TOWARDS A MULTICULTURAL AND GLOBAL EDUCATION VIA INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION: BRITISH CHEMISTS WORKING WITH SPANISH CHEMICAL ENGINEERS ON NEW BIO-REFINERY CONCEPTS

This pioneering activity led by the University of York (UK) and the University of Zaragoza (Spain) has connected Chemistry students with Chemical Engineering students from the former and the latter University, respectively, to work together on the design and development of new bio-refinery concepts. In particular, students worked in pairs (one student from each University) to make a poster and two flash presentations (one in English and other in Spanish) covering the following areas: citric waste valorisation, crude glycerol upgrading, marine plastics pollution remediation and spent cooking/automotive oil valorisation. For this purpose, students were exchanging e-mails, arranging and having virtual `Skype' meetings as well as posting their works on social media over six weeks. These activities helped students to consider entire systems in order to solve a problem where there are interdependencies and may be dynamic in nature. By taking this systems thinking approach, this pioneering activity has helped the students transition from a reductionist understanding of green chemistry, sustainable chemical engineering and related areas to a holistic deep understanding of a biorefinery concept, which is more integrated. In addition, the results also suggested that working in international pairs increased students' awareness about the existence of intrinsic sociocultural differences between them, largely related to language and culture. In particular, Spanish students had to overcome a language barrier, as they are non-native English speakers; while British students realised that they had to adapt/moderate their language when talking to non-native English speakers, avoiding the use of dialect and slowing down their speech during the meetings. Furthermore, students realised that collaborative work is not done in the same manner all around the world, a fact that was clearly evidenced when it came to the division of labour and arranging meetings. The assessment of the posters and presentations revealed that most of the students did great work; the posters were not only extraordinarily well written, but also innovative and eye-catching. The study and careful evaluation of the surveys conducted pointed out that the integration between Chemistry and Chemical Engineering helped students to be mindful about how a problem can be solved from different, but complementary perspectives, thus promoting peer-learning and increasing students' motivation. Overall, all the students were very receptive to work with partners from a foreign institution and they found this experience challenging and exciting. Hence, as this activity can be applied to many educational settings, we believe that this pedagogical project clearly contributes towards the development of a global and multicultural education, which may boost the sociocultural and co-operative skills of the students of the present and professionals of the future.