The Faculty of AgriSciences and the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology at MENDELU are coordinating an international project in the Amazon that contributes to biodiversity conservation, sustainable management, and improving quality of life. This is the first Erasmus+ project that directly addresses carbon footprint compensation through tree planting in project areas. The aim of the project is to link agriculture, forestry, ecology, ecotourism, education, and community development. The Ecuadorian Ministry of Education is also part of the consortium.
One of the main benefits of the project will be the development of educational modules for universities, vocational schools, and local communities in the fields of agroecology, agroforestry, and low-impact tourism. “The study materials will be in English and Spanish, with selected passages to be translated into the local languages of Shuar and Kichwa. In addition to a progressive approach to offsetting the carbon footprint of mobility within the project activities, other innovative aspects include, for example, cooperation between the university and local farmers to create business models within a hackathon, the unusual involvement of local communities in practical project workshops, and the search for multidisciplinary solutions to the problems caused by climate change in the area,” said project coordinator Michaela Menšíková from the Institute of Applied and Landscape Ecology at MENDELU.
The project should have a strong social impact thanks to the involvement of local communities and regional institutions, which will lead to the strengthening of sustainable development in the Amazon. “The land on which the educational workshops for students and local farmers will take place is owned by the local non-governmental organization Bosque Medicinal. The teaching modules will therefore be directly incorporated into on-site teaching, and their digital form will be available on the Moodle platform. The Bosque Medicinal land and selected locations in the Czech Republic will also be used during summer schools for carbon sequestration international activities—offsetting the carbon footprint of mobility by planting trees on project areas,” said Menšíková.
The prepared study materials should serve local universities in creating a syllabus for a master’s degree program in Ecuador focusing on agroecology and agroforestry. “We currently have six partners in Asia who have accredited the Master’s Program in Agroecology in accordance with our Agroecology study program. I believe that we will be 100% successful in this regard here as well. Our students will be part of a summer school to be held in Brno in 2026. The following year, another summer school will be held directly in Ecuador, where the participation of our students would be very desirable. However, for MENDELU students, participation will depend entirely on support from the university,” said Milada Šťastná, head of the Department of Applied and Landscape Ecology.
The project builds on MENDELU’s long-term activities in the Amazon, which have been carried out since 2019 as part of the United for Development of Amazon (UNIDA) consortium, which brings together Czech and Latin American universities. These activities include projects focused on ecotourism, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development.
In addition to Mendel University in Brno, the three-year project, which began in December 2025 and will run until 2028, involves the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education, Ecuador’s Universidad Del Azuay, Universidad Regional Amazonica Ikiam, and Universidad Estatal Amazonica, Fundacion Bosque Medicinal from Ecuador, the Spanish Universidad de Almeria, and the Czech Association for Agroforestry.