Project designed to advance climate action, education outcomes, gender equality through education
Belmont University today announced the launch of a new global project entitled CO-CREATE: “Collaborative Opportunities for Climate Resilience, Empowerment and Transformation through Education.”
Funded by a $2 million grant by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Climate Action Partnership for Education (CAPE), CO-CREATE offers an innovative consortium of five partnering organizations that will generate new evidence for advancing climate action, education outcomes and gender equality. International partnering organizations joining Belmont’s team include Aga Khan Foundation (prime awardee), Creative Action Institute, Forum for African Women Educationalists and Restless Development.
CO-CREATE will create a new evidence-based, scalable model that can be used locally, nationally and globally to better support teachers, learners and civil society to assess, innovate and showcase new school- and community-based climate action solutions. The project aims to improve holistic learning outcomes and quality learning environments for disadvantaged girls and boys in Tanzania and inform the development of national and global curricula related to climate, education and gender by 2025.
Belmont’s CO-CREATE team is led by Dr. Shelby Garner, director of global health innovation, and Dr. Ben Ryan, professor of public health and global initiatives in the Thomas F. Frist Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont.
Garner said Belmont’s role in this project is critical. “This grant offers a unique opportunity for us to co-create across sectors internationally and at Belmont to address a problem of global significance,” she explained.
With Belmont's $254,000 portion of the grant, the team will work across disciplines and with partnering organizations to design the research methodology and analyze outcomes associated with the project. Additionally, Belmont’s Department of Educational Innovation will help the team design a hybrid course on the health impact of climate change and collaborate with Belmont’s Innovation Lab to design a digital scorecard to identify, prioritize and rank areas of action to improve climate learning outcomes.
This innovative project also offers an opportunity for Belmont graduate students to get involved. Two Belmont graduate students will be mentored through the Belmont University Inman College of Nursing Center for Nursing Innovation to serve as research fellows on the project, gaining insight and experiential learning as they contribute to global solutions to advance climate action, education outcomes and gender equality.
About the Belmont Team Leaders
Garner is known internationally for her research in building nurse and health system capacity globally through the adaptation, design and testing of innovative technologies such as simulation and mobile health applications to transform health education and improve patient care. Garner was also the project director on three USAID-funded projects to start centers of nursing and health system excellence in India.
Ryan is an international expert in the fields of public health, disaster risk reduction and community resilience. This includes leading and supporting activities in these fields across the Americas, Europe, and Indo-Pacific. Dr. Ryan’s work has been funded by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Science Foundation.
Additionally, Dr. Rachael Flynn, associate professor in Belmont’s College of Education, will add valuable expertise to the project, leveraging her knowledge in literacy education and using children’s literature across the curriculum to promote life-long learning.