Discover new virtual courses in the UniPID 2026-2027 offering!

While we are closing the current academic year, the preparations for the next academic year are already well underway. The 2026-2027 academic year is shaping up to be another inspiring one for UniPID’s Virtual Studies Programme, and we are excited to introduce a new selection of online courses! These courses invite students to explore pressing global challenges from politics of forests to history of colonization.

The UniPID Virtual Studies Programme continues to offer flexible, interdisciplinary learning opportunities that emphasize global responsibility and sustainable development. By participating in these courses, students gain access to internationally co-created and co-coordinated learning experiences, engage with diverse Global South perspectives, and benefit from opportunities for cross-cultural collaboration and having flexible online learning opportunities. Each course is designed to encourage critical thinking and deepen understanding of today’s most pressing global challenges, as well as the pathways toward addressing them.

Like all UniPID courses, also the new offerings are free of charge for students at member universities, fully online, and designed to foster international academic knowledge-exchange.’

The new courses for the 2026-2027 academic year include:

• Critical and multispecies approaches to environmental education
  This course aims to deepen students’ understanding of the foundations, approaches, and ethical dimensions of environmental education in both formal and informal contexts. Students will critically explore diverse educational frameworks related to sustainability, including place-responsive and eco-justice education, while examining socio-political issues, climate change, and multispecies perspectives.

• Geography and Development
  This course delves into key contemporary issues in development geography, examining the complex and evolving nexus between and within the Global South and North.

• Global Education Development
  In this course, students gain an understanding of global education development in the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including key policies, trends, challenges and forms of international cooperation. The course will also introduce decolonial perspectives to critically review global education development.

• History of Colonization and Decolonization in (Central) Africa
  This course provides a critical exploration of Africa’s pre-colonial past, the emergence of colonial borders, and the complex histories of colonization and decolonization in Central Africa. Students will examine these processes within their broader political, economic, social and ideological context.

• Practical and Historical Approaches to Doing Research with Hard-to-reach Communities
  This course equips students with tools and perspectives for engaging with communities that are hard to reach, underrepresented or otherwise living in challenging contexts (such as areas affected by environmental crises, epidemics, or political instability).

• Unpacking Inequality in the Global Forest Sector – Learning from the Congo Basin (MOOC)
  This course introduces students to key debates in global development and sustainability through the lens of forest and forest-dependent communities. With a focus on the Congo Basin, the course explores inequality as a central issue in contemporary development research.

In addition to Virtual Courses, UniPID offers a field course coordinated by Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI) at the University of Helsinki:

• Field Course on Tropical Forests and Agroforests
  This course equips students with practical skills in tropical forest and agroforest management, and foster interdisciplinary understanding of ecological, socio-economic, and land-use challenges in tropical landscapes. Location: Sri Lanka, Thailand or Laos (TBC).

The catalogue is currently being updated – stay informed by following UniPID on social media, visiting our website and subscribing to our mailing list. More details, including the registration dates will be announced soon!

Get ready to be part of the international learning community during the next academic year with UniPID!

Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash.