciplinary approach, linking agriculture, forestry, ecology, education, ecotourism and community development. A key partner in the consortium is the Ministry of Education of Ecuador, alongside several Ecuadorian and European universities and non-profit organisations.
One of the project’s central outcomes will be the development of educational modules focused on agroecology, agroforestry and low-impact tourism. These materials will be designed for use at universities, vocational schools and within local communities. The modules will be prepared in English and Spanish, with selected parts translated into the local Indigenous languages Shuar and Kichwa to ensure broader accessibility.
Beyond its educational focus, the project also introduces several innovative elements. These include offsetting the carbon footprint of international travel by planting trees directly in the project areas, cooperation between universities and local farmers to develop sustainable business models during hackathons, and the active involvement of local communities in practical workshops. The project also seeks multidisciplinary solutions to the impacts of climate change on the Amazon region.
The project envisages positive social impact through close collaboration with regional institutions and local communities. Educational workshops for students and farmers will take place on land owned by the Ecuadorian non-governmental organisation Bosque Medicinal, which will also serve as a site for long-term carbon sequestration. Digital versions of the educational modules will be made available through the Moodle platform, extending their reach beyond on-site teaching. Tree planting will take place both in Ecuador and at selected locations in the Czech Republic to offset emissions linked to summer schools and other international activities.
The newly developed study materials are intended to form the basis of a future master’s degree programme in agroecology and agroforestry at Ecuadorian universities. MENDELU already supports similar accredited programmes in Asia, and university representatives express confidence that a comparable programme can be successfully established in Ecuador. Students from Brno will take part in an international summer school hosted by MENDELU in 2026, followed by a second summer school in Ecuador the following year.
The project builds on MENDELU’s long-standing engagement in the Amazon, conducted since 2019 through the United for Development of Amazon (UNIDA) consortium, which connects Czech and Latin American universities. Previous initiatives under UNIDA have focused on ecotourism, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
The three-year project will run until 2028. Alongside Mendel University, partners include the Ministry of Education of Ecuador, Universidad del Azuay, Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam, Universidad Estatal Amazónica, Fundación Bosque Medicinal, the Universidad de Almería in Spain and the Czech Society for Agroforestry.
