News

The Center for University Teaching (ZHL) at the University of Bayreuth recently released a video interview with Bethelhem Gashaw Fetene, a student in the M.Sc. Environment, Climate Change & Health program. The interview explores how project-based learning enables students to transform research into practical outputs for real-world audiences, developing skills in research synthesis, clear communication, ethical attribution, user-centered design, and collaborative delivery.

Bethelhem participated in the Planetary Health Summer School in Bayreuth, where she developed and presented her project work. Following her presentation at the summer school, ZHL invited her to share her experience on camera as part of their ongoing documentation of effective teaching methods. The interview will be published on ZHL's YouTube channel and used in university seminars on project-based pedagogy.

As a case study, Bethelhem presented Wisdom Fields, a mobile-first prototype that makes documented Traditional and Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (TEK) accessible through concise, credited "how-to" cards. Users select a challenge area Soil, Water, Biodiversity, or Climate) and a region to receive actionable guidance, including rationale, step-by-step instructions, cautions, source attribution, and an implementation checklist. The concept prioritizes respect for knowledge holders, plain-language presentation, and usability testing to ensure advice is immediately applicable rather than purely informational.

The project demonstrates how environmental health students can bridge the gap between academic research and community-facing tools, making specialized knowledge accessible to practitioners, land managers, and communities seeking evidence-based traditional approaches to environmental challenges.

The video will be incorporated into ZHL seminars as an example of how media projects can bridge academic scholarship and practical application while building transferable competencies.

Watch the video on YouTube.