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MoXMo: European Multiculturalism and the Challenges of the Thau Basin

[] - Published on in Enhancing Your Education, Mobility, Erasmus+ Training Projects, CHARM-EU European University

About 60 students from the European alliance Charm-EU visited the Hérault region from April 15 to 26 to work together on solving environmental challenges directly related to the local area. It was an opportunity for them to put their learning into practice in a stimulating multicultural setting.

Did you say MoXMo? Behind this English acronym (Montpellier Cross-Thematic Mobility) lies an Erasmus+ student mobility program that falls under the BIP category ( Blended Intensive Program). These programs allow students enrolled at European universities to spend a short but intensive period abroad. In this specific case, the event took place as part of the international master’s program “Global Challenges for Sustainable Development, ” a joint degree offered by five member universities of the Charm-EU alliance (see box), including the University of Montpellier.

There was no doubt that the sixty or so young Europeans from universities in Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, and France were in for a change of scenery as they gathered to participate in this second edition of MoxMo, which took place from April 15 to 26 in the Hérault region. A key milestone in their education—which focuses on learning through problem-solving—this intensive student exchange program gave them the opportunity to work in international and interdisciplinary teams on environmental issues aligned with the challenges facing our region.

On the first day of MoXMo, we headed to the heights of Mont Saint-Clair in Sète to get a panoramic view of the Thau Lagoon.
The teaching staff at Charm-EU and professionals from the Thau Basin Joint Authority led a landscape analysis session for the students.
This is an opportunity to highlight the strengths of a region with a rich natural environment, but also to gain a clearer understanding of the challenges it faces.

Raise awareness of specific issues

Five of these challenges had been developed in advance by the faculty of the European master’s program in close collaboration with the Thau Basin Joint Authority (SMBT).“We’re taking advantage of the presence of students from the CHARM-EU program—who are English-speaking and come from several European countries—so they can offer us a different way of thinking and solutions we wouldn’t have thought of,” explains Alexandre Pennaneac’h, who leads the Blue Thau Lab, the SMBT’s regional collaborative innovation platform.

The task for these master’s students was to consider how to raise awareness and engage both civil society and the professional community in the concrete challenges facing the Thau Lagoon. Thus, the challenges addressed included agri-photovoltaics applied to shellfish farming, the use of AI for water analysis in the Thau Lagoon, eco-friendly walking trails, subsidized initiatives promoting environmental sustainability in agriculture and livestock farming, and food security…

The students were supervised by local professionals and teachers specializing in water, food, or health.
Each of the six challenges was led by a coordinator with in-depth knowledge of the local ecosystem.
The goal is to guide students on the questions they should ask and the people they should meet to address the issue.
To that end, they were divided into twelve multicultural groups.
Teamwork is an integral part of the teaching methods used in the European Master’s program in Global Challenges in Sustainable Development.
A way to give them a taste of the challenges they’ll face in their future careers.

© Superkut

Sixth and final challenge: a review of the development potential of the University of Marseille’s aquaponics training platform, located at the Mediterranean Coastal Environment Station (SMEL) in Sète. Aquaponics is a technique that allows water from aquaculture to be repurposed for other uses (vegetable farming, ornamental plants), thereby preventing waste and limiting pollution. “Students may have a much broader perspective than ours, which is often very technical, ” notes Claude Amiel, UM project manager at the SMEL.

From podcasts to interactive maps

It was in Balaruc-les-Bains, on the shores of the Thau Lagoon, that the students spent their first week. There, they met professionals working in key sectors of the region: fishing, viticulture, livestock farming, agriculture, oyster farming, tourism… Supervised by faculty members from the master’s program, the projects were developed under real-world conditions within teams composed of young people who were sometimes meeting for the first time and who, in another significant challenge, did not always speak French. The CPIE (Permanent Center for Environmental Initiatives) Thau Basin and members of the SMBT also contributed their expertise to a holistic approach that took into account the central role of environmental protection and the importance of communication among the region’s various stakeholders.

Students from Charm-EU met with numerous professionals in the Thau Basin region. © Superkut
Starting with the University of Montpellier’s aquaponics training facility, located at SMEL in Sète. © Superkut
An opportunity to learn about a farming technique that uses water from aquaculture. And to consider how to better market these products. © Superkut
They met Robin Verney, who grazes his sheep in the vineyards of the hinterland, near Saint-Pargoire, with the consent of local farmers.
At the Campaucels estate in Montagnac, winemaker Clément Bauguil (third from the left in the photo) explained how he, too, had come to collaborate with a goat farmer.
They also had the opportunity to speak with Michel Garcia, from Verger de Thau in Villeveyrac, who is also the chair of the local water commission.
Valérie Tabariès, an organic winemaker in Villeveyrac, gave a tour of the cellars at the Roquemale estate and answered questions.
In Marseillan, Claudia Azaïs spoke about her daily life as a female commercial fisherwoman and discussed the challenges of the profession.

During the second week, the young Europeans met with researchersfrom Icireward, the UNESCO water center, and visited various research sites while continuing to work on their challenges.“It’s a hands-on learning experience: students find themselves dealing with constraints they don’t face in the classroom but that they will certainly encounter in their future careers,” explains Valérie Borrell, a professor and researcher in Water Sciences at UM . “They come to tackle problems for which scientists don’t necessarily have the answers. Together, professors and students develop a methodology to identify potential solutions. It’s a more hands-on and authentic learning experience.”

This international collaborative project culminated in the presentation of the students’ work on Friday, May 26, before a jury composed of both educators and professionals. The proposed solutions ranged from podcasts and interactive maps to a WhatsApp group open to residents and the integration of educational art projects into the local landscape. The projects were highly appreciated by the jury members, particularly given the quality of the work produced in just two weeks in an area that was unfamiliar to most of these young people. They left with the feeling of having had a unique collaborative experience.“The professionals we worked with involved us in the entire thought process. They trusted our ideas and our methods, which was really great ,” say Ema and Nelli in unison—one Hungarian and the other Finnish, currently students in Montpellier . “Our team was particularly multicultural; every member of our team came from a different country. That really helped enrich our collaborative work.”

On the final day, the six groups presented the results of their challenge solutions to a panel of teachers and professionals.
The proposals ranged from podcasts to interactive maps, including a collaborative WhatsApp group and an art project.
A memorable experience for the 64 students in the European master’s program and a practical way for them to apply what they’ve learned.

© Superkut

A master's program with a European focus

The Charm-EU alliance of European universities was launched in 2019 as part of the Erasmus+ call for proposals for European universities. It brought together five partners under the coordination of the University of Barcelona, including: the University of Montpellier, Utrecht University (Germany), Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), and Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest (Hungary). A jointly developed master’s program was launched by these five universities in 2021.

Titled “Global Challenges for Sustainability,” this research-based, interdisciplinary program focuses on addressing real-world challenges aligned with societal issues by exploring three key themes: water, food, and health. Enrolled across all five universities, students follow the same curriculum at the same time, regardless of which campus they are on, thanks to a hybrid learning model that allows the teaching team to offer the most international experience possible.

Since its inception, five European universities have joined the Charm-EU alliance: Åbo Akademi University (Finland), the University of Würzburg (Germany), Ruhr-West University of Applied Sciences (Germany), and the University of Bergen (Norway). They will be part of the new, expanded master’s program, which is set to launch in September 2025 with a fourth and new specialization: energy and sustainable cities.

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