PBL South Asia

PBL South Asia develops best practices in problem-based education as a joint initiative between ten universities that are located in Finland, India, Nepal, Bhutan, the Netherlands and Lithuania.

The project “Strengthening problem-based learning in South Asian Universities” involves ten different universities, from six different countries: Finland, India, Nepal, Bhutan, the Netherlands and Lithuania. The partner universities will jointly pilot multidisciplinary project courses in South Asian countries. Each year, the project will include three sustainable development challenges selected by the South Asian universities and arising from the needs of surrounding communities. Through the case pilots, teacher training workshops and a methods development platform, the universities will each explore ways to strengthen problem-based learning (PBL) for sustainable development in their curricula.

 The project aims to promote student learning and strengthen university networks to tackle complex societal, economic and environmental challenges. In addition to the technical knowledge related to individual cases, the project aims to build partnership skills and working methods that are sensitive to the interests and requirements of the local environment and communities. 

Students will deal with concrete development problems in peer groups and learn to operate in a multicultural environment. Faculty, on the other hand, will further develop existing teaching methods to build much needed international practice in problem-based teaching models that support local communities. The student projects will involve other actors, such as non-governmental organisations, businesses and local authorities. PBL-South Asia will perform as a catalyser to motivate a new generation of students in creative learning, and to build linkages between university education and the surrounding communities.