Greek summer school CBCD

Education Committee (SCB-Europe): what we do
Education is at the heart of the mission of the Society for Conservation Biology. It SCB has always recognized the importance of education to conservation for inspiring future generations, creating a scientifically literate public, maintaining professional skills through advanced degrees and continuing education, and enriching both personal and professional lives through increased appreciation of nature. As such the education committee seeks ways of promoting the science and teaching of conservation biology to as wide an audience as possible.

The SCB has a number of regional educational committees. The European section currently consists of members from Italy, Greece, Germany, Malta and the UK. This team is leading on a number of initiatives, which include:

• The development of an education strategy for undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education.
• Develop and launch European educational initiatives which address the regions need for undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education capacity.
• Create continuing-education and professional-development opportunities for conservation scientists and practitioners at European meetings.
• Develop and build partnerships with selected European organizations to enhance educational opportunities.

An example of one such initiative is the European summer schools initiative. These provide opportunities for undergraduates from relevant courses throughout Europe to be introduced to conservation science. These meetings are organized and taught by members of the education committee who also seek funding and collaboration from a range of organizations to support the work.

Another example of work currently being undertaken is to provide guidance on the university curricula. This work is in two parts; the fist part is to produce a sound comparison of university curricula at masters level form institutions throughout Europe. These is a challenging task but one which will enable potential students to compare and contrast a range of curricula and choose one that best fits their purpose and interests. The second task is to address the content of conservation biology qualifications and provide guidance on the required elements of a conservation biology curriculum. Clearly this has to be linked to the broad requirements and skills of a professional conservation biologist.

Such tasks require an enormous commitment form those people involve in the committee. As such we always welcome enquiries from those people with the experience and skills to contribute to the education committee, anybody interested should contact Vassiliki Kati (Chair of EC) ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) in the first instance.