A concept for international societally relevant microbiology education and microbiology knowledge promulgation in society

Microbial Biotechnology. 2024;17:e14456. | 1 of 39 https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/mbt2 EDITORIAL A concept for international societally relevant microbiology education and microbiology knowledge promulgation in society Executive summary: Microbes are all pervasive in their distribution and influence on the functioning and wellbeing of humans, life in general and the planet. Microbiallybased technologies contribute hugely to the supply of important goods and services we depend upon, such as the provision of food, medicines and clean water. They also offer mechanisms and strategies to mitigate and solve a wide range of problems and crises facing humanity at all levels, including those encapsulated in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations. For example, microbial technologies can contribute in multiple ways to decarbonisation and hence confronting global warming, provide sanitation and clean water to the billions of people lacking them, improve soil fertility and hence food production and develop vaccines and other medicines to reduce and in some cases eliminate deadly infections. They are the foundation of biotechnology, an increasingly important and growing business sector and source of employment, and the centre of the bioeconomy, Green Deal, etc. But, because microbes are largely invisible, they are not familiar to most people, so opportunities they offer to effectively prevent and solve problems are often missed by decisionmakers, with the negative consequences this entrains. To correct this lack of vital knowledge, the International Microbiology Literacy Initiative–the IMiLI–is recruiting from the global microbiology community and making freely available, teaching resources for a curriculum in societally relevant microbiology that can be used at all levels of learning. Its goal is the development of a society that is literate in relevant microbiology and, as a consequence, able to take full advantage of the potential of microbes and minimise the consequences of their negative activities. In addition to teaching about microbes, almost every lesson discusses the influence they have on sustainability and the SDGs and their ability to solve pressing problems of societal inequalities. The curriculum thus teaches about sustainability, societal needs and global citizenship. The lessons also reveal the impacts microbes and their activities have on our daily lives at the personal, family, community, national and global levels and their relevance for decisions at all levels. And, because effective, evidencebased decisions require not only relevant information but also critical and systems thinking, the resources also teach about these key generic aspects of deliberation. The IMiLI teaching resources are learnercentric, not academic microbiologycentric and deal with the microbiology of everyday issues. These span topics as diverse as owning and caring for a companion animal, the vast range of everyday foods that are produced via microbial processes, impressive geological formations created by microbes, childhood illnesses and how they are managed and how to reduce waste and pollution. They also leverage the exceptional excitement of exploration and discovery that typifies much progress in microbiology to capture the interest, inspire and motivate educators and learners alike. The IMiLI is establishing Regional Centres to translate the teaching resources into regional languages and adapt them to regional cultures, and to promote their use and assist educators employing them. Two of these are now operational. The Regional Centres constitute the interface between resource creators and educators– learners. As such, they will collect and analyse feedback from the endusers and transmit this to the resource creators so that teaching materials can be improved and refined, and new resources added in response to demand: educators and learners will thereby be directly involved in evolution of the teaching resources. The interactions between educators–learners and resource creators mediated by the Regional Centres will establish dynamic and synergistic relationships–a global societally relevant microbiology education ecosystem–in which creators also become learners, teaching resources are optimised and all players/stakeholders are empowered and their motivation increased. Received: 8 February 2024 | Accepted: 8 March 2024 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14456 This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2024 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by Applied Microbiology International and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 2 of 39 | EDITORIAL The IMiLI concept thus embraces the principle of teaching societally relevant microbiology embedded in the wider context of societal, biosphere and planetary needs, inequalities, the range of crises that confront us and the need for improved decisioning, which should ultimately lead to better citizenship and a humanity that is more sustainable and resilient. Abstract: The biosphere of planet Earth is a microbial world: a vast reactor of countless microbially driven chemical transformations and energy transfers that push and pull many planetary geochemical processes, including the cycling of the elements of life, mitigate or amplify climate change (e.g., Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2019, 17, 569) and impact the wellbeing and activities of all organisms, including humans. Microbes are both our ancestors and creators of the planetary chemistry that allowed us to evolve (e.g., Life's engines: How microbes made earth habitable, 2023). To understand how the biosphere functions, how humans can influence its development and live more sustainably with the other organisms sharing it, we need to understand the microbes. In a recent editorial (Environmental Microbiology, 2019, 21, 1513), we advocated for improved microbiology literacy in society. Our concept of microbiology literacy is not based on knowledge of the academic subject of microbiology, with its multitude of component topics, plus the growing number of additional topics from other disciplines that become vitally important elements of current microbiology. Rather it is focused on microbial activities that impact us–individuals/ communities/nations/the human world–and the biosphere and that are key to reaching informed decisions on a multitude of issues that regularly confront us, ranging from personal issues to crises of global importance. In other words, it is knowledge and understanding essential for adulthood and the transition to it, knowledge and understanding that must be acquired early in life in school. The 2019 Editorial marked the launch of the International Microbiology Literacy Initiative, the IMiLI. Here, we present: • our concept of how microbiology literacy may be achieved and the rationale underpinning it; • the type of teaching resources being created to realise the concept and the framing of microbial activities treated in these resources in the context of sustainability, societal needs and responsibilities and decisionmaking; and • the key role of Regional Centres that will translate the teaching resources into local languages, adapt them according to local cultural needs, interface with regional educators and develop and serve as hubs of microbiology literacy education networks. The topics featuring in teaching resources are learnercentric and have been selected for their inherent relevance, interest and ability to excite and engage. Importantly, the resources coherently integrate and emphasise the overarching issues of sustainability, stewardship and critical thinking and the pervasive interdependencies of processes. More broadly, the concept emphasises how the multifarious applications of microbial activities can be leveraged to promote human/animal, plant, environmental and planetary health, improve social equity, alleviate humanitarian deficits and causes of conflicts among peoples and increase understanding between peoples (Microbial Biotechnology, 2023, 16(6), 1091– 1111). Importantly, although the primary target of the freely available (CC BYNC 4.0) IMiLI teaching resources is schoolchildren and their educators, they and the teaching philosophy are intended for all ages, abilities and cultural spectra of learners worldwide: in university education, lifelong learning, curiositydriven, webbased knowledge acquisition and public outreach. The IMiLI teaching resources aim to promote development of a global microbiology education ecosystem that democratises microbiology knowledge. INTRODUCTION The need for change in educational curricula The purpose of education (see Martin Luther King: http:// okra. stanf ord. edu/ trans cript ion/ docum ent _ images/ Vol01 Sc ans/ 123 _ JanFeb19 47_ The% 20Pur pose% 20of% 20Edu cation. pdf; and Biesta, 2008 for discussions on why this is important) is to develop the minds and abilities of children, to help them realise their full individual potentials and to provide them with the knowledge and understanding they need to flourish as adults and manage the challenges and opportunities they will face that will require or benefit from informed decisions and actions. Education also needs to promote character building, instil moral and ethical values and encourage development of a sense of collective responsibility/citizenship (https:// erpap ers. colum bian. gwu. edu/ goodcitiz enshi ppurpo seeduca tion) for social justice and sustainability (e.g., https:// campa ignfo reduc ation. org/ en/ takeaction/ trans forma tiveeduca tion). School curricula of different cultures have evolved to provide fundamental knowledge and skills considered to be key to the needs and responsibilities of adults of those cultures. However, education is not only for children. For various reasons, many children do not receive adequate education but may be able to catch up as adults. Other adults extend their childhood 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License | 3 of 39 EDITORIAL education by exploring learning opportunities throughout life to gain new employmentrelevant skill sets or for mental stimulation and/or personal satisfaction (https:// ww w. uil. unesco. org / en / unesc oinsti tute/ manda te/ lifel onglearning). The world of 2024 is very different from that of earlier decades, is changing rapidly and is compelling the adoption of new approaches, solutions and behaviours. The children of 2024 and their educational needs are also different from those of earlier generations and require new educational content to create new understanding, abilities, skill sets and mindsets that will endow future adult populations with greater fitness and resilience for the world they will inherit (e.g., Zhang et al., 2022). Educators continuously make efforts to adapt their teaching to these changing conditions, but there is still a growing sense of the need for a reset of current school curricula to better align with current and future needs (e.g., https:// widge ts. wefor um. org/ nve2015/ chapt er1. html; https:// www. un. org/ sites/ un2. un. org/ files/ report_ on _ the _ 2022 _ tr ans for mi ng_ educ a tio n _ summit . pdf). Notwithstanding these efforts and strategic views, educational curricula are generally rather rigid and evolve too slowly to keep up with societal needs and new innovations; in this sense, the current mechanism of evolution of the content of educational curricula is inadequate and unsustainable. There is a need to incorporate new topics into educational curricula and to evolve curricula that are more flexible and responsive to societal requirements. We present here a new paradigm for incorporating a subject that we consider to be vital for education, namely societally relevant microbiology. We also illustrate how it can be responsive to newly developing needs and hence serve as a model to create sustainable, evolvable curricula. The need to incorporate societally relevant microbiology in educational curricula Microbes were the first and only forms of life for the first 3 billion years of evolution (e.g., Bertrand, 2015; Knoll, 2015; Mahendrarajah et al., 2023). During this time, they shaped planetary surface chemistry in such a way that complex life forms could develop, evolve and diversify into the current members of the biosphere (Sousa et al., 2013; Ehrlich et al., 2015; Jelen et al., 2016; Moore et al., 2017; Raanan et al., 2018; Boyd et al., 2023; Falkowski, 2023; Goldman & Kaçar, 2023; LópezGarcía & Moreira, 2023). Microbes colonise and pervasively influence all life forms, cycle elements and hence wastes of all organisms, including those generated by human activities (agricultural, industrial, etc.), interchange and exchange diverse forms of food, nutrients and energy, produce a substantial fraction of the oxygen used in the biosphere (Glibert & Mitra, 2022), and considerably determine human and planetary wellbeing (Falkowski et al., 2008; Flandroy et al., 2018; Hou et al., 2022; Ogunrinola et al., 2020; Schmidt et al., 2019; Sessitsch et al., 2023). Microbes are central to all food webs, either as primary producers, fixing carbon dioxide coupled with harvesting solar or chemical energy or by using organic materials, such as exudates, waste products or dead cells and organisms. Their small size, and thus large surface area to volume ratio, together with their abundance and metabolic diversity, combine to make microbes the engine The world of 2024 and its educational needs are different from those of yesteryear • Human population growth and increasing life spans, which are exacerbating shortages of natural resources, prejudicing human and biosphere sustainability and exacerbating social inequalities (e.g., see Merz et al., 2023; Timmis & Hallsworth, 2022) • Global crises facing humanity, e.g., global warming, antimicrobial resistance • Exponential increase in data and new means to analyse it (via artificial intelligence) • Explosion of knowledge, with its consequences for human needs and endeavours • Global hyperconnectivity–physical, but especially digital–with increased access to information and misand disinformation (www. unhcr. org / inn ov ation/ wp - c onte nt / uploa ds / 2022/ 02/ facts heet-4. pdf) and a need to distinguish trusted from nefarious sources • A need for an intimate knowledge of nature (e.g., Pascual et al., 2023 and citations therein), • The demand for education to promote the ability to reason and form objective decisions • Societal fragmentation • Increasing requirement for education to deal with societal issues and their potential solutions • The obligation for education to deal with sustainability and its requirements, e.g., netzero carbon, a circular economy and frugal innovation • Increasing inequality in education, especially among children • Increasing recognition of diversity of learning needs • Increasing recognition of the importance of lifelong learning 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 4 of 39 | EDITORIAL that drives global biogeochemical cycles (Cavicchioli et al., 2019; Glibert & Mitra, 2022). Humans often regard themselves as at the apex of food chains/webs. But microbial pathogens can kill all organisms of food webs, including humans and other microbes live off their dead bodies. So, microbes collectively may justifiably be considered to be at the apex as well as the base of food chains/webs. As a consequence, they prevent the dominance of otherwise successful species and so play a major role in maintaining biodiversity (Altizer et al., 2003; Bever et al., 2015; RibeirinhoSoares et al., 2022). (A key distorting influence in biodiversity maintenance, is of course the human who, through advances in medicine, has been able to reduce infectioncaused mortality and thereby thwarted this natural ecological activity, and has uncoupled normal population dynamics from resource availability and thereby directly caused an enormous loss of biodiversity (Cardinale et al., 2012; Langdon et al., 2016; Chase et al., 2020; Mougi, 2022; Dornelas et al., 2023; Selaković et al., n.d.). Microbes and their activities are therefore pivotal to the functioning of the biosphere. This is a relatively recent realisation, which probably explains why, despite its importance, microbiology education is less advanced than the level that is essential for societal needs. We previously made the case for microbiology literacy (Timmis et al., 2019; for a definition of literacy, see: https:// uis. unesco. org/ en/ gloss aryterm/ literacy), outlining the pervasive impacts of the microbial world on a wide spectrum of issues that hugely affect humanity. And, as can be appreciated from Data S1, microbial activities regularly affect us all personally, as individuals. Influencing these activities requires that we understand them. Knowledge of relevant aspects of microbiology is key to understanding life itself and our place in the biosphere, optimising our wellbeing and that of other organisms and hence to biosphere sustainability. It is not only a question of understanding how microbes affect us but also appreciating how we affect them conciously and unwittingly. Since microbial activities are existential for the proper functioning of vital biosphere and planetary processes (e.g., see Cavicchioli et al., 2019; https:// octog roup. org/ news/ tinymight yocean - healt h - depen dsbacte ria - and - vir us es/ ), it is equally important that our decisions do not prejudice (harm or eliminate) key microbial systems Why the society needs to become microbiology literate: understanding and managing the manifold impacts of microbes on humanity and the biosphere • Planetary importance: microbes are the great chemists and transformers (the planetary cyclers and recyclers), creatingtransformingresponding to a vast array of chemicals that influence and regulate the biosphere in many ways. • Sustainability importance: the developmental trajectory of humanity has long been unsustainable. Microbial processes are crucial to efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) (https:// sdgs. un. org/ 2030a genda ; Timmis & Timmis, 2017; see also https:// amijourn als. onlin elibr ary. wiley. com/ toc/ 17517 915/ 2017/ 10/ 5) • Crisis importance: microbes are at the centre of multiple, intertwined, existential crises, both as mitigating agents/solutions and causes, including global warming and climate tipping points, planetary boundaries, environmental pollution, desertification/soil fertilityhealth/ agricultural productivity and humanitarian polycrises associated both with these issues and with prejudicial human activities (some of which are encapsulated in the wise quote of Mahatma Gandhi: ‘Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.’), including poverty, hunger, lack of sanitation and clean water, antimicrobial resistance, resurgence of almost eradicated infectious diseases, pandemics of new diseases and inadequate access to healthcare. • Socioeconomic importance: microbes provide/inspire new therapies, vaccines, diagnostics, chemicals, materials, foods, food supplements, fermented foods, flavourings, enable production of biofuels from renewable sources and wastes, increased crop yields, environmentally friendly recovery of natural resources, waste management–recycling–bioremediation, even human dwellings (see Armstrong, 2023), are at the core of the Bioeconomy/Green Deal/One Health, etc. Microbial technologies can provide key basic goods and services in resourcepoor settings and thereby eliminate deficits and reduce asymmetries of such services among peoples (Anand et al., 2023). • Personal/individual importance: microbes are part of us and all other organisms of the biosphere and provide essential services and regulate to a significant extent our physical and mental wellbeing. 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License | 5 of 39 EDITORIAL and their activities or functions (see also: https:// assoc iatio nofan aesth etist spubli catio ns. onlin elibr ary. wiley. com/ doi/ 10. 1111/ anae. 16168 ). To recall the poignant and prophetic insight of Curtis (2006): ‘For if the last blue whale choked to death on the last panda, it would be disastrous but not the end of the world. But if we accidentally poisoned the last two species of ammonia oxidizers, that would be another matter. It could be happening now and we wouldn't even know…’ Such microbial activities are foundational to clean drinking water and the health of aquatic ecosystems on which we humans critically depend. Microbes are essential to us and, to maintain and extend their vital support, we need to protect them and their habitats (e.g., see also https:// www. micro biota vault. org). The International Microbiology Literacy Initiative was founded to enable and promote microbiology literacy to benefit both humanity and the planet. Its explicit aim is to realise the teaching of societally relevant microbiology in every school and educational venue worldwide able and willing to embrace it. The IMiLI aims not only to create awareness in children of how microbes touch their lives in myriad ways with so many important consequences, but also to reveal a wide range of personal activity- /experience- /interestrelevant microbiology topics and thereby enrich their education, provide relevant life skills and support their decisionmaking as adults. It also strives to promote consideration of such everyday decisions in wider contexts–of related issues, of regional and global issues, of sustainability and Grand Challenges–and to foster critical and systems analysis of relevant parameters in decisionmaking and development of a sense of responsibility for decisions taken. Efforts to improve microbiology literacy in society must also extend to adults. In this regard, the IMiLI teaching resources can be used in formal teaching of adults in schools (lifelong learning; https:// www. uil. unesco. org/ en/ unesc oinsti tute/ manda te/ lifel onglearning) and universities and in informal, webbased learning by both adults and children. Some resources, such as family projects, are being created specifically to propagate knowledge within childrens’ family–friend networks. In this article, we discuss: • the IMiLI education concept and rationale, • the teaching resources being created by hundreds of microbiologists worldwide, • how the resources incorporate generic issues of sustainability, critical and systems thinking and problemsolving, stewardship–stakeholder–civic responsibilities, the interconnectedness of issues and processes and societal inequalities, • the roles of IMiLI Regional Centres, the key interfaces between teaching resource creators and learners and • a mechanism for the dynamic and timely evolution of teaching resources through educator–student feedback to resource creators. CONSIDERATIONS THAT FRAMED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE IMiLI CONCEPT While the creation of new school curricula that integrate the issues listed above constitutes a challenge, it also presents an opportunity to incorporate some additional educational parameters that are broadly important or timely. We have therefore considered several additional criteria to steer development of the microbiology curriculum concept and teaching resources. As might be expected, some of these are intertwined and interdependent. Relevance The aim of the IMiLI is not to create microbiologists with a curriculum built around academic microbiology, but rather to reveal microbial contributions to child- / societyrelevant issues (e.g., McGenity et al., 2020). It also aims to describe microbial activities and properties that children (and adults) will find interesting and exciting, to leverage their insatiable thirst for knowledge of fascinating themes while reinforcing the importance of microbes and increasing the pleasure of learning. Emphasis on relevance will stimulate the allimportant 3 E's: Excitement, Engagement and Empowerment (Timmis, 2023). The 3 E's should awaken and sustain fascination for microbes and their activities, so that children become selfmotivating and explore according to their interests. Topics taught should foster the spirit of adventure, be discoverycentric and, where possible, synergise with existing interests, such as astrobiology to leverage prevalent excitement about space exploration and science fiction such as the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises (see also Noor, 2018; https:// www. youtu be. com/ watch?v= - _ y20wL lmk). Motivation Motivation is key to an engaged, enjoyable and effective education and is particularly important in educators whose enthusiasm plays a central role in creating and sustaining pupil interest. While the 3 E's are motivators for pupils and educators alike, the contents and formats of the teaching materials must kindle the natural passion of educators. Immersive activities that pupils and educators can enjoy together and even cocreate, such as class experiments, excursions, competitions, citizen 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 6 of 39 | EDITORIAL science projects, can provide additional motivation (the 3 I's: immersion, imagination and inspiration; see also McGenity et al., 2020). Empowerment, as alluded to below, is also a motivating factor as it provides a sense of ownership and de facto perspective for shaping the further development of class projects. Engagement with microbes One of the key pedagogical handicaps in microbiology education is that most microbes cannot be directly seen as study objects. (That said, invisibility can also trigger curiosity and imagination since, for some children, this can also make them mysterious and especially fascinating and their discovery especially rewarding). Rendering microbes and their processes visible and creating corresponding mental images that automatically become associated with topic narratives, is the challenge. Teaching materials are therefore imagerich, narratively engaging and will be supported by visualisationengagementimmersion resources. Countering germophobia Although Louis Pasteur stated life would not long remain possible in the absence of microbes, societal knowledge of microbes is largely restricted to infections, disease and deterioration of food and materials, so microbes have a bad name, germs, with its corresponding connotation and are generally considered to be dangerous, disgusting–something to be feared (see, e.g., https:// lyrics. lyric find. com/ enGB/ lyrics/ dionn ewarwi ckillnever - fallinloveagain - 1; https:// www. youtu be. com/ watch?v= oN4Bk al4eFU). This perception has been amplified by incessant commercial advertising of germicidal products for cleaning either the home or human body surfaces and by the–at times emotionally supercharged–gene technology debate (de Lorenzo, 2010). Society is largely germophobic, with the consequence that unnaturally restricted exposure to microbes negatively impacts the development of healthy immune systems of children (Mulder et al., 2011; Okada et al., 2010; Rook, 2023). But around 50% of the cells of the human body are microbes (Sender et al., 2016), with each human being composed of communities of diverse types of (differentiated) human cells and (phylogenetically diverse) microbial cells. The human organism nevertheless functions not as two independently acting entities, but rather as a coherent and mostly coordinated whole–a metaorganism/holobiont–with the microbial cells, the microbiome, providing all manner of essential goods and services to the human cells and the human providing nutrients and habitats for the microbiome (Dahl et al., 2020; de Vos et al., 2022; O'Toole & Max Paoli, 2023; Postler & Ghosh, 2017; Utter et al., 2020; van de Guchte et al., 2018). Microbe demonisation is selfdemonisation! Germophobia is a huge societal bias–a form of sociocultural disease–that hinders balanced consideration of microbial activities and the process of arriving at informed objective opinions, policies and decisions relating to issues impacted by these activities. Crucially, it hinders us from reaping their enormous potential benefits. The combination of germophobia, germicidal product use (which has been amplified by the COVID19 pandemic) and inappropriate antibiotic use in humans and food production, has undoubtedly altered human/animal/environmental microbiome community compositions and their interactions, with unforeseen ecological consequences (Cabello et al., 2013; Coque et al., 2023; Grenni et al., 2018; Kraemer et al., 2019; Larsson & Flach, 2022). Efforts must be made to counter germophobia by presenting a balanced picture of desirable/positive and undesirable activities of microbes, how we ourselves Engagement with microbes • Galleries of portraits of the most famous, fascinating and extravagant microbes • Lessonspecific Class Experiments (e.g., making yoghurt, soy sauce, fermented cabbage and other vegetables, bread, pizza), handson activities that can get children in direct contact with the microbes that impact them • Recommendations for teacher- /expertaccompanied class excursions designed to reveal to children (and, by extension, their families and friends) diverse examples of microbiology in action in their immediate localities, so that they mentally connect everyday observations and experiences with the underlying microbes and their activities (McGenity et al., 2020) • Lessonspecific Multimedia Teaching Aids (MTAs), including images, cartoons, comics, videos, video games • Custom videos of field trips/sampling campaigns to expose the thrill of discovery of microbiology research in exotic locations (e.g., see https:// www. youtu be. com/ watch?v= CQxqm A3CTjU) 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License | 7 of 39 EDITORIAL evolved from them, how our own human microbiome protects us and, in taking care of our microbiome, we take care of ourselves and how they and their engineered relatives can be exploited to produce a range of products and services of enormous benefit to humanity. Crucially, we need to explain the negative consequences of ignoring and not exploiting and safeguarding the beneficial microbes and their activities. We need to encourage people to follow the path of ‘Positive Microbiology' (Oli, 2023). Worldwide online accessibility Teaching resources tend to be restricted in accessibility, for example, because of being created in only one or a few languages, designed for a particular education system/culture, or produced commercially and being too costly for some schools. A fundamental principle of the IMiLI is that its teaching resources will be made available online without cost (CC BYNC 4.0). Initially, the resources will be made available in English, but then, as IMiLI Regional Centres (see below) become progressively established, in all major languages, translated and adapted to local needs and cultures. Thus, the IMiLI aims to create the teaching resources for a global curriculum of societally relevant microbiology knowledge, freely accessible worldwide by educators and pupils (and adults with for interest in acquiring or disseminating this knowledge) in their own language (see also unesco. org/ en/ legalaffai rs/ recom menda tionopeneduca tionalresou rcesoer). Versatility: Applicable to diverse educational settings defined by different cultures/priorities/education systems The strategy adopted was to create standalone, modular teaching materials that can be used independently, with no imperative to cover a specific spectrum of issues or to follow a predetermined topic sequence: educators/ schools/universities/education authorities can select the topics appropriate to their system, culture, priorities and desired learning outcomes and chart their own learning paths. The fact that the teaching resources have been contributed by the global community of microbiologists, representing diverse cultures and using a common and universal terminology, should facilitate adaptation of the resources to local and current needs. Sustainability and microbiology education For humanity to continue to survive on planet Earth, it must adopt sustainable lifestyles and practices (see, e.g., Timmis & Hallsworth, 2022). In an attempt to reorient the developmental trajectory of humans towards greater sustainability, the United Nations formulated its Sustainable Development Goals (https:// sdgs. un. org/ 2030a genda ). However, for the SDGs to fulfil their purpose, they must be achieved by 2030. Interim assessment of progress indicates that this is no longer possible (https:// news. un. org/ en/ story/ 2023/ 07/ 1138777; Bexell & Jönsson, 2016). Sustainable development and effectively confronting some of the major humanitarian and planetary challenges will require fundamental changes in the way things are done, financed and regulated (htt p s:// inter nati o nalreview. ic rc . org / art i c les/ reevalu ating - ihlinatripl eplane tarycrisi s924; https:// w ww. ifrc. org/ sites/ defau lt / f iles / 202 211/ 202 21 108_ Clima teSma rtFin ance. pdf; https:// www. msf. ch/ en/ media/ 4711; Barnard et al., 2021; Merz et al., 2023). Fundamental changes will not only require new policies but also societal acceptance of the policies. Acceptance will be greatly facilitated by an understanding of the underlying issues and their consequences; that is, by education of the public. While there are regular exhortations to accelerate progress towards the SDGs (https:// unece. org/ stati stics/ press/ halfw ay2030unec e - repor tsh ows - we - mustac c el erate - progr essachie vesdgsregion; https:// sdg. iisd. org/ c omme ntary/ guest - ar tic les / we - need7years - ofaccel erate dtrans forma tiveactio ntoachie vesdgs/ ), until recently (e.g., see https:// unsta ts. un. org/ sdgs/ report / 2022 / The - Susta inabl e - Devel opmen tG oals - Repor t2022. pdf, p.51) there has been little discussion or action about the role of education in promoting sustainability. Since microbes have an impact on all SDGs (e.g., Timmis, de Lorenzo, et al., 2017; Timmis, de Vos, et al., 2017; https:// amijourn als. onlin elibr ary. wiley. com/ toc/ 17517 915/ 2017/ 10/ 5; D'Hondt et al., 2021), the IMiLI educational materials will explicitly relate learning topics to SDGs and thereby de facto play a significant role in sustainability education. Social responsibility–global citizenship: the 3 S's Education is not simply the acquisition of knowledge and understanding and cognitive development (e.g., see https:// www. struc tural - learn ing. com/ post/ jeanpiage ts - theor yofc ogni tivedevel opmen tandactiv eclass rooms ): it should also create awareness of problems/opportunities, their origins/causes/rationales, the potential consequences of action and, most importantly, of inaction and explore opportunities to overcome such problems. Education should, where possible, engender a sense of individual and collective responsibility–global citizenship (UN SDG Report, 2022. P. 51: ‘More effort is needed to fully mainstream sustainable development and global 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 8 of 39 | EDITORIAL citizenship in national education systems.’ https:// unsta ts. un. org / sdgs/ report/ 2022 / TheSusta inabl e - Devel opmen tGoals - Repor t2022. pdf) and promote the development of willingness to become involved: the principle of stewardship and stakeholder responsibility. Societal and planetary challenges and the importance and consequences of personal decisions and behaviour for these challenges, human wellbeing and welfare and the primordial need for peace and harmony among and between peoples (Barnard et al., 2021; Anand et al., 2023), need to be articulated. Interdependence of processes, the wider context and systems thinking Our current polycrises (https:// www. wefor um. org/ agenda / 2023/ 01/ globa l - r isks - repor t2023 - exper tsdavos 2023/ ? utm _ sourc e= sfmc & utm _ medium= em ail & utm _ c ampa ign= 27933 18_ Agend aWeek ly13 J anuar y 2023 & utm _ ter m= & email Type= Agenda% 20Weekly; Ripple et al., 2020; Barnard et al., 2021), such as widespread poverty, hunger, desertification, deforestation, humananimal–plant epidemics and pandemics, reducing biodiversity, environmental pollution, armed conflicts and regional deficits in access to healthcare, clean water and employment opportunities, are important examples of the interconnected nature of processes and challenges. Education needs to reveal the pervasiveness of interdependencies, exemplified by One Health (https:// w w w. avma. org/ sites/ defau lt / f iles/ resou rces/ onehe alth_ final. pdf; https:// www. fao. org/3/ cc228 9en/ cc228 9en. pdf; Flandroy et al., 2018; Sinclair, 2019) to counteract a fragmented perception/understanding and consideration of issues in isolation (silo thinking), and to promote the necessity of considering the whole picture and the potential influence of connected parameters when making decisions. Education needs to promote systems thinking. Critical thinking Information is essential but not sufficient for rational and objective decision making. All individuals have biases, which accumulate with age and are subjected to endless streams of influencing, spin, groupthink, dogmatism and, crucially, misand disinformation (www. unhcr. org / innov ation / wp - c onte nt / uploa ds/ 2022 / 02 / Facts heet-4. pdf). To counteract biases, the curriculum should promote critical thinking and teach the importance of evidencebased decisioning. This should counter the spread of conspiracy theories which, for example, figured prominently during the COVID19 pandemic of 2020–2021 and which, because of a deficit of relevant knowledge about microbes, were more readily accepted by many. Mindsets: widening vistas and opening minds to a greater range of contexts and options To some extent, all children are raised in environments with a restricted outlook and diversity and range of opinions, discussion topics, values and culture(s) experienced. This is perfectly natural and beneficial because it creates cultural identity and so fosters a sense of belonging. Nevertheless, it has the disadvantages that the full range of potential solutions to problems is inapparent and, under certain circumstances, it can encourage rejection of unfamiliar values without due consideration and may even promote discrimination against other cultures. It is therefore important to stimulate the development of curiosity and openmindedness, widen the vistas of children by exposing them to issues they would not ordinarily experience and encourage networking of children from different cultures. Disadvantaged children A considerable proportion of children in school are disadvantaged in some way or other, such as by having illnesses that cause absences or, due to learning difficulties, neurodivergence, povertyrelated inadequate nutrition, suboptimal or distracting home lives, or gender biases (e.g., SDG 4.5) and some risk to fall by the wayside because of it. While many educators make heroic efforts to prevent this, they need to be supported by teaching materials that have a high excitement–interest–fascination value which engage, stimulate and encourage all pupils, including those on the margins and that deal with issues that motivate them to explore Social responsibility–global citizenship The IMiLI concept embodies the 3 S's: education of young people about Stewardship (of their own lives, their families, their communities, their nations, the planet and the universe), Stakeholder responsibilities and Sustainability. Children are almost always idealists and believe in their ability to change the world for the better, so education should cultivate their inherent sense of civic duty and provide guidance on how to be actively involved and take actions relating to their future (https:// www. unesco. org/ en/ globa l - c itiz enshi ppeace - educa ti on / need - know). Emphasising the 3 S's should also help counter a growing egotism and focus on self. 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License | 9 of 39 EDITORIAL further and want to get to school in the morning and discover something new. Confronting societal inequalities Many of the challenges facing us now and in the future have a significant element of societal inequality. For example, global warming leads to rising sea levels, net loss and salination of fertile coastal lands that reduces agricultural capacity and increases hunger and food prices and reductions in living space that increase population migrations which affect mental and physical health, all of which will disproportionately affect resourcepoor countries and communities. Similarly, epidemics and pandemics like COVID19 have a greater impact on communities lacking adequate prevention and treatment measures (Boserup et al., 2020; Kirby, 2020; Timmis & Brüssow, 2020). Acquisition of an understanding of issues underlying social inequalities and asymmetries in basic goods and services, and of available mitigation measures centred on microbial technologies, are vital to the formulation of policies and taking of decisions aimed at progress towards a just and harmonious society (Anand et al., 2023). Adaptability–evolvability The world and its educational demands are changing rapidly so it is essential to develop educational ecosystems that are able to adapt in a timely fashion to changing societal needs. The traditional system of building knowledge in a sequential manner, while rational and for some subjects the only option, creates rigidity. Generating modular teaching resources means that they can evolve with minimal constraint and maximal flexibility: topics that have become less relevant can be archived, more relevant ones can be expanded and new ones created and incorporated, without prejudice to overall curriculum concept, content and coherence. Democratisation of microbiology and evolution of teaching materials As knowledge advances, it becomes more complex and technical, something only for specialists and the welleducated, which can result in the public becoming disenfranchised and disengaged. This in turn can lead to the uncoupling of society from knowledge of vital importance for its own wellbeing and hence from personal involvement in policy development and scrutiny (e.g., https:// www. nber. org/ system/ files/ worki ng_ papers/ w28112/ w28112. pdf). A poorly informed public is more prone to support bad decisions and accept and spread conspiracy theories. This trend needs to be reversed, by using understandable language; by teaching key aspects in school (and more broadly in society); by being inclusive, i.e., knowledge of vitally important subjects such as microbiology needs to be democratised; and, above all, by creating an educational ecosystem that maximises the engagement and motivation of learners and encourages their potential to diffuse the knowledge they acquire, i.e., to act as multipliers, such that learners become educators (Timmis et al., 2020). Since formal education prepares children for adulthood, school curricula need to evolve with a changing society and world and its evolving challenges. This evolution needs to respect the criteria listed above, including childand societyrelevance and interest. The different stakeholders–educators, learners, society– must therefore have both the responsibility and opportunity to influence in a timely fashion the evolution of topic content and the nature of the educational resources being developed. There needs to be democratisation of the subject matter taught. For this, education systems need to build feedback loops between the creators and users of teaching materials. Moreover, mechanisms are needed to ensure that feedback is properly appraised and incorporated in an evenhanded fashion. Democratisation also demands accessibility. The free accessibility of IMiLI materials to everyone and their creation in easytounderstand language, will produce a level playing field for microbiology teaching in educational ecosystems all over the world. While the emphasis here is democratisation of societally relevant microbiology knowledge, society would clearly benefit from the democratisation of other disciplines or subdisciplines. One mechanism is online communities, such as the Carpentries (carpe ntries. org), or “learning clubs” that are The creation of new curricula presents an opportunity to incorporate features that help educators to reach all the unique minds in their classrooms and provide disadvantaged children with equitable access to education through provision of • readily comprehended, coherent stories about childcentric issues and materials of high excitement–interest–fascination value, which helps engage, stimulate and motivate all pupils, • teaching materials that can be readily disseminated, studied and understood outside of the classroom setting, which are particularly important for children who miss formal sessions (see Versatility above), • multimedia resources and instructions for handson activities which will cater to multiple learning needs, styles and contexts and • online video presentations of class lessons 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 16 of 39 | EDITORIAL sampled, is an exceptional privilege of the microbiology research community that few other disciplines can provide. We have an undeniable responsibility to share this privilege with the general public, not only because they fund such work through the taxes they pay. This responsibility is very well fulfilled by larger organisations like the Woods Hole Institute of Oceanography (link above) and the Fondation Tara Océan (https:// fonda tiont araoc ean. org/ en/ exped ition/ tara - oceans/ ), but less so by smaller organisations and individual research groups. And we have a special responsibility to communicate this excitement to children, to expose them to the beauty and thrill of things they would ordinarily not see and to satisfy and fuel their thirst for adventure, exploration and discovery in microbiology. This is the reason we have created TF Section 11: Adventures and Discovery, which aims to describe a wide range of exotic and fascinating habitats that are explored and sampled by microbiologists and reveal what microbiologists discover with the samples they obtain. And to leverage the content and excitement generated by Section 11, the IMiLI intends to involve children in a more personal, immersive fashion in the most exciting sampling trips through creation of its MicroExplorer series, videos that will transform them into virtual microbiologists on campaigns. Home assignments, family–friend and citizen science projects, competitions As for any other subject, home assignments can be set and suggestions for these will be made, some of which will be centred on the study, use or creation of MicroStar portraits and independent researching of everyday issues on television/social media, etc., having an association with microbes, such as researching/documenting/creating stories around microbes and music (e.g., https:// lyrics. lyric find. com/ enGB/ lyrics/ dionn ewarwi ckillnever - fallinloveagain - 1; https:// www. youtu be. com/ watch?v= oN4Bk al4eFU). In addition to normal home assignments, the IMiLI will propose facultative family–friend projects for children interested in developing collaborative projects with others. These activities can be carried out as either standalone or networked citizen science projects (research conducted as collaborations between scientists and the wider public), to encourage microbiologycentric, outofschool activities and to leverage the educational multiplier role of pupils (Timmis et al., 2020). This type of homework and individual–family–friend projects can be assessed by the educator, presented in class, or be part of competitions: class, school, interschool, national, international. In general, children love to work together and also to compete and win prizes (https:// en. wikip edia. org/ wiki/ Gamif ication), so the motivation for engagement in projects should, where appropriate within the framework of competitions, be increased through awarding of prizes, however modest (e.g., points, levels reached, badges). An important life lesson that can be learned by being involved in cooperative activities, especially those involving people from very different backgrounds, is that other people often bring new information, ideas, viewpoints and insights to the table that enrich creativity and problemsolving processes. Moreover, the peer pressure of social media often engenders the pursuit of unattainable perfection to avoid negative reactions and judgements. Working in a group on a common project reveals the ‘normality’ of imperfection among peers, that the goal should not be perfection but rather doing the best possible and that important synergies arising from cooperations often yields a better result than expected from the viewpoint of the individual. Aims of the characteristics of the IMiLI teaching resources Resources Purpose/Aim Free availability for noncommercial use Global democratisation of societally relevant microbiology knowledge A single set of resources for all age groups and teaching goals Coherence, continuity, ease of transfer among educators, simplicity for lifelong learners: a onestop source Provide knowledge of the workings of the biosphere, our bodies, our origins, our future Understanding of biology, wellbeing, our place in the world Emphasis on exploration–discovery Stimulation of excitement, curiosity, motivation Teaching critical thinking Informed decisions; countering bias Teaching systems thinking Appreciation of interdependence; improving problemsolving effectiveness Teaching stewardship and stakeholder participation Creating awareness; promotion of civic responsibility Teaching sustainability and relationship to decisions Improving human, animal, plant, environmental and overall planetary wellbeing Teaching microbial technologies and their deployment to improve social equity Revealing strategies and mechanisms to level up and reduce asymmetries in access to basic services Involvement of family–friends Amplification of interest and involvement; civic engagement Networking: local–regional– national–global Amplification of interest and involvement, accessing complementarities/synergies The IMiLI teaching resources and their deployment are summarised in Figure 2. 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License | 17 of 39 EDITORIAL REGIONAL CENTRES: THE INTERFACES BETWEEN CREATORS AND USERS OF TEACHING RESOURCES AND NODES OF THE IMiLI ECOSYSTEM The IMiLI resources are being created in English and need to be translated into whichever language is appropriate for any given setting. Moreover, schools, curricula, educational needs and approaches to teaching vary across the world and the integration of IMiLI resources in diverse educational systems will require local and regional adaption and support. There also needs to be a local interface between the IMiLI teaching resources and end users, education authorities, government, commerce, funding agencies and philanthropic organisations, etc. To provide this, the IMiLI is establishing IMiLI Regional Centres whose responsibilities are summarised below. The IMiLI websites of Regional Centres will develop into dynamic communication/interaction/networking platforms, interfacing with educators, educational agencies and ministries, the wider public and provide an IMiLI ‘info channel’. The Regional Centres will maintain the relevance of IMiLI over time by ensuring that changing needs of teachers, learners and societies are catered for within the evolving IMiLI ecosystem of services and resources. Parts of the websites will be devoted to the direct engagement of selflearners– children and adults–through the dissemination of microbiology knowledge and news, and the creation of fun microbiological activities and entertainment. They will participate in the processes of recruiting additional teaching materials, including MTAs and games and of editing and harmonisation of IMiLI education resources. They will also collect and analyse teacher–pupil feedback and communicate this to teaching resource creators. The first Regional Centre, IMiLISouth Asia Centre (IMiLISAC; imili. org), New Delhi, was created in 2022; the second, IMiLIEast Asia Headquarters (IMiLIEAH; imilieah. com), in Suzhou was launched in December 2023. Other Regional Centres are currently under discussion. WIDER USE OF THE IMiLI TEACHING RESOURCES While the IMiLI is focused on earlylife education, the IMiLI teaching resources are generic in design and so can be used for all categories of learners, both children–the next generation of adults–and the current generation of adults. Thus, with some minor tweaks in presentation, they will also serve for adult education/ FIGURE 2 The IMiLI teaching resources and their deployment in microbiology education. 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 18 of 39 | EDITORIAL lifelong learning in the classroom and webbased selflearning by both adults and children. Microbiology in universities and colleges • Biology for educators in higher education and teacher training courses. The IMiLI resources are ideal for teacher degree courses because they provide prospective educators with the knowledge of microbiology they need, show how to present and convey complex, technical issues in simple attractive ways and provide precisely the teaching resources they will need as educators. Future educators will learn the subject matter with the same materials they will use to teach it. • Microbiology degree courses. While microbiology courses at college/university are well established and served by excellent texts, like Brock Biology of Microorganisms (Madigan et al., 2021), the individual- /societalcentricity, content, spectrum and emphasis of IMiLI resources, such as the TFs, may encourage some college/university teachers to consider modifications to curriculum content, approach (the 3 E's and 3 I's) and emphasis (students are often informed about what they will learn but not always why). Emphasising the importance of interdependencies in processes, with changes often provoking unanticipated compensatory reactions and decisioning, may gain traction, not only in the context of One Health. The IMiLI philosophy of approaching the curriculum from the standpoints of societal relevance and social equity, as well as emphasis on the broader context, the SDGs, relevance for decisions, etc., may give additional impulses to concept development for college/university learning experiences. For example, medical/clinical microbiology courses often lack the concept/context of the metaorganism/holobiont (though there are initiatives aimed at correcting this, e.g., see https:// cifar. ca/ resea rchprogr ams/ human sthemicro biome/ ), the gutbrain axis and all the other human microbiotahuman organ axes, and human wellbeing being dependent upon microbial diversity and the microbial ecosystem, so the IMiLI concept may encourage the incorporation of such aspects. While information provided in IMiLI resources is written in simple language understandable by educators at a level suitable for transmission to schoolage learners, the messages are universal and thus relevant to higher level education. It is relatively easy to increase level and complexity of IMiLI resources, also to keep up with advances in knowledge, for universitylevel teaching (less easy to lower complexity, which is what the IMiLI is doing). Microbiology research projects and coursework: undergraduate and postgraduate students in some universities are already being offered the creation of IMiLI teaching resources as projects and coursework. For example, a trial group of year2 undergraduates designed games, posters or quizzes based on a TF of their choice that could be used by teachers to enthuse school children of a defined age. With the exception of mature students, university students were themselves recently school pupils, so are in the best position to judge and create what they would have liked to have learned at school. • Elective and mandatory courses in the framework of other degree subjects. Since microbes impact a wide Regional centres • adapt IMiLI resources to the regional needs • translate adapted IMiLI resources into regional languages • create a professional regional language website posting IMiLI resources • network with other Regional Centres; sharing translations to serve multicultural regions/ nations • support educators using the IMiLI resources • develop regional networks of educators to promote the teaching of the IMiLI microbiology curriculum in schools • facilitate exchanges of experience • organise workshops, bootcamps that promote and facilitate the use of IMiLI resources • develop a platform to encourage the exchange of ideas about excursions, experiments and projects • collect and analyse educator–pupil feedback and communicate to teaching resource creators • provide feedback on regional needs of IMiLI to maintain the topicality of resources and practises into the future • organise regional networks of professional microbiologists to promote and facilitate engagement in microbiology outreach activities • recruit additional teaching materials, where needed or useful • obtain financial and logistical support for regional IMiLI tasks, where needed • engage and coordinate with regional and national education agencies and ministries 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License | 19 of 39 EDITORIAL range of activities and processes, the teaching of relevant aspects of microbiology is essential in a number of other bachelor's and master's degree courses, including medicine, nursing, veterinary medicine, dental medicine, public health, biological sciences, zoology, botany, biotechnology, environmental sciences, astrobiology, agriculture, bioengineering, energy, geosciences, food science, materials science, business and economics and more. And, as is the case for schoolchildren, it is important that university students not in the STEM fields develop scientific literacy and knowledge to evaluate media coverage and critically analyse and discuss social issues and concerns relevant to the field of microbiology, including disease and pandemics, antibiotic resistance, the ubiquity of microbial products and humankind's exploitation of the microbial world. In most cases, such students will not have a background that facilitates learning formal microbiology and, in some cases, they may have little science knowledge. The availability of teaching resources in language understandable by the general public will facilitate the creation of courses for nonscientist students. There is also an increasing tendency to make available nonspecialist courses in climate change/sustainability and related topics to all undergraduate students (e.g., https:// www. thegu ardian. com/ world/ 2022/ nov/ 12/ barce l onastude ntstotake - manda toryclima tecrisi s - modul efrom2024; Reimers, 2020; Filho et al., 2021). The IMiLI teaching resources may provide both a model for such courses and a substantial contribution to their content. Lifelong learning–training in a global community of scholars and curiositydriven information searches We anticipate that the freely available resources will become the goto source of citizenrelevant microbiology, including the microbiological basis of/impact on pandemics, like COVID19 and antimicrobial resistance (Coque et al., 2023); crises, such as global warming (Heleno et al., 2020); and good health, like vaccines, probiotics and feeding our microbiomes (see Data S3), but also of how things work, how we explore the possibility of life on other planets and how we discover new products and processes that can serve humanity. Outreach and science communication by academic microbiologists Many of the contributors of IMiLI teaching resources are already involved in different forms of outreach, such as occasional teaching in schools or in public events such as Open Days of universities and other institutions. These activities are important because they seed interest in microbiology among children, educators and the general public and are therefore pioneering activities. However, adapting academic educational resources to produce new outreach materials involves significant time and effort that many overstretched academics can ill afford. The IMiLI has already invested and continues to invest in this effort to create resources designed for educators and learners. These efforts have created an extensive collection of offtheshelf resources describing the most important and relevant microbial activities (Gilmore, 2021). The IMiLI resources thus remove a significant hurdle to engagement in outreach activities and so should encourage more academics to become involved. In addition, the IMiLI resources represent an engaging and comprehensive selection of offtheshelf materials for science communicators, thereby expanding the repertoire of topics they can articulate in their efforts to bring societally relevant microbiology to society. KEY ASPECTS OF THE IMiLI CONCEPT MERITING FURTHER DISCUSSIONS The 3 R's: relevance! relevance! relevance! Excitement, the fun factor, motivation and learnercentricity The goal of the IMiLI curriculum is to transmit information about microbes and their activities that is needed to gain an understanding of ourselves and our place in the biosphere, how things work, what we need to do to maintain and improve our wellbeing and that of other inhabitants of the planet and what can go wrong and what needs to be done to correct things when they do. Wider use of the IMiLI Teaching resources • In universities and colleges • Teacher training degrees • Biology degrees • Microbiology degrees (majors and minors) • Microbiology degree projects and coursework • Elective/mandatory courses for other degrees • Elective/mandatory courses independent of degree courses • Lifelong learning (formal/informal) • Outreach by professional microbiologists • Science communication 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 20 of 39 | EDITORIAL Thus, the curriculum focuses on microbiology topics and concepts relevant to the wellbeing of individuals, society, other life on the Earth and the planet and its various planetary systems, including climate. Today, children of many societies spend a considerable amount of time engaged with screen technologies, including electronic games (https:// en. wikip edia. org/ wiki/ Gamif ication), television and interactive and social media. To engage them and sustain their concentration, the material presented must be relevant to their preoccupations, exciting and tap into their natural fascination for exploration. On the other hand, there is significant global disparity in the life experiences of children in different regions of the world, so the content and design of IMiLI teaching resources seek to captivate and motivate diverse groups. The notion of generic: age dynamics It may seem obvious that we cannot provide teaching materials that are suited for all ages, from preschool to high school! Or can we? Clearly, some topics are too complex for younger children, but others can be taught with different levels of information content, emphases and complexity and so a single knowledge outline/framework could in principle be sufficient for educators to teach multiple age groups. In this regard, it should be noted that, in some parts of the world, especially in remote villages, there may only be one teacher for different classes and agegroups and all pupils of the school may be taught together in the same classroom. A single, generic teaching resource, adaptable to different age groups, may be particularly advantageous in such situations and may even enable different age groups in the same room to link up occasionally and participate in common activities. It may also encourage older pupils to contribute to the teaching of younger ones. And is there an abrupt transition from high school to college/university? Is a 15yearold not able to grasp some of the concepts taught at college/university? And, conversely, aren't some topics destined for 15yearolds equally interesting and relevant to college/ university students? The IMiLI teaching resources are predicated on the principle that many issues are of generic interest to children and adults, while recognising that not all resources will be suitable for all ages. And the advantages are not inconsiderable. The issue of standalone topics Formal education in schools, colleges and universities typically follows a determinative sequence of knowledge acquisition, in which understanding of new information necessitates understanding of previously acquired information. The rationale and advantages of this are obvious and it is difficult to imagine an alternative for subjects like languages and those with an inherent chronology, like history, geology, mathematics, etc. However, for other topics, a flexible knowledge networkbased modular approach might be worth considering. Advantages of a curriculum based on standalone lessons are significant: • Learneradaptable content. The traditional system requires different linked contents for each year. With the type of standalone system the IMiLI is creating, there is a single source of materials for all age groups from which the teacher freely selects content and adapts to whichever class is being taught. This should help motivate educators by allowing them to explore new materials and select just what is most interesting for them, which in turn should generate a more dynamic and inspiring learning environment. • Culturesensitive differences in content. Different cultures emphasise different topics, so different curricula Emphasis on relevance in IMiLI teaching resources • Learner centricity • Personal wellbeing • Planetary wellbeing • Understanding processes that affect us, directly/indirectly • Sustainability • Exploration, discovery, energising natural curiosity • Strengthening links between education and communities. Merits of a single set of teaching resources for all learners • a single, coherent set of teaching resources that can be used across all educational levels, including that of adults within and outside the framework of universities • a single, coherent set of resources for educators to grasp and familiarise • reinforcement of the knowledge and understanding as children progress through school and are provided with more information about the topic from the same resources • facile evolution and updating of IMiLI resources • straightforward engagement of educators and pupils in this evolution and hence facilitation of their stakeholder responsibilities and empowerment 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License | 21 of 39 EDITORIAL must be developed worldwide. With the standalone, modular system, educators can include cultural criteria in the selection process and so adapt curricula to locally prevailing norms and values and requirements. • Educator–learner empowerment. The absence of a mandatory sequence of lessons, allowing educators to pick and choose, empowers them. The learners themselves provide the educators with feedback in expressing preferences and critiques, which will undoubtedly influence educator selections, so this also empowers the learners. • Organic evolution based on educator–learner feedback. Educators are encouraged to provide feedback to the IMiLI and thereby directly influence author revision of the teaching materials and the recruitment of additional TFs on new topics/archiving of less relevant/interesting TFs and hence the dynamic evolution of the curriculum (see also Johnston & Lane, 2021). This represents an important further empowerment of key stakeholders. While educational authorities may wish to maintain certain topics they deem to be essential, teacher– pupil influence on evolution of the curriculum will result in continuous improvement and refining of the curriculum and its thematic relevance. • Engagementmotivation. Knowing that feedback will have consequences should motivate educators and learners alike and foster engagement in the topic. • Advantages for teaching children with different learning abilities or who miss lessons. Some children have difficulties with structured curricula, in which each lesson builds on previous ones, or where the broader relevance and interdependencies of diverse issues are not always clear. Institution of standalone lessons may reduce pressure/stress caused by structured curricula or because children miss lessons, change school and other factors, since missing some lessons does not prejudice comprehension of other (subsequent) lessons. Moreover, since the teaching resources are webbased and freely available, children have the opportunity to explore and catch up on missed content (see also unesco. org/ en/ legalaffai rs/ recom menda tionopeneduca tionalresou rces. oer). • Changes in educators or teaching priorities. Standalone lessons facilitate changes in both teaching priorities and teaching personnel because it is not essential that a new educator continues a specific learning pathway which had been adopted by a predecessor. Examinations and mandated curricula While standalone teaching resources and selection of learning pathways have considerable merit, they may be perceived as incompatible with student assessment and examination practices, or strict locally mandated curricula. This issue is particularly relevant where regional or national examinations relate to specific learning requirements. However, when this arises for classes, it can be handled in various ways: • through designation of some core, examinable topics compulsory for all students, • by focusing on abilities, through formulating generic/ general questions that can be answered whichever topics have been studied, • through project work, such as selecting a MicroStar relevant to their environment, preparing a report on it, presenting orally in class and • through a combination of the above. The interdependence of things and systems thinking As John Muir observed: ‘When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.’ (https:// vault. sierr aclub. org/ john_ muir_ exhib it/ writi ngs/ misqu otes. aspx; see also: ‘Restructure curricula to emphasize interdisciplinary projects and connections between disciplines’: https:// www3. wefor um. org/ doc s/ W EF_ Innov ative_ Lear n ing_ S olut i ons _ to_ Navig ate_ Compl exity_ 2023. pdf). Many leaders confronted with crises tend to view an individual symptom in isolation and develop a response designed to specifically address it, rather than its root causes; they often ignore the fact that, in many instances, a problem faced is inextricably intertwined and integrated with and interdependent on, others. As a result of this linear thinking, an implemented solution strategy may fail because of unseen constraints imposed by other factors and may even engender new, unanticipated, adverse outcomes (as Albert Einstein noted: ‘We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.’). Finding effective solutions to many problems requires systems thinking: careful analysis of the system in which the symptom to be addressed is embedded and exploration of relevant networks, including those elements, the influence of which may not be immediately apparent (https:// syste mthin king. docs. cern. ch; https:// thesy stems think er. com/ makin gthejumptosyste msthink ing/ ; https:// www. youtu be. com/ watch?v= FW6MX qzeg7 M& t= 10s). Leaders frequently consult experts to inform themselves of the key issues underlying problems. However, without awareness of interdependencies, leaders risk creating a restricted, potentially misleading solution strategy framework for the experts they consult, which may engender decisions based primarily on siloed considerations. Modellers are often consulted to provide predictions of future trends, but their models are only as good as the quality and relevance of the boundaries and information upon which they are based. They also do not always incorporate relevant connected variables. As George Box famously stated: ‘all models are wrong, some are useful’. 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 22 of 39 | EDITORIAL To illustrate and emphasise the pervasive interdependence of microbial activities and their influence on problems of current concern, it can be instructive to consider just one topic that is vital to us all, is experienced personally every day and is one of the high priorities of children, namely food (its production, processing, transport, supply to consumers, preparation, consumption, spoilage and fate; see Data S3). This example reveals the web of microbial connections and interdependencies relating inter alia to soil fertility, plant health and resilience to stresses, foodborne infections, food deterioration, food preservation and upgrading, environmental pollution, eutrophication/ oxygen minimum zones/loss of biodiversity, antimicrobial resistance, global warming and energy security. The issue of interdependence may not always be easy to convey and, more importantly, to instil in the deliberations of children (and adults, for that matter). Nevertheless, it is imperative that those being taught are made aware of it so that at least some will attempt to consider the whole picture when faced with the need for a decision. The curriculum in general and the TFs in particular, attempt, where possible, to emphasise the pervasiveness of interdependence and several TFs explicitly deal with the issue, such as Global connectivity and Interconnected nature of environmental problems. One, on the microbiology of romance and reproduction, is designed to expose connectivity in a topic that is likely to be of particular interest to most young adults attaining sexual maturity (see also Timmis, 2023). And there will be one or more Gallery Portraits specifically dedicated to illustrations of systems and linear thinking. Critical thinking Knowledge and understanding of issues–in our case, microbiologyinfluenced issues–underlying problems faced are the enablers of obtaining and evaluating the specific evidence needed for evidencebased decisionmaking. But they are not sufficient for reaching best option decisions, inter alia because of bias. Bias accumulates with age and exposure to biases of others and is one reason why leaders fail to take prompt effective responses to problems and why the public fails to hold them to account. While it is not possible to eliminate personal or cultural biases, it is possible to lessen and counteract them by making children (and adults) aware of different types of biases and teaching them evidencebased deliberation and its value and about misinformation and persuasion by others, so that they as decision takers are more likely to be less biased and stakeholders are more likely to recognise bias in their leaders and hold them to account. Importantly, optimal decisionmaking and problemsolving (https:// en. wikip edia. org/ wiki/ Probl em_ solving) are favoured by critical and systems thinking. Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations and arguments, in order to form a judgement by the application of rational, sceptical and unbiased analyses and evaluation (e.g., see Glaser, 1941; Danchin, 2023; https:// w ww. skill syoun eed. com/ learn/ criti calthink ing. html; https:// plato. stanf ord. edu/ entri es/ criti calthink ing/ ). However, critical thinking is not easy to teach and even more difficult to implement, because it requires both adoption of principles and volition: a certain mental attitude (https:// www. criti calth inking. org/ pages/ defin ingcriti calthink ing/ 766). Especially for younger members of society, it is rather abstract. But, since biases accumulate with age, it is vital to begin as early as possible (Timmis, et al., How to foster critical thinking in school: the microbiologists' approach, in preparation). To confront the conundrum that critical thinking is best taught to older learners, but increasingly compromised by ageaccumulating biases, the IMiLI will initiate awareness of critical thinking in young people by introducing in story form (https:// www. forbes. com/ sites/ shane snow/ 202 3/ 01/ 16/ scien ceshows - human s - have - mas si ve - c apac i ty - forsusta ined - at ten ti onandstory telli ngunloc ksit/ ) –the MicroChats–readily understood practical elements of critical thinking in the context of familiar examples. MicroChats aiming to convey the elements of critical thinking: a selection of those in preparation • What is the evidence? • Plausibility and reasonable doubt (if it seems too good to be true, it probably is) • Correlation and causality • Bias and misinformation • Interdependencies and systems thinking • Limiting parameters/bottlenecks/pinch points: focusing on the key issues • Essentiality: if it ain't broke, don't fix it • Want is not the same as need • Is a decision issue black and white or shades of grey? • Stakeholder involvement: two(+) brains and diverse perspectives are (usually) better than one • Due diligence and cost:benefit analysis • Cost externalisation: a reality check of true costs • Success: has it been defined and can it be measured? • Who benefits (directly; indirectly)? • Talking the talk and walking the walk • Experience versus talent • Benchmarking and best practice • Transparency and accountability • Quality control 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License | 23 of 39 EDITORIAL Stories exemplifying elements of critical thinking also include examples of uncritical thinking to reveal the consequences of the latter. (Simply getting into the habit of posing the question why? to proposed actions and thereby demanding justification (which may lead to some level of cost:benefit discussion), already transfers decisioning into a more healthy framework.) In this way, children learn to apply critical thinking without the baggage of the theory. Collectively, the MicroChats will also aim to integrate critical thinking with systems thinking and problemsolving. The 3 D's: decisioning, decisioning, decisioning (and the vital importance of sustainability considerations) Since the primary goal of education is to develop the minds of children in preparation for adulthood and its everyday events and regular challenges and opportunities that require decisions, an emphasis on informed decisioning best practice is essential. Therefore, key to our deliberations on what should be taught is related to decisioning and the critical and systems thinking underlying it. It is also important to communicate the fact that science and evidence are only the best available at the present time and that future developments may provide new evidence that will require decision/policy modification. In any case, the best decisions can also be wrong, so it is important to communicate the need to monitor the efficacy of decisions–oversight–and reevaluate when needed. One of the key overarching considerations in policy development is sustainability, which is itself a series of highly interdependent aspects of human behaviour and endeavour. This is readily seen in the sustainability development goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations (https:// sdgs. un. org/ 2030a genda ) which, though discrete, are obviously overlapping and interdependent (e.g., poverty, hunger, health, employment). While an old and proven mantra is ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, when something does look as though it will break, the mantra has become ‘if it needs fixing, make sure the fix is consistent with sustainable development’. It is also worth mentioning: considering sustainability aspects of a decision also helps to counter silo thinking. Immersion in the world of microbes, and microbes as teachers To sustainably engage and motivate all pupils, especially those on the margins–to be maximally inclusive–it Key role of microbiology education in equipping children with generic knowledge and problemsolving abilities they will need as adults • providing understanding of fundamental issues central to planetary and personal wellbeing, including the vital importance of microbes • revealing the interconnectedness of things and dangers of consideration of topics in isolation (silo thinking) • fostering critical thinking that will aid them strive for evidencebased, rational decisions and policies • widening vistas by revealing and stimulating interest in other systems and cultures and the options they offer and stimulating outofthebox considerations • encouraging a sense of personal responsibility and involvement for the stateofaffairs and its improvement • inspiring the creativity (artistic and scientific: w ww. wefor um. org/ agenda/ 2023/ 07/ creat ivit yscien c e - matte rs - ways - to - achie ve - it/ ), curiosity and initiative that will be needed to address future societal and environmental problems. The 3 D's: Decisioning! Decisioning! Decisioning (see also Data S4: Terry McGenity)! • informing decisioning (acquiring relevant knowledge and understanding) • the act of decisioning (objectively considering the relevant issues and options to reach a decision and • accountability in decisioning (explaining/justifying decisions and, crucially, taking responsibility for the consequences). 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 24 of 39 | EDITORIAL is essential to make education fun, fascinating from the point of view of the students, relevant to their lives and experiences and that engages and stimulates their inherent thirst for discovery and exploration. Despite the mostly lack of visibility of microbes, microbiology has huge pedagogical advantages. In teaching microbiology, it is essential to leverage these advantages, in particular the opportunities for immersion and immersive experiences. And immersion in microbiology reveals that microbes themselves have much to teach us. Opening vistas for the future Though not explicitly specified in the goals of education discussed at the outset, education should also open vistas for the future personal development of the learner, from the points of view of both career routes and noncareer activities. The pervasiveness of microbial activities that impact human endeavours and human–biosphere–planetary wellbeing has as a consequence that microbiologymicrobial technology knowledge and expertise find application in many different types of careers. Children may be advised on career options by experts, but most experts have little knowledge of the range of careers that benefit from a microbiology knowledge. To rectify this lack of information, the IMiLI will create a comprehensive series of career portraits–the MicroCareers Gallery–that will profile the diverse microbiologyrelevant careers both for children considering career options and for career advisors. This Gallery will also expose the value of microbiology knowledge for careers such as finance (e.g., venture capital investment in startups) not traditionally considered to require expertise in microbiology, to provide new vistas for children that help them imagine their futures in engaging new ways. If we can stimulate excitement that leads to children deciding to get involved in vector control in Africa, exploration of the deep ocean, creation of new preand probiotics to treat/ prevent mental illness, seek microbes that can degrade and recycle recalcitrant wastes, formulate and implement policies to reduce our negative impact on the planet, etc., we will achieve our goals. Some of the diversity of careers exploiting microbiology knowledge and expertise teaching and research healthcare (human, veterinary, dental) pharma forensics chemistry personal care products food industry agriculture environmental protection waste management recycling materials quality control energy mining construction innovation finance and investment diverse government and nongovernment agencies Providing learners with information and materials that set them on the path to exploration and excitement in discovery, encourages and supports longterm satisfying constructive and productive endeavours–professional–leisure–family–community–that benefit them and society. Engagement, fun, play, creative arts and competitions Children who are excited by a subject feel engaged. But there are other ways and means of engaging them. Immersive strategies • Let's make it personal! TF Sections 4, 6, etc. • Let's make it physical! Class and field experiments • Let's make it exciting! Virtual participation in those incredible research expeditions to/ sampling campaigns in exotic places • Let's make it interactive! Class discussions/ competitions relating to TF topics, Gallery portraits • Let's make it empowering! Feedback to teaching materials creators; learner creation of new resources • Let's make it fun! Class excursions; microbial games–art–theatre–music • Let's make it social! Family–friend–citizen science projects. Microbes as teachers–what we can learn from them • Microbes vitalise! They give added value to their habitats (soil, water, air, rocks) • Microbes function almost entirely in partnerships: partnerships bring together key skills to achieve best solutions! • Microbes operate at low energy levels (we can certainly lower our energy consumption) • Microbes integrate processes (and so can we, e.g., integrate CO2producing processes with CO2 capturing/converting processes) • Circular economy of resources • Microbial commons. 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License | 25 of 39 EDITORIAL Children are worried about the future of the world they will inherit, witness the international Friday school strikes to raise awareness about climate change and stimulate mitigating activities (https:// en. wikip edia. org/ wiki/ School_ Strike_ for_ Climate). They are also interested in sustainability and other societally relevant topics. Microbial activities impact many of these topics, so by dealing with them, the curriculum will engage. Children are children, each growing their own lived experience and enjoy playing and social activities, being unserious, challenging one another and having fun, so it is imperative that, where possible, education is fun. The diversity and pervasiveness of microbial activities and impacts upon humans, our pets and plants, the planet, constitutes a huge space for the development of ideas for play, artistic creativity and competitions, such as board games, stories and storytelling, theatre, music, petri dish art (e.g., https:// t w itt er. co m / hasht ag / M ic ro be A rt 2 023? src= hasht ag_ click ) and sand art (https:// drive. google. com/ file/d/ 1tsss hADAD ckp8H X3ge2 FjLZQ cbFI98Y/ view). The IMiLI aims to support educators in this endeavour by providing suggestions for group activities, class competitions, ideas for creative arts, games and so forth. This will be particularly important for the creatives who go cold when they see a science lab (see Data S4: Rachel Armstrong). And, as also can be seen from the Strike for Climate movement, children enjoy interacting with others, especially via social media and participating in international activities, interactions that can amplify their enthusiasm and motivation. To engage and stimulate this enthusiasm for group activities, the IMiLI will encourage development by IMiLI Regional Centres of family–friend network projects, class and school projects and international citizen science projects and competitions (e.g., https:// w ww. soc ie tyfor scien ce. org/ resea rchathome/ citiz enscien ce/ ; McGenity et al., 2020; Shah & Martinez, 2016; https:// tinye arth. wisc. edu; https:// igem. org). Such collaborative and competitive activities can significantly amplify the fun factor, social interactions, engagement and motivation of learners and enrich the teaching experiences of educators (e.g., https:// en. wikip edia. org/ wiki/ Gamif icati on_ of_ learning; https:// acade micte ch. uchic ago. edu/ 2021/ 11/ 23/ intro ducti on - to - t he - useofgamif i c a t i o n - i n - h i g h e r - e d u c a t i o n - p a r t - 1 / ; https:// uwate rloo. c a/ centr eforteach ingexcel le nc e/ cat al o gs / tipsheets/ gamif icati onandgamebased - learning). The fun factor can also be elevated by the explicit interjection of humour into teaching resources themselves, where appropriate and indeed some of the IMiLI materials are explicitly humorous (e.g., video on a doityourself microscope and some of the MicroChats). Another aspect of engagement (and empowerment) of children is their ability to act themselves as educators (Timmis et al., 2020), as agents of knowledge transmission among family members and friend and peer networks. The pupil/studentcentricity of the curriculum, the portrait galleries that expose fascinating personalities of microbes and the family projects being designed, will all stimulate the natural tendency of children to transmit their newly acquired microbiology knowledge and hence their feeling of empowerment. Engendering classroom positivity A great deal has been written about classroom positivity (e.g., ‘Positivity is the foundation for optimism, which can manifest as reduced stress, greater resilience, better problemsolving skills and higher levels of achievement. Positive, optimistic individuals often have greater motivation to work through challenges, both in the classroom and in life.’ https:// www. pbisr ewards. c om/ blog / build - aposit ivec lass ro om - envir onme nt / ) and how it can/should be achieved. However, commonalities include valuing cultural diversity and promoting a feeling of community, encouraging active participation, teacher and mutual support, extending classroom activities outside of school and reinforcing positivity through rewards and incentives for success. While it is not the intention to deal here with the generic issue of classroom positivity, it is important to emphasise how microbiology inherently lends itself to efforts to achieve classroom positivity and how the IMiLI concept leverages this. For example • the value of diversity: the enormous extent of microbial diversity and its value to biosphere health (and, also the contrary: e.g., the problems of monocultures in agriculture; reducing diversity of microbiomes) is a recurring theme in the IMiLI resources, so it is a natural step to initiate class discussions on this topic and then move to human diversity and its value (how do we differ? Role playing imagining we are like someone else: what new things can we contribute, etc.) • community: collaborative class/group projects – examples are provided in the teaching resources, including fun class experiments like preparation of dough for bread and pizza and group work in the creative arts, such as theatre, song and dance and in competitions, etc. designed around microbes • active participation: class discussions/debates on issues suggested inter alia in the TFs, class and home projects including artistic and recreational activities designed around microbes; etc. • extending classroom activities outside of school: joint projects that also involve family and friends; citizen science projects; class excursions that have been suggested by the IMiLI; etc, 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 32 of 39 | EDITORIAL which they provide positive feedback, but also stimulating them to explore and discover new topics that excite them and for which the IMiLI should create new teaching resources. Inherent in the exercise of creating new teaching resources will be a significant degree of autocorrection: authors will read their previous contributions and those of others and note mistakes/ improvements that they hopefully will communicate to the IMiLI for correction. Although ad hoc updating will occur continuously, at some point an IMiLI 2.0 will be needed that will add new materials to reflect changes in local and global situations, improve or delete some of the less useful materials and especially that will respond systematically to suggestions and critiques of educators, children and other end users (e.g., see Figure 5). Current formats may change. This will undoubtedly result in a revised and superior collection of teaching resources cocreated by creators–educators–learners. The current creators of the teaching resources–the hundreds of microbiologists, clinicians, ecologists, biochemists, immunologists, bioinformaticians, bioengineers and more, from all over the world–are also learners! Importantly, creators, educators and the taught are a single, interactive ecosystem that will naturally continue to seek to achieve the best solution for all. As Dieter Czeschlik of Springer Verlag once remarked to KT during a discussion about a handbook series: ‘the second edition is always significantly better than the first’! But, for the reasons stated above, we suspect that the teaching resources of IMiLI 1.0 are groundbreaking and pioneering and therefore will have a special value for the first generation of teacher–learners who use them to learn societally relevant microbiology. KEYWORDS criticalsystems thinking, curriculum change, democratisation of microbiology knowledge, global citizenship, International Microbiology Literacy Initiative (IMiLI), lifelong learning, microbial technologies, societal inequalities, sustainabilitysustainable development goals AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS Kenneth Timmis created the various drafts of the manuscript. The other authors provided additional ideas and suggestions for improvements. Kenneth Timmis1 John E. Hallsworth2 Terry J. McGenity3 Rachel Armstrong4 María Francisca Colom5 Zeynep Ceren Karahan6 Max Chavarría7 Patricia Bernal8 Eric S. Boyd9 Juan Luis Ramos10 Martin Kaltenpoth11 Carla Pruzzo12 Gerard Clarke13 Purificación LópezGarcia14 Michail M. Yakimov15 Jessamyn Perlmutter16 Chris Greening17 Emiley EloeFadrosh18 Willy Verstraete19 Olga C. Nunes20 Oleg Kotsyurbenko21 FIGURE 5 Principal actors in and drivers of evolution of the IMiLI. 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License | 33 of 39 EDITORIAL Pablo Iván Nikel22 Paola Scavone23 Max M. Häggblom24 Rob Lavigne25 Frédérique Le Roux26 James K. Timmis27 Victor Parro28 Carmen Michán29 José Luis García30 Arturo Casadevall31 Shelley M. Payne32 Joachim Frey33 Omry Koren34 James I. Prosser35 Leo Lahti36 Rup Lal37 Shailly Anand38 Utkarsh Sood39 Pierre Offre40 Casey C. Bryce41 Allen Y. Mswaka42 Jörg Jores43 Betül Kaçar44 Lars Mathias Blank45 Nicole Maaßen45 Phillip B. Pope46,47 Horia L. Banciu48 Judith Armitage49 Sang Yup Lee50 Fengping Wang51 Thulani P. Makhalanyane52 Jack A. Gilbert53 Thomas K. Wood54 Branka Vasiljevic55 Mario Soberón56 Zulema Udaondo10 Fernando Rojo57 Jyoti Prakash Tamang58 Tatiana Giraud59 Jeanne Ropars59 Thaddeus Ezeji60 Volker Müller61 Hirofume Danbara62 Beate Averhoff61 Angela Sessitsch63 Laila Pamela PartidaMartínez64 Wei Huang65 Søren Molin66 Pilar Junier67 Ricardo Amils68 XiaoLei Wu69 Eliora Ron70 Huseyin Erten71 Elaine Cristina Pereira de Martinis72 Alexander Rapoport73 Maarja Öpik74 W. Donald R. Pokatong75 Courtney Stairs76 Mohammad Ali Amoozegar77 Jéssica Gil Serna78 1Institute for Microbiology, Technical University of Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany 2Institute for Global Food Security, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, UK 3School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK 4Department of Architecture, KU Leuven, Gent, Belgium 5Laboratory of Medical Mycology, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Alicante, Spain 6Department of Medical Microbiology, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey 7Escuela de Química, CIPRONA, Universidad de Costa Rica & Centro Nacional de Innovaciones Biotecnológicas (CENIBiot), San José, Costa Rica 8Department of Microbiology, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain 9Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA 10Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Granada, Spain 11Department of Insect Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany 12Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences (DISTAV), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy 13Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioural Science and APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland 14Ecologie Systématique Evolution, CNRS, Université ParisSaclay, GifsurYvette, France 15Institute of Polar Sciences, Italian National Research Council (ISPCNR), Messina, Italy 16Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Laurence, Kansas, USA 17Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Australia 18Metagenome Program, DOE Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, California, USA 19Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium 20LEPABELaboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal 21Higher School of Ecology, Yugra State University, KhantyMansiysk, Russia 22Systems Environmental Microbiology 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 34 of 39 | EDITORIAL Group, The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark 23Departamento de Microbiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay 24Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA 25Laboratory of Gene Technology, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium 26Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 27Department of Political Science, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany 28Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), CSICINTA, Madrid, Spain 29Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain 30Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas (CIBMS, CSIC), Madrid, Spain 31Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA 32Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA 33Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland 34Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, BarIlan University, Safed, Israel 35School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK 36Department of Computing, University of Turku, Turku, Finland 37Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, Delhi, India 38Department of Zoology, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, Delhi, India 39Department of Zoology, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, Delhi, India 40Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ–Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Den Burg, The Netherlands 41Cabot Institute for the Environment, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK 42University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK 43Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland 44Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA 45Institute of Applied Microbiology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany 46Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, As, Norway 47Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, NMBU, As, Norway 48Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, BabeșBolyai University, ClujNapoca, Romania 49Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK 50Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), Daejeon, South Korea 51International Center for Deep Life Investigation (ICDLI), Shanghai JiaoTong University, Shanghai, China 52Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa 53Department of Pediatrics and Scripps, Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA 54Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA 55Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia 56Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico 57Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSIC, Madrid, Spain 58Department of Microbiology, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim, India 59Laboratoire Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution (ESE), Université ParisSaclay, GifsurYvette, France 60Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University & OARDC, Wooster, Ohio, USA 61Molekulare Mikrobiologie & Bioenergetik, GoetheUniversität Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany 62Shibasaburo Kitasato Memorial Museum, Kitasato University, Minatoku, Japan 63AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Tulln, Austria 64Departamento de Ingeniería Genética, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios AvanzadosUnidad Irapuato, Irapuato, Mexico 65Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK 66DTU Biosustain, Lyngby, Denmark 67Laboratory of Microbiology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland 68Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Madrid, Spain 69Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License | 35 of 39 EDITORIAL 70The Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel 71Department of Food Engineering, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey 72Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil 73Institute of Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia 74Department of Botany, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia 75Department of Food Technology, Universitas Pelita Harapan, Tangerang, Indonesia 76Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden 77Department of Microbiology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran 78Departamento de Genética, Fisiología y Microbiología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain Correspondence Kenneth Timmis, Division of Microbiology, Technical University of Braunschweig, Spielmannstrasse 7, Braunschweig D38106, Germany. Email: [email protected] ORCID Kenneth Timmis https://orcid. org/0000-0002-0066-4670 John E. Hallsworth https://orcid. org/0000-0001-6797-9362 Terry J. McGenity https://orcid. org/0000-0002-1497-8822 Rachel Armstrong https://orcid. org/0000-0002-3516-6815 María Francisca Colom https://orcid. org/0000-0002-8672-5429 Zeynep Ceren Karahan https://orcid. org/0000-0001-7727-3363 Max Chavarría https://orcid. org/0000-0001-5901-3576 Patricia Bernal https://orcid. org/0000-0002-6228-0496 Eric S. Boyd https://orcid. org/0000-0003-4436-5856 Juan Luis Ramos https://orcid. org/0000-0002-8731-7435 Martin Kaltenpoth https://orcid. org/0000-0001-9450-0345 Carla Pruzzo https://orcid. org/0000-0002-1280-4677 Gerard Clarke https://orcid. org/0000-0001-9771-3979 Purificación LópezGarcia https://orcid. org/0000-0002-0927-0651 Michail M. Yakimov https://orcid. org/0000-0003-1418-363X Jessamyn Perlmutter https://orcid. org/0000-0002-9789-4674 Chris Greening https://orcid. org/0000-0001-7616-0594 Emiley EloeFadrosh https://orcid. org/0000-0002-8162-1276 Willy Verstraete https://orcid. org/0000-0002-3140-3713 Olga C. Nunes https://orcid. org/0000-0003-4742-2537 Oleg Kotsyurbenko https://orcid. org/0000-0002-4748-3017 Pablo Iván Nikel https://orcid. org/0000-0002-9313-7481 Max M. Häggblom https://orcid. org/0000-0001-6307-7863 Rob Lavigne https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7377-1314 Frédérique Le Roux https://orcid. org/0000-0002-9112-6199 James K. Timmis https://orcid. org/0000-0002-7773-0859 Victor Parro https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3738-0724 Carmen Michán https://orcid. org/0000-0003-2921-0987 Arturo Casadevall https://orcid. org/0000-0002-9402-9167 Shelley M. Payne https://orcid. org/0000-0003-3112-4340 Joachim Frey https://orcid. org/0000-0001-9133-0280 Omry Koren https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7738-1337 James I. Prosser https://orcid. org/0000-0003-1757-5102 Rup Lal https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8364-8547 Shailly Anand https://orcid. org/0000-0001-7852-3512 Utkarsh Sood https://orcid. org/0000-0002-0886-0107 Pierre Offre https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3660-2164 Casey C. Bryce https://orcid. org/0000-0002-1132-5201 Allen Y. Mswaka https://orcid. org/0000-0003-4868-1530 Jörg Jores https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3790-5746 Betül Kaçar https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0482-2357 Lars Mathias Blank https://orcid. org/0000-0003-0961-4976 Phillip B. Pope https://orcid. org/0000-0002-2067-4059 Horia L. Banciu https://orcid. org/0000-0002-6563-3226 Judith Armitage https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4983-9731 17517915, 2024, 5, Downloaded from https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-7915.14456 by Universidad De Sevilla, Wiley Online Library on [28/05/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 36 of 39 | EDITORIAL Sang Yup Lee https://orcid. org/0000-0003-0599-3091 Fengping Wang https://orcid. org/0000-0002-0376-6947 Thulani P. Makhalanyane https://orcid. org/0000-0002-8173-1678 Jack A. Gilbert https://orcid. org/0000-0001-7920-7001 Thomas K. Wood https://orcid. org/0000-0002-6258-529X Branka Vasiljevic https://orcid. org/0000-0002-2315-3590 Mario Soberón https://orcid. org/0000-0002-1593-9227 Zulema Udaondo https://orcid. org/0000-0003-3445-6842 Fernando Rojo https://orcid. org/0000-0003-1848-7745 Tatiana Giraud https://orcid. org/0000-0002-2685-6478 Jeanne Ropars https://orcid. org/0000-0002-3740-9673 Thaddeus Ezeji https://orcid. org/0000-0002-8384-895X Volker Müller https://orcid. org/0000-0001-7955-5508 Beate Averhoff https://orcid. org/0000-0003-1460-3649 Angela Sessitsch https://orcid. org/0000-0003-0137-930X Laila Pamela PartidaMartínez https://orcid. org/0000-0001-8037-2856 Wei Huang https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1302-6528 Søren Molin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7973-2639 Pilar Junier https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8618-3340 Ricardo Amils https://orcid. org/0000-0002-7560-1033 XiaoLei Wu https://orcid. org/0000-0002-9897-6903 Eliora Ron https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2615-8685 Huseyin Erten https://orcid. org/0000-0003-1537-2416 Elaine Cristina Pereira de Martinis https://orcid. org/0000-0002-6089-6238 Alexander Rapoport https://orcid. org/0000-0002-6185-0039 Maarja Öpik https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8025-7460 W. 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