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, food-borne 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, microbiology-influenced issues—underlying problems faced are the enablers of obtaining and evaluating the specific evidence needed for evidence-based decision-making. 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 evidence-based 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 decision-making and problem-solving (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_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://www skillsyouneed.com/learn/critical-thinking.html; https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/critical-thinking/).

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.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/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 age-accumulating biases, the IMiLI will initiate awareness of critical thinking in young people by introducing in story form (https://www.forbes.com/sites/shanesnow/2023/01/16/science-shows-humans-have-massive-capacity-for-sustained-attention-and-storytelling-unlocks-it/)–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
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, food-borne 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, microbiology-influenced issues—underlying problems faced are the enablers of obtaining and evaluating the specific evidence needed for evidence-based decision-making. 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 evidence-based 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 decision-making and problem-solving (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_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://www skillsyouneed.com/learn/critical-thinking.html; https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/critical-thinking/).

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.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/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 age-accumulating biases, the IMiLI will initiate awareness of critical thinking in young people by introducing in story form (https://www.forbes.com/sites/shanesnow/2023/01/16/science-shows-humans-have-massive-capacity-for-sustained-attention-and-storytelling-unlocks-it/)–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
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 problem-solving.

## Key role of microbiology education in equipping children with generic knowledge and problem-solving abilities they will need as adults

* providing understanding of fundamental issues central to planetary and personal well-being, 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 evidence-based, rational decisions and policies

* widening vistas by revealing and stimulating interest in other systems and cultures and the options they offer and stimulating *out-of-the-box* considerations

* encouraging a sense of personal responsibility and involvement for the state-of-affairs and its improvement

* inspiring the creativity (artistic and scientific: www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/07/creativity-science-matters-ways-to-achieve-it/), curiosity and initiative that will be needed to address future societal and environmental problems.

## 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 re-evaluate when needed.

## 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).

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/2030agenda) 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
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 problem-solving.

## Key role of microbiology education in equipping children with generic knowledge and problem-solving abilities they will need as adults

* providing understanding of fundamental issues central to planetary and personal well-being, 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 evidence-based, rational decisions and policies

* widening vistas by revealing and stimulating interest in other systems and cultures and the options they offer and stimulating *out-of-the-box* considerations

* encouraging a sense of personal responsibility and involvement for the state-of-affairs and its improvement

* inspiring the creativity (artistic and scientific: www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/07/creativity-science-matters-ways-to-achieve-it/), curiosity and initiative that will be needed to address future societal and environmental problems.

## 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 re-evaluate when needed.

## 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).

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/2030agenda) 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
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.

## 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.

And immersion in microbiology reveals that microbes themselves have much to teach us.

## 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 CO₂-producing processes with CO₂ capturing/converting processes)

* Circular economy of resources

* Microbial commons.

## 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 non-career activities. The pervasiveness of microbial activities that impact human endeavours and human-biosphere-planetary well-being has as a consequence that microbiology-microbial 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 IMI LI will create a comprehensive series of career portraits—the MicroCareers Gallery—that will profile the diverse microbiology-relevant 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 start-ups) 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 pre- and 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 non-

government

agencies

Providing learners with information and materials that set them on the path to exploration and excitement in discovery, encourages and supports long-term 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.
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.

## 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.

And immersion in microbiology reveals that microbes themselves have much to teach us.

## 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 CO₂-producing processes with CO₂ capturing/converting processes)

* Circular economy of resources

* Microbial commons.

## 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 non-career activities. The pervasiveness of microbial activities that impact human endeavours and human-biosphere-planetary well-being has as a consequence that microbiology-microbial 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 IMI LI will create a comprehensive series of career portraits-the MicroCareers Gallery-that will profile the diverse microbiology-relevant 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 start-ups) 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 pre- and 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 non-

government

agencies

Providing learners with information and materials that set them on the path to exploration and excitement in discovery, encourages and supports long-term 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.
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.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_Strike_for_Climatesrc=hashtagclick) and sand art (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tssshADADckp8HX3ge2FjLZQcb-FI98Y/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).

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 sto-rytelling, theatre, music, petri dish art (e.g., https://twitter.com/hashtag/MicrobeArt2023?src=hashtagclick) and sand art (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tssshADADckp8HX3ge2FjLZQcb-FI98Y/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, espe-cially 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 develop-ment by IMiLI Regional Centres of family–friend network projects, class and school projects and international citizen science projects and competitions (e.g., https://www.societyforscience.org/research-at-home/citizen-science/; McGenity et al., 2020; Shah & Martinez, 2016; https://tinyearth.wisc.edu; https://igem.org). Such col-laborative and competitive activities can significantly amplify the fun factor, social interactions, engagement and motivation of learners and enrich the teaching expe-riences of educators (e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification_of-learning; https://academictech.uchic.ago.edu/2021/11/23/introduction-to-the-use-of-gamification-in-higher-education-part-1/; https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/catalogs/tip-sheets/gamification-and-game-based-learning).

The fun factor can also be elevated by the ex-plicit interjection of humour into teaching resources themselves, where appropriate and indeed some of the IMiLI materials are explicitly humorous (e.g., video on a do-it-yourself 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 knowl-edge transmission among family members and friend and peer networks. The pupil/student-centricity 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 posi-tivity (e.g., 'Positivity is the foundation for optimism, which can manifest as reduced stress, greater resi-lience, better problem-solving 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.pbisrewards.com/blog/build-a-positive-classroom-environment/) and how it can/should be achieved. However, common-alities include valuing cultural diversity and promoting a feeling of community, encouraging active participa-tion, 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 lever-ages this. For example

* the value of diversity: the enormous extent of micro-bial 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 nat-ural 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 some-one else: what new things can we contribute, etc.)

* community: collaborative class/group projects – ex-amples are provided in the teaching resources, in-cluding fun class experiments like preparation of dough for bread and pizza and group work in the cre-ative arts, such as theatre, song and dance and in competitions, etc. designed around microbes

* active participation: class discussions/debates on is-sues 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.
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.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_Strike_for_Climatesrc=hashtagclick) and sand art (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tssshADADckp8HX3ge2FjLZQcb-FI98Y/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).

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://twitter.com/hashtag/MicrobeArt2023?src=hashtagclick) and sand art (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tssshADADckp8HX3ge2FjLZQcb-FI98Y/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://www.societyforscience.org/research-at-home/citizen-science/; McGenity et al., 2020; Shah & Martinez, 2016; https://tinyearth.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.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification_of-learning; https://academictech.uchic.edu/2021/11/23/introduction-to-the-use-of-gamification-in-higher-education-part-1/; https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/catalogs/tip-sheets/gamification-and-game-based-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 do-it-yourself 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/student-centricity 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 problem-solving 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.pbisrewards.com/blog/build-a-positive-classroom-environment/) 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.
An important aspect of the IMiLI that relates to disad-
vantaged children and classroom positivity is language.
Quite apart from multicultural societies whose schools
may handle well (or, in some cases, less well) the teach-
ing of children (and in some cases adults) whose mother
tongues may differ from the official national/regional lan-
guage, current mass migrations are resulting in children
being incorporated in significant numbers from one day
to the next into classrooms in which lessons are held in
a-for them-hardly-understood foreign language. While
children in general quickly acquire new languages, the
transition period can be difficult, stressful and may result
in some falling behind. Having the teaching materials
available in their own languages may reduce this. The
different Regional Centres will be creating translations
of IMiLI resources which they will post on their websites
for anyone to access. So, for example, a Chinese pupil
transferred into a German school will be able to access
Chinese translations of IMiLI lessons.

And, of course, although classroom positivity is an
important issue, some children, such as those in conflict
zones, or who are politically constrained, may not have
the benefit of a teacher in a classroom. In such cases,
where Internet is available, the online availability of IMiLI
teaching materials may, for some, enable self-education
and provide opportunities to engage with other like-
minded peers and educators across the globe.

The biodiversity mindset—
appreciation and the respect of
human diversity and dignity—and the
inclusivity contract

Much tension and conflict in the world is caused by dif-
ferences (real, perceived or imaginary) that may distin-
guish one type of person from another, including those
relating to biases of personal preferences, gender, medi-
cal/genetic issues and disabilities, etc. Some of our com-
monalities may be minimised and differences maximised,
distorted and even weaponised by those who seek to gain
and maintain influence and power through divisiveness,
demonisation of others and propagation of discrimination
(Afshar, 2013; Ejiofor, 2023; Feldman, 2023). A powerful
means of counteracting this are efforts to create knowl-
edge, understanding and familiarity of others, reveal and
emphasise our commonalities (including our microbi-
omes), encourage appreciation and respect of the value
of diversity and humanity, have empathy for the disad-
vantaged and promote contact, dialogue and friendship
between diverse groups and peoples (e.g., see SDG 10).

Exceptions notwithstanding, biologists in general and
microbiologists in particular love and treasure biodiver-
sity for a host of reasons including the beauty of variation
in form or function (e.g., flowers, butterflies, sulfur-
oxidising bacterla), the high stability and functionality of
biodiverse ecosystems and the efficiency of resource

utilisation in diverse communities (e.g., see Timmis
et al., 2023). Microbes inform us of the advantages of
living together and of engaging in beneficial transactions
with different organisms. *Microbiologists have a special
and compelling duty to inform human society of the ben-
efits of diversity and the tragedy of 'othering'.*

A characteristic feature of the teaching resources pro-
vided by the IMiLI is that their authors are clearly speci-
fied: educators and learners can see that a resource has
been created by a particular expert or group of experts
in India, China, the United States, Costa Rica, Mexico,
Italy, Nigeria, Australia, Russia, France, Germany and
so on, i.e., by people from all over the world and diverse
cultures. Since many TF authors are willing to act as
mentors and interact with educators and children, at
least in the context of the teaching resources they have
created and, in some cases, in the wider context of mi-
crobiology, there exists the possibility of a teacher/child
from Ethiopia being mentored by an Australian microbi-
ologist, a teacher/child from Denmark being mentored
by a Kenyan microbiologist and so on. Such interactions
will promote the evolution of international networks of
microbiology education and citizen knowledge acqui-
sition and exchange and, importantly, create familiarity
with other peoples and cultures. These will be reinforced
by IMiLI Citizen Science projects, which will not only
create common projects in different parts of the world
but also provide global social networking opportunities
for the children and educators who participate in them.
Such elements of the IMiLI concept will, in some cases,
result in the blossoming of international friendships and
formation of groups with similar interests.

Furthermore, as revealed in IMiLI teaching resources,
many microbial technologies, current and in develop-
ment, e.g., malaria vaccines, frugal diagnostics, seed
inoculants, are specifically targeted for regions different
from those where they are developed and their deploy-
ment involves a diverse spectrum of actors from different
fields. And the research and development underpinning
such advances is an international endeavour and relies
on the input, expertise and resources (natural, intellec-
tual, experience, knowledge) of scientists from different
countries and backgrounds representing a diversity of
opinions, traditions, cultures, etc. Just as there are in-
terdependencies of different microbes in environmental
processes, so there are interdependencies of humans
with different skills from different regions and cultures
crucial to the implementation of microbial solutions to
pressing local, regional and global problems.

The IMiLI teaching resources and activities will thus
enable educators and learners to appreciate the nature
of science and the importance of diversity – microbial and
human – and should help erode perceived differences
between peoples and lead to better appreciation of our
shared commonalities. This, in turn should help counter-
act bias, prejudice and attempts to emphasise and distort
differences. We hope that the strategic aim of the IMiLI to
help fulfil *the inclusivity contract of society*, will eventually be reinforced by the creation of international study programmes/stipends to promote the internationalisation of microbiology education and its democratisation.

## Provision of basic goods and resources, levelling up and social equity

A consequence of integrating the IMiLI resources into school curricula is that children worldwide will learn about the huge diversity of biotechnological applications (and other potential applications) of microbial activities and their ability to satisfy many basic needs, including the provision of clean water, sanitation, vaccines, medicines, food security, new enterprises and jobs and thereby contribute to the provision of basic goods and services considered to be a human right: a *birth right* (Anand et al., 2023). Appreciation of relevant microbiology and social responsibilities gained in school will inform decisions in adulthood to implement measures inter alia to level up, to fight poverty and hunger, to use effective biotechnologies to promote a wide range of improvements in human well-being and thus enhance human dignity. As we have discussed elsewhere (Anand et al., 2023), asymmetries in basic goods and services can become a source of conflicts, so more fairly (re-)distributing basic goods and services across the globe can also reduce such conflicts and promote peace and prosperity.

## Potential humanitarian reach of a curriculum in societally relevant microbiology

Microbes and their activities affect all living beings and thereby constitute the functional glue of the biosphere. Microbes also glue the biosphere to the geosphere and atmosphere. Might the IMiLI, in its effort to reveal the microbial world and how it affects us all, and to microbially engage children (and adults) globally, become an international humanitarian glue? And in emphasising the potential of microbial technologies to provide basic services and goods where they are lacking, and the importance of deploying them, the IMiLI may contribute in some measure to improvement of the human condition and increasing human dignity. While it may be going too far to suggest that the IMiLI will directly contribute to efforts to reduce conflicts in the world, in opening children's minds to the richness and value of human diversity, our similarities and our ability to leverage microbial activities to diminish social inequalities, it should reinforce other endeavours and may well have a cumulative positive impact over time.

## Teaching in informal settlements and refugee camps

The world population is currently around 8 billion. Of these, 1 billion live in informal settlements (https://gsgii.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/informal-settlements-report-2022.pdf) with another 6.6 million living in refugee camps. (https://www.unrefugees.org/news/refuge-camps-explained/). More than 100 million people are classified as displaced, i.e., have lost their homes, and the rising trajectory of human displacement is alarming (https://www.unhcr.org/about-unhcr/who-we-are/figures-glance). In all these situations, there are large numbers of children whose education is challenging but crucial. According to UNESCO, about 244 million children do not attend school (244 M children won't start the new school year|Global Education Monitoring Report (unesco.org).

While the IMiLI cannot contribute directly to increasing the number of children in education, by creating teaching materials that emphasise child interest and that are relevant to problems encountered in informal settlements and refugee camps, such as water, hygiene, infections, pollution, crops and food, it can stimulate educators and learners, encourage regional would-be educators to engage, and perhaps stimulate improvements in settlement practices and organisation (Hallsworth et al., in preparation).

## The microbiology education value chain and cloud

The concept of value chains developed by Porter (Porter, 1985; see also https://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/education/graduate-study/pgcerts/value-chain-defs), deals with the chain of activities that an organisation performs to create a product of value for a customer and the manner in which value is added along the chain. The goal is to identify activities in the chain where optimisation can add value to the system. Value can be financial, but also ethical, environmental, and societal. Customer feedback is often a key driver of value addition.

Education has vital consequences for individuals and society which are sometimes depicted as an educational value chain (e.g., Dorri et al., 2012; Mpofu & Chikati, 2013). In education (and other contexts), value chains, like food chains, are not linear but branched and constitute a web or network, which increases the scope for adding value. Education value chains available on the Internet are often restricted to the educational context—university, school, business. One notion of the educational value chain is: Information-Knowledge-Wisdom-Changed mindset-Changed behaviour-Influencing others to change their mindset and behaviour (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/knowledge-wisdom-education-value-chain-formula-d/),
help fulfil *the inclusivity contract of society*, will eventually be reinforced by the creation of international study programmes/stipends to promote the internationalisation of microbiology education and its democratisation.

## Provision of basic goods and resources, levelling up and social equity

A consequence of integrating the IMiLI resources into school curricula is that children worldwide will learn about the huge diversity of biotechnological applications (and other potential applications) of microbial activities and their ability to satisfy many basic needs, including the provision of clean water, sanitation, vaccines, medicines, food security, new enterprises and jobs and thereby contribute to the provision of basic goods and services considered to be a human right: a *birth right* (Anand et al., 2023). Appreciation of relevant microbiology and social responsibilities gained in school will inform decisions in adulthood to implement measures inter alia to level up, to fight poverty and hunger, to use effective biotechnologies to promote a wide range of improvements in human well-being and thus enhance human dignity. As we have discussed elsewhere (Anand et al., 2023), asymmetries in basic goods and services can become a source of conflicts, so more fairly (re-)distributing basic goods and services across the globe can also reduce such conflicts and promote peace and prosperity.

## Potential humanitarian reach of a curriculum in societally relevant microbiology

Microbes and their activities affect all living beings and thereby constitute the functional glue of the biosphere. Microbes also glue the biosphere to the geosphere and atmosphere. Might the IMiLI, in its effort to reveal the microbial world and how it affects us all, and to microbially engage children (and adults) globally, become an international humanitarian glue? And in emphasising the potential of microbial technologies to provide basic services and goods where they are lacking, and the importance of deploying them, the IMiLI may contribute in some measure to improvement of the human condition and increasing human dignity. While it may be going too far to suggest that the IMiLI will directly contribute to efforts to reduce conflicts in the world, in opening children's minds to the richness and value of human diversity, our similarities and our ability to leverage microbial activities to diminish social inequalities, it should reinforce other endeavours and may well have a cumulative positive impact over time.

## Teaching in informal settlements and refugee camps

The world population is currently around 8 billion. Of these, 1 billion live in informal settlements (https://gsgii.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/informal-settlements-report-2022.pdf) with another 6.6 million living in refugee camps. (https://www.unrefugees.org/news/refuge-camps-explained/). More than 100 million people are classified as displaced, i.e., have lost their homes, and the rising trajectory of human displacement is alarming (https://www.unhcr.org/about-unhcr/who-we-are/figures-glance). In all these situations, there are large numbers of children whose education is challenging but crucial. According to UNESCO, about 244 million children do not attend school (244 M children won't start the new school year|Global Education Monitoring Report (unesco.org).

While the IMiLI cannot contribute directly to increasing the number of children in education, by creating teaching materials that emphasise child interest and that are relevant to problems encountered in informal settlements and refugee camps, such as water, hygiene, infections, pollution, crops and food, it can stimulate educators and learners, encourage regional would-be educators to engage, and perhaps stimulate improvements in settlement practices and organisation (Hallsworth et al., in preparation).

## The microbiology education value chain and cloud

The concept of value chains developed by Porter (Porter, 1985; see also https://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/education/graduate-study/pgcerts/value-chain-defs), deals with the chain of activities that an organisation performs to create a product of value for a customer and the manner in which value is added along the chain. The goal is to identify activities in the chain where optimisation can add value to the system. Value can be financial, but also ethical, environmental, and societal. Customer feedback is often a key driver of value addition.

Education has vital consequences for individuals and society which are sometimes depicted as an educational value chain (e.g., Dorri et al., 2012; Mpofu & Chikati, 2013). In education (and other contexts), value chains, like food chains, are not linear but branched and constitute a web or network, which increases the scope for adding value. Education value chains available on the Internet are often restricted to the educational context—university, school, business. One notion of the educational value chain is: Information-Knowledge-Wisdom-Changed mindset-Changed behaviour-Influencing others to change their mindset and behaviour (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/knowledge-wisdom-education-value-chain-formula-d/),
which has the virtue of emphasising the progression of knowledge acquisition to mindset change, i.e., of being transformative and supporting development of problem-solving skills.

But education has almost limitless consequences for humanity and a far-ranging value web. Figure 3 integrates the issues discussed above into an education value cloud. Some of the elements are microbiology education-specific, but the majority are or should be generic. We elected to depict the microbiology education value cloud in terms of increasing societal scale and complexity, ranging from the values added at the personal level, to those at the family–community–national and global levels, but there are obviously other ways of representing opportunities to add value to education, including a more traditional way involving a branching path.

Intervention opportunities to increase value from education in societally relevant microbiology that are apparent from Figure 3 are numerous. They include increasing emphasis on microbial technology applications to improve social equity, frugal innovation and levelling up, increasing emphasis on critical and systems thinking to reduce bias and the impact of misinformation and to increase the efficacy of political decisions at all levels. As is the case for classical commercial value chains, customer–in our case the educator-learner–feedback is essential to maximise options to add value.

Another important utility of the educational value web is that it reveals the comprehensive set of values that education embodies. The knock-on effects of education are all pervasive, ranging from personal development and betterment to consequences for the family and friends, career, the economy, sustainability, societal well-being and the future of the biosphere and planet. However, despite the obvious societal importance of education, in many societies it is undervalued, as reflected in the facts that teachers are relatively underpaid (compared with say bankers, lawyers) and overworked because of understaffing, their societal status does not reflect the importance of their work and there is serious underinvestment in education infrastructure. Underinvestment in education seriously constrains the development and realisation of inherent potential of young people and, as a consequence, prejudices overall economic performance and sustainability. It is worth noting that subsidies for strategic industries and recruitment of individuals with specific skill sets cannot recoup this lost potential. Given the pervasive power of microbial technologies to solve problems and create novel products and processes, the IMiLI will seek to explore, extend and make apparent to society the educational value chain/web, with the explicit aim of raising appreciation of education and educators and the need to support them better and allocate them their rightful place in society.

IMILI MICROBIOLOGY EDUCATION VALUE CLOUD

<table><caption>FIGURE 3 The societally relevant microbiology education value cloud.</caption><thead><tr><th>TEACHING ELEMENTS</th><th>PROMOTION OF</th><th>PERSONAL/FAMILY</th><th>COMMUNITY/SOCIETY</th><th>NATIONAL</th><th>INTERNATIONAL</th><th>GLOBAL: SUSTAINABILITY</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Societally-relevant microbiology</td><td>Understanding of the vital roles of microbes</td><td>Personal development</td><td>Stewardship/ stakeholder activities</td><td>Contribution to the economy</td><td>Effective, informed international agencies</td><td>Circular economy</td></tr><tr><td>Microbial Technology applications</td><td>Understanding of who we are</td><td>Nurturing of individual talents/ satisfaction</td><td>Civic engagement: local/global</td><td>Business development/ employment creation</td><td>Sustainable decisions/ policies</td><td>Net zero carbon</td></tr><tr><td>Class experiments</td><td>Curiosity, open-mindedness</td><td>Personal networks</td><td>Societal networks</td><td>Increased use of existing microbial technologies/ advancement of bioeconomy</td><td>Social equity/ reduction of asymmetries in global resources and services</td><td>Frugal innovation/resource conservation</td></tr><tr><td>Class excursions</td><td>Interdisciplinarity</td><td>Wellbeing</td><td>Countering bias/ misinformation</td><td>Ethical business</td><td></td><td>Humanitarian/plane tary benefits of new microbiology technologies</td></tr><tr><td>Citizen science</td><td>Evidence-based opinions/ decisions</td><td>Employment/ career: Income</td><td></td><td>Inter-governmental policy development</td><td>Microbiology discoveries</td><td>Levelling up</td></tr><tr><td>Sustainability</td><td>Life-long learning</td><td>Careers in microbiology</td><td></td><td>Microbiology research</td><td></td><td>Environmental protection</td></tr><tr><td>Critical/systems thinking; decisioning</td><td>Vocational education</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Biodiversity conservation</td></tr><tr><td>Stewardship, citizenship</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Biosphere wellbeing</td></tr><tr><td>Social equity</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>
which has the virtue of emphasising the progression of knowledge acquisition to mindset change, i.e., of being transformative and supporting development of problem-solving skills.

But education has almost limitless consequences for humanity and a far-ranging value web. Figure 3 integrates the issues discussed above into an education value cloud. Some of the elements are microbiology education-specific, but the majority are or should be generic. We elected to depict the microbiology education value cloud in terms of increasing societal scale and complexity, ranging from the values added at the personal level, to those at the family–community–national and global levels, but there are obviously other ways of representing opportunities to add value to education, including a more traditional way involving a branching path.

Intervention opportunities to increase value from education in societally relevant microbiology that are apparent from Figure 3 are numerous. They include increasing emphasis on microbial technology applications to improve social equity, frugal innovation and levelling up, increasing emphasis on critical and systems thinking to reduce bias and the impact of misinformation and to increase the efficacy of political decisions at all levels. As is the case for classical commercial value chains, customer–in our case the educator-learner–feedback is essential to maximise options to add value.

Another important utility of the educational value web is that it reveals the comprehensive set of values that education embodies. The knock-on effects of education are all pervasive, ranging from personal development and betterment to consequences for the family and friends, career, the economy, sustainability, societal well-being and the future of the biosphere and planet. However, despite the obvious societal importance of education, in many societies it is undervalued, as reflected in the facts that teachers are relatively underpaid (compared with say bankers, lawyers) and overworked because of understaffing, their societal status does not reflect the importance of their work and there is serious underinvestment in education infrastructure. Underinvestment in education seriously constrains the development and realisation of inherent potential of young people and, as a consequence, prejudices overall economic performance and sustainability. It is worth noting that subsidies for strategic industries and recruitment of individuals with specific skill sets cannot recoup this lost potential. Given the pervasive power of microbial technologies to solve problems and create novel products and processes, the IMiLI will seek to explore, extend and make apparent to society the educational value chain/web, with the explicit aim of raising appreciation of education and educators and the need to support them better and allocate them their rightful place in society.

IMILI MICROBIOLOGY EDUCATION VALUE CLOUD

<table><caption>FIGURE 3 The societally relevant microbiology education value cloud.</caption><thead><tr><th>TEACHING ELEMENTS</th><th>PROMOTION OF</th><th>PERSONAL/FAMILY</th><th>COMMUNITY/SOCIETY</th><th>NATIONAL</th><th>INTERNATIONAL</th><th>GLOBAL: SUSTAINABILITY</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Societally-relevant microbiology</td><td>Understanding of the vital roles of microbes</td><td>Personal development</td><td>Stewardship/stakeholder activities</td><td>Contribution to the economy</td><td>Effective, informed international agencies</td><td>Circular economy</td></tr><tr><td>Microbial Technology applications</td><td>Understanding of who we are</td><td>Nurturing of individual talents/satisfaction</td><td>Civic engagement: local/global</td><td>Business development/ employment creation</td><td>Sustainable decisions/policies</td><td>Net zero carbon</td></tr><tr><td>Class experiments</td><td>Curiosity, open-mindedness</td><td>Personal networks</td><td>Societal networks</td><td>Increased use of existing microbial technologies/ advancement of bioeconomy</td><td>Social equity/ reduction of asymmetries in global resources and services</td><td>Frugal innovation/resource conservation</td></tr><tr><td>Class excursions</td><td>Interdisciplinarity</td><td>Wellbeing</td><td>Countering bias/misinformation</td><td>Ethical business</td><td></td><td>Humanitarian/plane tary benefits of new microbiology technologies</td></tr><tr><td>Citizen science</td><td>Evidence-based opinions/ decisions</td><td>Employment/career: Income</td><td></td><td>Inter-governmental policy development</td><td>Microbiology discoveries</td><td>Levelling up</td></tr><tr><td>Sustainability</td><td>Life-long learning</td><td>Careers in microbiology</td><td></td><td>Microbiology research</td><td></td><td>Environmental protection</td></tr><tr><td>Critical/systems thinking; decisioning</td><td>Vocational education</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Biodiversity conservation</td></tr><tr><td>Stewardship, citizenship</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Biosphere wellbeing</td></tr><tr><td>Social equity</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>
# CONCLUDING REMARKS

## The need for change: IMiLI an enabler of change

**Formal education.** Calls for change in school curricula, to make future generations of adults fitter for the challenges they will face, are increasing in frequency (https://widgets.weforum.org/nve-2015/chapter1.html; https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/report_on_the_2022_transforming_education_summit.pdf). While the case for change is irrefutable, key questions are (i) what new elements (subjects/topics; teaching methods, etc.) are needed, (ii) to what purpose and (iii) how should they be integrated into existing curricula? Much discussion about what changes are needed in education focuses on employment skills needed for national economic development (The reskilling revolution: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/09/universities-adapt-future-of-learning-skills-work/). However, the well-being of individuals, nations and the biosphere is determined by more than employment and national economies, not least because we and future generations face/will face crises that seriously impact diverse aspects of humanity and the planet. Therefore, change in school curricula is needed not only to improve employability potential, but also to elevate awareness of broader societal and planetary challenges, and understanding of their causes and potential solutions and prepare people for significant behavioural and societal change. And we should not neglect the importance of philosophy in personal development (O'Malley, 2016; O'Malley & Parke, 2020); indeed the philosophy of microbiology is a theme in the IMiLI curriculum.

Many of the problems faced by humanity have microbiological solutions or mitigation actions, problems and solutions that also impact employment and economies. Indeed, the core of the bioeconomy (www.fao.org/interactive/bioeconomy/en/) and much of the Green Deal (www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/green-deal/) is based on microbial technologies. Educating children in societally relevant microbiology will provide them with important knowledge and skills that are key to informed decisions relating to their personal well-being, citizenship and economic development.

Major societal challenges are worsening inequalities, inadequacies in basic goods and services in impoverished communities, bias-driven polarisation of opinions and societal fragmentation and disinformation amplified by social media. Such challenges need to be countered by promoting at an early age critical-systems thinking, global citizenship and the value of diversity and sustainability. While classical teaching also emphasises ramifications and applications of the subjects taught, the resources being created by the IMiLI aim to go beyond this and teach and raise awareness of societally relevant skills and qualities, such as critical

thinking and objective, evidence-based discussion, opinion-building and decisioning, the interconnectedness of things, systems thinking and problem-solving, sustainability, stewardship and stakeholder responsibility and activities, global citizenship and responsibilities and the educational value chain.

Current education at all levels is mainly organised along disciplinary lines with disciplinary boundaries often acting as barriers to exploration of transdisciplinary networks. But, life is a web of interconnected experiences, issues to understand and problems to solve, just like that of the larger biosphere of which we are a part. For children to become adults who look beyond the saucer, make connections that are vital to identifying the underlying problem rather than just seeing the symptoms, it is essential that interdependencies are not only revealed to them but shown to be pervasive. This can be done by both dedicated teaching of interdisciplinarity, illustrated by practical, everyday examples and through exposing the connections between disciplines. By dealing with microbial activities that impact societally relevant issues and their ramifications, the IMiLI seeks to counter teaching, thinking, opinion formation and decisioning from disciplinary silos.

**Lifelong learning.** Lifelong learning has always been the activity of scholars and the curious, but is growing in importance for a number of reasons that include opportunity (increasing longevity/longer retirement can provide time previously lacking during periods of employment), greater availability of educational resources (especially on the Internet) and the need to learn new skills for employment (https://www.uil.unesco.org/en/unesco-institute/mandate/lifelong-learning). Lifelong learning is also a growing priority of various organisations, including the United Nations, which has included it in its SDGs (Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all; ...) and the European Commission ('To succeed, lifelong learning for all must become a reality in Europe.' (p. 4: https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/sites/default/files/2020-07/SkillsAgenda.pdf). Microbial activities and their manifold impacts on human lives, endeavours and well-being and on biosphere and planetary health, predestine them to be a priority topic of public interest and lifelong learning. The resources being created by the IMiLI will not only satisfy this need but also, as a single curriculum for all ages, add coherency to lifelong learning and the ability of learners of all ages and cultures to communicate and exchange information within the IMiLI education ecosystem.

**System resilience of society: increasing societal engagement in problem-solving and provision of services.** As modern civilisation has progressed from hunter-gatherer, via Stone Age farmer, there has been increasing specialisation of roles in relation to the division of labour. Whereas not that long ago, families were
# CONCLUDING REMARKS

## The need for change: IMiLI an enabler of change

**Formal education.** Calls for change in school curricula, to make future generations of adults fitter for the challenges they will face, are increasing in frequency (https://widgets.weforum.org/nve-2015/chapter1.html; https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/report_on_the_2022_transforming_education_summit.pdf.). While the case for change is irrefutable, key questions are (i) what new elements (subjects/topics; teaching methods, etc.) are needed, (ii) to what purpose and (iii) how should they be integrated into existing curricula? Much discussion about what changes are needed in education focuses on employment skills needed for national economic development (The reskilling revolution: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/09/universities-adapt-future-of-learning-skills-work/). However, the well-being of individuals, nations and the biosphere is determined by more than employment and national economies, not least because we and future generations face/will face crises that seriously impact diverse aspects of humanity and the planet. Therefore, change in school curricula is needed not only to improve employability potential, but also to elevate awareness of broader societal and planetary challenges, and understanding of their causes and potential solutions and prepare people for significant behavioural and societal change. And we should not neglect the importance of philosophy in personal development (O'Malley, 2016; O'Malley & Parke, 2020); indeed the philosophy of microbiology is a theme in the IMiLI curriculum.

Many of the problems faced by humanity have microbiological solutions or mitigation actions, problems and solutions that also impact employment and economies. Indeed, the core of the bioeconomy (www.fao.org/interactive/bioeconomy/en/) and much of the Green Deal (www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/green-deal/) is based on microbial technologies. Educating children in societally relevant microbiology will provide them with important knowledge and skills that are key to informed decisions relating to their personal well-being, citizenship and economic development.

Major societal challenges are worsening inequalities, inadequacies in basic goods and services in impoverished communities, bias-driven polarisation of opinions and societal fragmentation and disinformation amplified by social media. Such challenges need to be countered by promoting at an early age critical-systems thinking, global citizenship and the value of diversity and sustainability. While classical teaching also emphasises ramifications and applications of the subjects taught, the resources being created by the IMiLI aim to go beyond this and teach and raise awareness of societally relevant skills and qualities, such as critical

thinking and objective, evidence-based discussion, opinion-building and decisioning, the interconnectedness of things, systems thinking and problem-solving, sustainability, stewardship and stakeholder responsibility and activities, global citizenship and responsibilities and the educational value chain.

Current education at all levels is mainly organised along disciplinary lines with disciplinary boundaries often acting as barriers to exploration of transdisciplinary networks. But, life is a web of interconnected experiences, issues to understand and problems to solve, just like that of the larger biosphere of which we are a part. For children to become adults who look beyond the saucer, make connections that are vital to identifying the underlying problem rather than just seeing the symptoms, it is essential that interdependencies are not only revealed to them but shown to be pervasive. This can be done by both dedicated teaching of interdisciplinarity, illustrated by practical, everyday examples and through exposing the connections between disciplines. By dealing with microbial activities that impact societally relevant issues and their ramifications, the IMiLI seeks to counter teaching, thinking, opinion formation and decisioning from disciplinary silos.

**Lifelong learning.** Lifelong learning has always been the activity of scholars and the curious, but is growing in importance for a number of reasons that include opportunity (increasing longevity/longer retirement can provide time previously lacking during periods of employment), greater availability of educational resources (especially on the Internet) and the need to learn new skills for employment (https://www.uil.unesco.org/en/unesco-institute/mandate/lifelong-learning). Lifelong learning is also a growing priority of various organisations, including the United Nations, which has included it in its SDGs (Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all; ...) and the European Commission ('To succeed, lifelong learning for all must become a reality in Europe.' (p. 4: https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/sites/default/files/2020-07/SkillsAgenda.pdf). Microbial activities and their manifold impacts on human lives, endeavours and well-being and on biosphere and planetary health, predestine them to be a priority topic of public interest and lifelong learning. The resources being created by the IMiLI will not only satisfy this need but also, as a single curriculum for all ages, add coherency to lifelong learning and the ability of learners of all ages and cultures to communicate and exchange information within the IMiLI education ecosystem.

**System resilience of society: increasing societal engagement in problem-solving and provision of services.** As modern civilisation has progressed from hunter-gatherer, via Stone Age farmer, there has been increasing specialisation of roles in relation to the division of labour. Whereas not that long ago, families were
inter alia able to build dwellings, cultivate food crops in a self-sufficient manner and prepare all food from raw ingredients, today in typical high-income countries, we may work in an office or at home and often buy processed foods or ready-made meals, or order delivery of ready-to-eat meals. If something needs maintenance or goes wrong within the home, in relation to the fabric of the building, or even in the garden, we may engage a specialist to fix it. We pay taxes and in return receive access to roads and other infrastructure, healthcare, education, protection against crime and so forth.

Major challenges confronting humanity that include global warming, unsustainable practices, the massive inequalities among peoples and the need to level up, large-scale conflicts, pandemics, food insecurity, human migrations and organised crime, divert and consume huge amounts of economic resources (including tax revenues used to provide us with services), are raising debt levels and the financial cost of servicing this debt and driving cost of living increases. There is no indication that this situation will improve for the foreseeable future. Rather, such crises and limited intrinsic planetary-biosphere resources and services for the world's growing human population, may worsen such problems in the future, witness the problems, such as reducing access to healthcare and deteriorating infrastructure, experienced in many countries. As a result, basic services funded by taxation that are currently taken for granted may become increasingly restricted and compel major changes in human lifestyle, behaviour and expectations.

There will be several ways and means of dealing with these challenges, but one will certainly be increased personal engagement of people in the acquisition of/ securing access to products and services currently provided by specialists (either employed by the state and funded by tax revenues or directly by us), i.e., an increase in self-help/do-it-yourself (DIY). Such people will also be engaged in helping others less able to engage in DIY to obtain the same services, a process that will be promoted by increased social responsibility/global citizenship of the type the IMiLI aims to encourage. The diversity of relevant products and services will be significant, ranging from food and nutrition, clean water, primary healthcare (e.g., Timmis & Timmis, 2017) and so forth. An increase in self-help willingness and competence and resulting DIY activity, will endow greater resilience on over-specialised modern societies vis-à-vis the challenges they will face. It will also result in increased empowerment of the individual-families-friends networks and communities, further democratisation of relevant knowledge, increasing appreciation of diversity because abilities will count more than biases, all of which will contribute to motivation.

Crucial to effective engagement in self-help/DIY activity will be acquisition of relevant knowledge and expertise from its specialist practitioners. Many of the

services that are currently inadequate in certain communities or will become inadequate as a result of the challenges on the horizon, involve microbes/microbial technologies, so literacy in relevant aspects of microbiology/microbial technology enabled by the IMiLI will be a significant facilitator of improved societal resilience.

Moreover, such societal changes will require acceptance and active participation of individuals, communities and nations and this in turn will require that people understand the causes of challenges and the potential remedies and all this in the face of pushback by vested interests and mis- and disinformation. It will be essential that society is properly informed about relevant issues so that it can form evidence-based opinions that promote acceptance of necessary change. Scientists in general and microbiologists in particular, have a duty of care, a special responsibility to inform the public.

## What is the IMiLI?

The IMiLI is a global microbiology education ecosystem, depicted in Figure 4, consisting of

* a concept of an international curriculum in societally relevant microbiology with a vision to enable children and adults worldwide to acquire knowledge and understanding vital to the well-being of society and the biosphere,

* a global community of microbiologists constituting a platform dedicated to the creation of the teaching resources that make up the curriculum,

* the teachers, the taught and the independent learners (the global classroom)

* the interfacing Regional Centres that adapt and make available the teaching resources, provide support, create synergistic networks within and between the regions they serve.

But the IMiLI is also a conviction by the contributing microbiology actors, that microbial technologies can make a material difference to society, its well-being and that of the biosphere and a determination to promote their increased deployment through the broadest possible exposure of their potential.

## The privilege and satisfaction of engagement in microbiology: a humanitarian calling

Saving lives and reducing human suffering are among the greatest callings of humanity, an endeavour usually considered to be primarily the realm of clinicians—the healers—although some non-governmental aid agencies, emergency responders like the police and fire services, other health workers and carers and so forth,
inter alia able to build dwellings, cultivate food crops in a self-sufficient manner and prepare all food from raw ingredients, today in typical high-income countries, we may work in an office or at home and often buy processed foods or ready-made meals, or order delivery of ready-to-eat meals. If something needs maintenance or goes wrong within the home, in relation to the fabric of the building, or even in the garden, we may engage a specialist to fix it. We pay taxes and in return receive access to roads and other infrastructure, healthcare, education, protection against crime and so forth.

Major challenges confronting humanity that include global warming, unsustainable practices, the massive inequalities among peoples and the need to level up, large-scale conflicts, pandemics, food insecurity, human migrations and organised crime, divert and consume huge amounts of economic resources (including tax revenues used to provide us with services), are raising debt levels and the financial cost of servicing this debt and driving cost of living increases. There is no indication that this situation will improve for the foreseeable future. Rather, such crises and limited intrinsic planetary-biosphere resources and services for the world's growing human population, may worsen such problems in the future, witness the problems, such as reducing access to healthcare and deteriorating infrastructure, experienced in many countries. As a result, basic services funded by taxation that are currently taken for granted may become increasingly restricted and compel major changes in human lifestyle, behaviour and expectations.

There will be several ways and means of dealing with these challenges, but one will certainly be increased personal engagement of people in the acquisition of/ securing access to products and services currently provided by specialists (either employed by the state and funded by tax revenues or directly by us), i.e., an increase in self-help/do-it-yourself (DIY). Such people will also be engaged in helping others less able to engage in DIY to obtain the same services, a process that will be promoted by increased social responsibility/global citizenship of the type the IMiLI aims to encourage. The diversity of relevant products and services will be significant, ranging from food and nutrition, clean water, primary healthcare (e.g., Timmis & Timmis, 2017) and so forth. An increase in self-help willingness and competence and resulting DIY activity, will endow greater resilience on over-specialised modern societies vis-à-vis the challenges they will face. It will also result in increased empowerment of the individual-families-friends networks and communities, further democratisation of relevant knowledge, increasing appreciation of diversity because abilities will count more than biases, all of which will contribute to motivation.

Crucial to effective engagement in self-help/DIY activity will be acquisition of relevant knowledge and expertise from its specialist practitioners. Many of the

services that are currently inadequate in certain communities or will become inadequate as a result of the challenges on the horizon, involve microbes/microbial technologies, so literacy in relevant aspects of microbiology/microbial technology enabled by the IMiLI will be a significant facilitator of improved societal resilience.

Moreover, such societal changes will require acceptance and active participation of individuals, communities and nations and this in turn will require that people understand the causes of challenges and the potential remedies and all this in the face of pushback by vested interests and mis- and disinformation. It will be essential that society is properly informed about relevant issues so that it can form evidence-based opinions that promote acceptance of necessary change. Scientists in general and microbiologists in particular, have a duty of care, a special responsibility to inform the public.

## What is the IMiLI?

The IMiLI is a global microbiology education ecosystem, depicted in Figure 4, consisting of

* a concept of an international curriculum in societally relevant microbiology with a vision to enable children and adults worldwide to acquire knowledge and understanding vital to the well-being of society and the biosphere,

* a global community of microbiologists constituting a platform dedicated to the creation of the teaching resources that make up the curriculum,

* the teachers, the taught and the independent learners (the global classroom)

* the interfacing Regional Centres that adapt and make available the teaching resources, provide support, create synergistic networks within and between the regions they serve.

But the IMiLI is also a conviction by the contributing microbiology actors, that microbial technologies can make a material difference to society, its well-being and that of the biosphere and a determination to promote their increased deployment through the broadest possible exposure of their potential.

## The privilege and satisfaction of engagement in microbiology: a humanitarian calling

Saving lives and reducing human suffering are among the greatest callings of humanity, an endeavour usually considered to be primarily the realm of clinicians—the healers—although some non-governmental aid agencies, emergency responders like the police and fire services, other health workers and carers and so forth,
<figure><img src="image_6.png" /><figcaption>FIGURE 4 The IMiLI concept.</figcaption></figure>

also enjoy this privilege. But so do microbiologists, like
those involved in development of vaccines, life-saving
drugs and microbiota therapies, or in monitoring infec-
tious diseases, but also those who develop and bring to
settlements who need them technologies to microbially
clean faecally contaminated water, to treat wastewa-
ter and remove toxic chemicals from drinking water, to
reduce starvation and malnutrition by increasing agri-
cultural yields. All these and other activities of microbi-
ologists save lives and reduce disease and suffering.

But it is not only a case of saving human lives: we
are part of a global ecosystem of interdependent organ-
ismal interactions whose healthy functioning requires
a high diversity of participating organisms: we need to
prevent the loss, that is save the lives, of other organ-
isms. So developers of agrobiochemicals that reduce
the use of chemical fertilisers which cause eutrophica-
tion and de-oxygenation of water bodies and the killing
of oxygen-requiring aquatic animals, of biomining tech-
nologies that reduce acid mine drainage pollution, of
biodegradable bioplastics that reduce the use of petro-
chemical-based plastics and their global contamination,
of all manner of technologies that reduce greenhouse
gas production and the resulting global warming that
is making life impossible for some species, are all in
some form or other saving lives and reducing suffer-
ing. In this sense, microbiology is broadly a life-saving
and suffering-reduction occupation. Therefore, even if
these benefits are often less direct and immediate than
healing by clinicians, microbiologists have the privilege

and satisfaction of knowing that they make a major con-
tribution to humanitarian efforts in society. Microbiology
is indeed a great humanitarian calling and microbiolo-
gists have a duty to reveal this to children!

'Tries hard but could do better':
democratisation of microbiology and
learner-driven evolution of the IMiLI

It is important to emphasise that although the current IMiLI teaching resources being released—the TFs and Gallery Portraits—in our view constitute a critical mass, they are far from complete. The curve of resource additions is asymptotic: it is likely that the plateau will be approached sometime in 2026, but further additions will accrue thereafter. So there is still much to be done and the IMiLI welcomes offers to get involved and contribute teaching resources.

Moreover, we do not pretend that the resources
currently being created represent the best that can
be devised: this is the initial iteration. Our notions of
child/student-centricity and what is societally relevant
are certainly incomplete and the reader, end users of
our resources and others, will have additional ideas,
ideas that can flow into the dynamic evolution of the
resources we envision. This is particularly true for
changes that reflect cultural needs. Importantly, de-
mocratisation success will depend not only on creat-
ing teaching resources that fascinate learners and for
<figure><img src="image_6.png" /><figcaption>FIGURE 4 The IMiLI concept.</figcaption></figure>

also enjoy this privilege. But so do microbiologists, like
those involved in development of vaccines, life-saving
drugs and microbiota therapies, or in monitoring infec-
tious diseases, but also those who develop and bring to
settlements who need them technologies to microbially
clean faecally contaminated water, to treat wastewa-
ter and remove toxic chemicals from drinking water, to
reduce starvation and malnutrition by increasing agri-
cultural yields. All these and other activities of microbi-
ologists save lives and reduce disease and suffering.

But it is not only a case of saving human lives: we
are part of a global ecosystem of interdependent organ-
ismal interactions whose healthy functioning requires
a high diversity of participating organisms: we need to
prevent the loss, that is save the lives, of other organ-
isms. So developers of agrobiochemicals that reduce
the use of chemical fertilisers which cause eutrophica-
tion and de-oxygenation of water bodies and the killing
of oxygen-requiring aquatic animals, of biomining tech-
nologies that reduce acid mine drainage pollution, of
biodegradable bioplastics that reduce the use of petro-
chemical-based plastics and their global contamination,
of all manner of technologies that reduce greenhouse
gas production and the resulting global warming that
is making life impossible for some species, are all in
some form or other saving lives and reducing suffer-
ing. In this sense, microbiology is broadly a life-saving
and suffering-reduction occupation. Therefore, even if
these benefits are often less direct and immediate than
healing by clinicians, microbiologists have the privilege

and satisfaction of knowing that they make a major con-
tribution to humanitarian efforts in society. Microbiology
is indeed a great humanitarian calling and microbiolo-
gists have a duty to reveal this to children!

'Tries hard but could do better':
democratisation of microbiology and
learner-driven evolution of the IMiLI

It is important to emphasise that although the current IMiLI teaching resources being released—the TFs and Gallery Portraits—in our view constitute a critical mass, they are far from complete. The curve of resource additions is asymptotic: it is likely that the plateau will be approached sometime in 2026, but further additions will accrue thereafter. So there is still much to be done and the IMiLI welcomes offers to get involved and contribute teaching resources.

Moreover, we do not pretend that the resources
currently being created represent the best that can
be devised: this is the initial iteration. Our notions of
child/student-centricity and what is societally relevant
are certainly incomplete and the reader, end users of
our resources and others, will have additional ideas,
ideas that can flow into the dynamic evolution of the
resources we envision. This is particularly true for
changes that reflect cultural needs. Importantly, de-
mocratisation success will depend not only on creat-
ing teaching resources that fascinate learners and for
<figure><img src="image_7.png" /><figcaption>**FIGURE 5** Principal actors in and drivers of evolution of the IMiLI.</figcaption></figure>

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 co-created 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 ground-breaking 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

critical-systems thinking, curriculum change, democratisation of microbiology knowledge, global citizenship, International Microbiology Literacy Initiative (IMiLI), lifelong learning, microbial technologies, societal inequalities, sustainability-sustainable 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 ID
John E. Hallsworth² ID
Terry J. McGenity³ ID
Rachel Armstrong⁴ ID
María Francisca Colom⁵ ID
Zeynep Ceren Karahan⁶ ID
Max Chavarría⁷ ID
Patricia Bernal⁸ ID
Eric S. Boyd⁹ ID
Juan Luis Ramos¹⁰ ID
Martin Kaltenpoth¹¹ ID
Carla Pruzzo¹² ID
Gerard Clarke¹³ ID
Purificación López-García¹⁴ ID
Michail M. Yakimov¹⁵ ID
Jessamyn Perlmutter¹⁶ ID
Chris Greening¹⁷ ID
Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh¹⁸ ID
Willy Verstraete¹⁹ ID
Olga C. Nunes²⁰ ID
Oleg Kotsyurbenko²¹ ID
<figure><img src="image_7.png" /><figcaption>FIGURE 5 Principal actors in and drivers of evolution of the IMiLI.</figcaption></figure>

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 co-created 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 ground-breaking 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

critical-systems thinking, curriculum change, democratisation of microbiology knowledge, global citizenship, International Microbiology Literacy Initiative (IMiLI), lifelong learning, microbial technologies, societal inequalities, sustainability-sustainable 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 ID
John E. Hallsworth² ID
Terry J. McGenity³ ID
Rachel Armstrong⁴ ID
María Francisca Colom⁵ ID
Zeynep Ceren Karahan⁶ ID
Max Chavarría⁷ ID
Patricia Bernal⁸ ID
Eric S. Boyd⁹ ID
Juan Luis Ramos¹⁰ ID
Martin Kaltenpoth¹¹ ID
Carla Pruzzo¹² ID
Gerard Clarke¹³ ID
Purificación López-García¹⁴ ID
Michail M. Yakimov¹⁵ ID
Jessamyn Perlmutter¹⁶ ID
Chris Greening¹⁷ ID
Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh¹⁸ ID
Willy Verstraete¹⁹ ID
Olga C. Nunes²⁰ ID
Oleg Kotsyurbenko²¹ ID
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 Partida-Martínez⁶⁴

Wei Huang⁶⁵

Søren Molin⁶⁶

Pilar Junier⁶⁷

Ricardo Amils⁶⁸

Xiao-Lei 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 Científicas, 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 Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

¹⁵Institute of Polar Sciences, Italian National Research Council (ISP-CNR), Messina, Italy

¹⁶Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, 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

²⁰LEPABE-Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

²¹Higher School of Ecology, Yugra State University, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

²²Systems Environmental Microbiology
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 Partida-Martínez⁶⁴

Wei Huang⁶⁵

Søren Molin⁶⁶

Pilar Junier⁶⁷

Ricardo Amils⁶⁸

Xiao-Lei 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 Científicas, 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 Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

¹⁵Institute of Polar Sciences, Italian National Research Council (ISP-CNR), Messina, Italy

¹⁶Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, 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

²⁰LEPABE-Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

²¹Higher School of Ecology, Yugra State University, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

²²Systems Environmental Microbiology
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 (CIB-MS, 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, Bar-Ilan 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, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, 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 Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

⁶⁰Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University & OARDC, Wooster, Ohio, USA

⁶¹Molekulare Mikrobiologie & Bioenergetik, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

⁶²Shibasaburo Kitasato Memorial Museum, Kitasato University, Minato-ku, Japan

⁶³AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Tulln, Austria

⁶⁴Departamento de Ingeniería Genética, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados-Unidad 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
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 (CIB-MS, 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, Bar-Ilan 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, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, 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 Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

⁶⁰Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University & OARDC, Wooster, Ohio, USA

⁶¹Molekulare Mikrobiologie & Bioenergetik, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

⁶²Shibasaburo Kitasato Memorial Museum, Kitasato University, Minato-ku, Japan

⁶³AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Tulln, Austria

⁶⁴Departamento de Ingeniería Genética, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados-Unidad 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
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 D-38106, Germany.

Email: kntimmis@gmail.com

### 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 López-García 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 Eloe-Fadrosh 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
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 D-38106, Germany.

Email: kntimmis@gmail.com

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 López-García 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 Eloe-Fadrosh 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
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 Partida-Martínez 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

Xiao-Lei 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. Donald R. Pokatong https://orcid.

org/0009-0009-6692-9879

Courtney Stairs https://orcid.

org/0000-0001-6650-0970

Mohammad Ali Amoozegar https://orcid.

org/0000-0002-9638-0532

Jéssica Gil Serna https://orcid.

org/0000-0002-2113-1830

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Afshar, H. (2013) The politics of fear: what does it mean to those who areitized and feared? *Ethnic and Racial Studies*, 36(1), 9–27. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2013.738821

Altizer, S., Harvell, D. & Friedle, E. (2003) Rapid evolutionary dynamics and disease threats to biodiversity. *Trends in Ecology & Evolution*, 18(11), 589–596. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2003.08.013

Anand, S., Hallsworth, J.E., Timmis, J., Verstraete, W., Casadevall, A., Ramos, J.L. et al. (2023) Weaponising microbes for peace. *Microbial Biotechnology*, 16(6), 1091–1111. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.14224

Armstrong, R. (2023) Towards the microbial home: an overview of developments in next-generation sustainable architecture. *Microbial Biotechnology*, 16, 1112–1130.

Barnard, P., Moomaw, W.R., Fioramonti, L., Laurance, Mahmoud, M.I., O'Sullivan, J. et al. (2021) World scientists' warnings into action, local to global. *Science Progress*, 104, 368504211056290.

Bean, J.C. & Melzer, D. (2021) *Engaging ideas: the professor's guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom*, 3rd edition. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.

Bertrand, JC., Brochier-Armanet, C., Gouy, M., Westall, F. (2015). For three billion years, microorganisms were the only inhabitants of the earth. In: Bertrand, JC., Caumette, P., Lebaron, P., Matheron, R., Normand, P., Sime-Ngando, T. (eds) *Environmental microbiology: fundamentals and applications*. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9118-2_4

Bever, J.D., Mangan, S.A. & Alexander, H.M. (2015) Maintenance of plant species diversity by pathogens. *Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics*, 46, 305–325. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-112414-054306

Bexell, M. & Jönsson, K. (2016) Responsibility and the United Nations' sustainable development goals. *Forum for Development Studies*, 44(1), 13–29. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/08039410.2016.1252424

Boserup, B., McKenney, M. & Falkowski, A. (2020) Disproportionate impact of COVID-19 pandemic on racial and ethnic minorities. *The American Surgeon*, 86(12), 1615–1622. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/00031348209733

Boyd, E.S., Spietz, R.L., Kour, M. & Colman, D.R. (2023) Crystal ball: a naturalist perspective of microbiology: examples from methanogenic archaea. *Environmental Microbiology*, 25, 184–198. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.16285

Brüssow, H. (2023) Viral infections at the animal–human interface—learning lessons from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. *Microbial Biotechnology*, 16, 1397–1411.

Cabello, F.C., Godfrey, H.P., Tomova, A., Ivanova, L., Dölz, H., Millanao, A. et al. (2013) Antimicrobial use in aquaculture re-examined: its relevance to antimicrobial resistance and to animal and human health. *Environmental Microbiology*, 15(7), 1917–1942.

Cardinale, B.J., Duffy, J.E., Gonzalez, A., Hooper, D.U., Perrings, C., Venail, P. et al. (2012) Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity. *Nature*, 486(7401), 59–67. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11148

Cavicchioli, R., Ripple, W.J., Timmis, K.N., Azam, F., Bakken, L.R., Baylis, M. et al. (2019) Scientists' warning to humanity: microorganisms and climate change. *Nature Reviews Microbiology*, 17, 569–586.

Chase, J.M., Blowes, S.A., Knight, T.M., Gerstner, K. & May, F. (2020) Ecosystem decay exacerbates biodiversity loss with habitat loss. *Nature*, 584(7820), 238–243. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2531-2
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 Partida-Martínez 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
Xiao-Lei 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. Donald R. Pokatong https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6692-9879
Courtney Stairs https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6650-0970
Mohammad Ali Amoozegar https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9638-0532
Jéssica Gil Serna https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2113-1830

REFERENCES

Afshar, H. (2013) The politics of fear: what does it mean to those who are organized and feared? *Ethnic and Racial Studies*, 36(1), 9–27. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2013.738821

Altizer, S., Harvell, D. & Friedle, E. (2003) Rapid evolutionary dynamics and disease threats to biodiversity. *Trends in Ecology & Evolution*, 18(11), 589–596. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2003.08.013

Anand, S., Hallsworth, J.E., Timmis, J., Verstraete, W., Casadevall, A., Ramos, J.L. et al. (2023) Weaponising microbes for peace. *Microbial Biotechnology*, 16(6), 1091–1111. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.14224

Armstrong, R. (2023) Towards the microbial home: an overview of developments in next-generation sustainable architecture. *Microbial Biotechnology*, 16, 1112–1130.

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## SUPPORTING INFORMATION

Additional supporting information can be found online in the Supporting Information section at the end of this article.
biotechnology to sustainable development goals. *Microbial Biotechnology*, 10, 984–987.

Timmis, K. & Hallsworth, J.E. (2022) The darkest microbiome—a post-human biosphere. *Microbial Biotechnology*, 15, 176–185.

Timmis, K., Timmis, J. & Jebok, F. (2020) The urgent need for mi-
crobiology literacy in society: children as educators. *Microbial
Biotechnology*, 13, 1300–1303.

Timmis, K., Verstraete, W., Regina, V.R. & Hallsworth, J.E. (2023)
The Pareto principle: to what extent does it apply to resource
acquisition in stable microbial communities and thereby steer
their geno-/ecotype compositions and interactions between
their members? *Environmental Microbiology*, 25, 1221–1231.

Utter, D.R., Borisy, G.G., Eren, A.M., Cavanaugh, C.M. & Mark
Welch, J.L. (2020) Metapangenomics of the oral microbiome
provides insights into habitat adaptation and cultivar diversity.
*Genome Biology*, 21(1), 1–25. Available from: https://doi.org/10.
1186/s13059-020-02200-2

Van de Guchte, M., Blottière, H.M. & Doré, J. (2018) Humans as holo-bionts: implications for prevention and therapy. *Microbiome*, 6, 81. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-018-0466-8

Woodin, T., Carter, V.C. & Fletcher, L. (2010) Vision and change in biology undergraduate education, a call for action-initial responses. *CBE Life Sciences Education*, 9, 71–73. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.10

Yannier, N., Hudson, S.E., Koedinger, K.R., Pasek, K.H., Golinkoff, R.M., Munakata, Y. et al. (2021) Active learning: “hands-on” meets “minds-on”. *Science*, 374, 26–30. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj9957

Zhang, X., Chen, Y., Hu, L. & Wang, Y. (2022) The metaverse in education: definition, framework, features, potential applications, challenges, and future research topics. *Frontiers in Psychology*, 13, 1016300. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1016300

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

Additional supporting information can be found online
in the Supporting Information section at the end of this
article.