The Higher Education Reform Experts (HERE) – Erasmus+ Office in Lebanon opened its two-day webinar on 23-24 September 2025 entitled: “Universities as Catalysts for Sustainable Development: Reimagining Higher Education through SDG 4,” with Dr. Mantoura Nakad, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, invited as a featured panelist. The webinar brought together equally leading European experts including keynote speakers Professor Arjen Wals and Dr. Kalterina Shulla, who provided inspirational presentations, setting the stage for the panel discussions.

Dr. Nakad took part in the session “Transforming the Core: Embedding Sustainability in Academic Curricula” on 23 September 2025, contributing expert insights on how universities can meaningfully integrate sustainability across programs and teaching methodologies, with a particular emphasis on advancing SDG4: Quality of Education. The latter is based on her PhD topic, relevant research disseminations, and experience in developing the new core course on sustainability for engineers in 2023 for the Faculty of Engineering.

Dr. Nakad addressed key questions on how universities can embed sustainability and education for sustainable development (ESD) competencies across disciplines beyond stand-alone courses, apply evidence-based curriculum design and innovative pedagogies, and engage students as active co-creators in shaping sustainability-focused learning. This in turn has provided evidence on the University of Balamand active role in integrating sustainability in higher education.

Please click here for the webinar and its outcome.