Event reports

BUP Supervisor Collegium Training 2024

Within the BUP Supervisor Collegium, 16 colleagues participated in an in-person training held at Uppsala University between 21-22 May. The training, a continuation of an online seminar series, focused on issues of supervision, in particular doctoral supervision. This training represented a relatively new focus for the BUP in investigating supervisionary pedagogies with a view to more sustainable education practices and skills across the region. A focus on supervision compliments strongly the BUP’s commitment to supporting teachers across the Baltic Sea Region, especially with reference to the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), of Quality Education.

There were many positives mentioned, especially in reference to the sessions included in the program. Participants gave the event an overall 9.7/10 rating. Event report from the BUP Supervisor Collegium Training 2024.

International Scientific Symposium

The symposium was titled 'The Role of Universities and Research for Sustainable Regional Development' and it was held on 21-23 April 2024 at the Bialystok University of Technology, Poland. As a part of the Polish BUP Presidency, this event focused on BUP colleagues. This event was for those who wanted to meet like-minded colleagues to talk about the rapid changes currently happening in our region of the world and how to prepare our students for the future.

The participants noted that they will take with them new contacts as well as concrete ideas for further cooperation and research. The event was given a rating of 9.4/10 by the participants. Event report from the International Scientific Symposium.

BUP Teachers' Course 2023-2024

This was the fifth time the course was arranged. The aim of the study process is to support university teachers to integrate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into their teaching and courses to strengthen the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The participants thought that both workshops inspired them in their work, that they were useful for their work, and resulted in new insights about ESD which they will try to apply in their own teaching. The feedback survey generated a positive response from both workshops – the overall grade was 4.6/5. Event report from the BUP Teachers' Course 2023-2024.

BUPRaP Roadshow

As part of its efforts to support colleagues at BUP participating universities in strengthening their research and publication profiles, the Baltic Research and Publications Office (BUPRaP) offers the 'BUPRaP Roadshow'. This features two research-focused seminars that lasts about 2,5 hours each and can be offered in combination, so as to maximise the time investment. The seminars are led by Professor Walter Leal, chair of the BUP Associated Secretariat in Hamburg.

In spring 2024 the BUPRaP Roadshow has been held in Latvia, Finland and Estonia. Event report from the BUPRaP Roadshow.

BUP Student Conference 2024

The conference was held in Poznań, Poland between 15-18 April at Poznan University of Technology. The event welcomed 89 students from all 10 countries within the BUP, who represented 47 universities. This conference was held as part of the RESCUU project; focused on the sustainable resilience of Ukrainian universities and students. The central aim of BUP student conferences, as well as the RESCUU project, is to bring together students from around the Baltic Sea Region with a focus on an issue of key importance within sustainability science and stimulate inter-cultural exchange in an academic and interdisciplinary setting.

The students appreciated the chance to develop debating skills, learn about a new topic and engage in a friendly but competitive atmosphere. Students gave the event an overall rating of 9.3/10. Event report from the BUP Student Conference 2024.

BUP Teachers' Day 2024

This event is a possibility to network, get new knowledge and inspiration, and share experiences and best practices with colleagues around the Baltic Sea Region. At the BUP Teachers’ Day 2024, held 16 April, there was a focus on how educators can bring the Science of Compassion and Wellbeing into their courses. The participants got a first insight into some best practices for engaging students and colleagues and were given an introduction to SEE Learning (Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning). The coach was Ed.D. Ryder Delaloye, Associate Director for the SEE Learning Program at Emory University in Atlanta. The participants gave the event a 4.7/5 overall rating. Event report from the BUP Teachers' Day 2024.

BUP Master Thesis Training 2024

The 2024 BUP Master Thesis Training (MTT) was held in Uppsala between 25-28 March. The focus of the event is to offer master students the opportunity to come together, interact and network with fellow students and experts in an interdisciplinary and regional setting with the thesis in focus. A focus on academic cooperation and sustainability science are key goals for the BUP, and this is one event by which the BUP looks to facilitate these aims, particularly amongst students.

There were many positives elucidated in the evaluation about the event. Of particular note was the individual counselling session with both students and staff reflecting positively, presentations from other students, academic atmosphere and student oppositions. Students gave the event an overall 9.2 rating and supervisors gave the event an overall 9.6 rating. Event report from the MTT 2024.

BUP student conference: Environment and Well-being

This conference was a student initiative and it was organised by the BUP and the University of Ostrava. The student conference took place between 6-9 December in Ostrava, Czechia. The participating students were immersed in a range of activities including workshops, study visits, and lectures focused on various topics including well-being, sustainability, the environment, and post-industrial urbanism.

The students gave the event an 8.96/10 overall rating. They thought that the student conference was worthwhile in attending, in terms of their studies, future aspirations, and career. Event report from the student conference.

PhD Students Training 2023

The training was arranged by the BUP National Centre in Poland and BUP's Associated Secretariat at the Lodz University of Technology. The objective of this training is to give PhD students the possibility to meet and discuss scientific problems with a focus on sustainable development in an interdisciplinary, international, multicultural, and regional context.

The PhD students gave the event a 9.2 overall rating and their most apprieciated parts of the event the consultation with an expert, the design thinking session, the first impressions matter session, and the thesis and poster workshop. Event report from the BUP PhD Students Training 2023.

BUP Symposium 2023

The Symposium is a platform where regional educational and research communities can come together and get to know colleagues at participating universities of The Baltic University Programme (BUP). The Symposium is an arena for disseminating recent research and where new discussions and collaborations can begin.

Day one of the Symposium got a 8.6/10 overall rating and day two got a 8.8/10 overall rating. Those who participated in the Symposium said that they will take with them new acquaintances, knowledge, and ideas for the future. Event report from the BUP Symposium 2023.

BUP Science and Sail 2023

This summer school was held in Klaipėda, Lithuania, hosted by Klaipėda University in July 2023. This year’s focus was on the Baltic Sea Environment with students studying on both sea and land with leading experts from across the region. A total of 35 students from 26 of the BUP participating universities and all 10 countries within the BUP network joined the event.

The students gave the event a 9.35/10 overall rating. This is the BUP’s highest rating for a summer school. Event report from the BUP Science and Sail 2023.

BUP Student Conference 2023

This conference was held in May 2023 at Kaunas University of Technology in Kaunas, Lithuania. The focus was on Sustainable production and consumption: A circular economy perspective and featured a collaboration with the International Young Researchers Conference. A total of 70 students, from 31 participating universities and all 10 network countries joined the event.

Prior to the event, students held an expectation of 7.89/10, therefore it was pleasing that the students ranked the event overall at 8.7/10. Event report from the BUP Student Conference 2023.

BUP Teachers’ Day 2023

The BUP Teachers’ Day this year, 18 April, was an online workshop which was led by EdD Ann-Christin Furu, from Åbo Akademi University. The workshop focused on inner sustainability as a vital part of sustainability education in contemporary higher education.

The workshop had 38 participants (not all at the same time) from about six different countries. The participants gave the event a 4,5/5 overall rating. Event report from the BUP Teachers’ Day 2023.

Master Thesis Training 2023

The Master Thesis Training (MTT) is an opportunity for master students to get supervision from an expert from a BUP participating university and it provides an opportunity to get feedback from other students in the region, build connections with other students, and become better acquainted with other academic perspectives in an interdisciplinary and intercultural environment.

The participating students gave the event a 9,2/10 overall rating and they thought that the event was helpful in terms of improving their thesis. The supervisors gave the event a 9,6/10 overall rating adn they were all interested in being invited to future BUP events. Event report from the MTT 2023.

BUP Teachers Course 2022-2023

This course is organised by the BUP Associated Secretariat and the National Centre in Finland, located at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, Åbo Akademi University. The aim of the course, or study process, is to support university teachers to integrate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into their teaching and courses/programmes, to strengthen the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The feedback after both workshops generated an average mark of 4,5/5. There was a 91 percent reply rate in the evaluation. Event report from the BUP Teachers Course 2022-2023.

Online course Introduction to ESD

This course is organised by the BUP Associated Secretariat and the National Centre in Finland, located at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, Åbo Akademi University. The aim of the course, or study process, is to support university teachers to integrate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into their teaching and courses/programmes, to strengthen the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The feedback after both workshops generated an average mark of 4,5/5. There was a 91 percent reply rate in the evaluation. Event report from the Online course Introduction to ESD.

BUP PhD Students Training 2022

The training was arranged by the BUP National Centre in Poland and BUP's Associated Secretariat at the Lodz University of Technology. The PhD Students Training is an opportunity for PhD students to become better acquainted with other academic perspectives. The PhD students are offered training in interdisciplinary research cooperation with the guidance of an international group of interdisciplinary research experts, composed of senior scientists.

The PhD students gave the event a 9.8 overall rating and their most apprieciated parts of the event were the interactions with other students and the meetings with and feedback from experts. Event report from the BUP PhD Students Training 2022.

International Tourism Congress 2022 “Tourism – Going Back/Forward to Sustainability”

The ITC2022 was organized by the Faculty of Geographical Sciences at the University of Lodz (Poland) in cooperation with CiTUR Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation. The event was held both online and in person in Lodz and the participants were from, for instance, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Czech Republic and Ukraine. 181 people participated in the congress in total, including 106 on-site participants, and 75 online.

This conference is part of the initiative to host a BUP event where the the BUP financially support colleagues at BUP participating universities that host and organise a BUP academic events. Event report from the ITC2022.

Online seminar Sustainable foot- and handprints at Finnish Universities

This online seminar was held on 17 November. During the seminar the presentations and discussions focused on what efforts BUP participating universities in Finland take to reduce their carbon footprint. The program consisted of three presentations and three shorter comments regarding the actual universities’ actions and thoughts about sustainable food- and handprints. All viewpoints came from BUP participating universities in Finland, but the seminar was open for everybody interested. Event report from online seminar.

International conference 'Sustainable Consumption and Production: How to Make it Possible'

The conference was organised by the Institute of Environmental Engineering at Kaunas University of Technology in collaboration with the non-profit organisation VšĮ "Mes Darom". Participants were welcomed to Kaunas as well as to join online. This conference is part of the initiative to host a BUP event where the the BUP financially support colleagues at BUP participating universities that host and organise a BUP academic events.

The event got a 9.4/10 overall rating and the participants thought that the best parts of the event were the interesting presentations in a widespread number of themes and the interactive panel discussions within a variety of topics. Event report from the International conference.

The BUP Symposium 2022

The Symposium is an arena where you can disseminate recent research and where new discussions and collaborations can begin. The Symposium 2022 featured oral presentations from researchers from BUP participating universities in the Baltic Sea Region. During the afternoon there was a session that focused on future research collaboration and projects.

The Symposium got a 8.6/10 overall rating and most of the participants thought that the afternoon session about future research was beneficial for their work as a researchers. Event report from the BUP Symposium 2022.

BUP PhD workshop "Societies, Cultures, Critical Theories"

This BUP workshop for Doctoral Students was organised and hosted by The Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES), Södertörn University, Stockholm. In this two-days international event there were opportunities to learn about the research and engage in discussion with 26 PhD candidates from BUP participating universities, gathered in the name of the BUP objectives to support the key role that universities play in a democratic, peaceful and sustainable development of the Baltic Sea Region.

One of the main aims of the workshop was to support collaboration between BUP participating universities, to underline the important role of humanities and social studies within the BUP objectives, as well as to encourage interdisciplinary discussions. Event report from the BUP PhD workshop.

The 6th BUP Rectors’ Conference 2022

During 28-29 September 2022 The Baltic University Programme held the 6th Rectors’ Conference in Uppsala. In total about 80 rectors and rectors representatives were able to meet in person to discuss the strategic issues Sustainability, Internationalisation and Quality Assurance.

During the first day there were presentations within the subjects internationalization in practice, Challenges Ahead - strategic issues to address, Challenges of Internationalization, Sustainability at Universities and Quality Assurance of Higher Education. During the second day there were panel discussions within the themes Sustainability, Internationalisation, Quality Assurance. The Rectors' Conference concluded with the The Baltic University Programme General Assembly were participants discussed suggestions for the future and long term directions for the BUP. Event report from the Rectors' Conference.

ESD Science Lab for BUP Teachers

This Science Lab had the aim to start from where the former BUP Teachers’ Courses ended, by assisting and coaching the teachers interested in publishing their most recent work in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This event is part of the initiative to host a BUP event.

The event or project took place as a platform for joint research focused on ESD methods and as capacity building needed to make the research work of high quality. The objective was to strengthen the skills and knowledge of BUP researchers in publishing scientific research findings in peer-reviewed journals. Event report from the ESD Science Lab for BUP Teachers.

The BUP Student Conference 2022

The Baltic University Programme’s annual Student Conference, is a conference for students with a topic connected to one of the ten BUP themes. In 2022, the conference was organised in collaboration between the BUP's coordinating secretariat at Uppsala University and Slovak University of Agriculture and the topic was 'Resilient food systems from a Baltic Sea Region perspective'.

The participating students gave the event a rating of 9.16/10 in their final evaluation and the conference was a great success, with students enjoying the interactive program and many interesting discussions. Event report from the Student Conference 2022.

Master Thesis Training 2022

The Master Thesis Training (MTT) had the objective to give master students from BUP participating universities the opportunity to meet and discuss scientific problems with a focus on sustainability in an interdisciplinary, international, multicultural, and regional context. Each student was also given individual feedback on their master thesis from a senior from a participating university.

The participating students gave the event a 9/10 rating and they all thought that the event was helpful in terms of improving your thesis. The senior supervisors have the event a 9.75/10 rating and they were all interested in being invited to future BUP events. Event report from the MTT 2022.

BUP Teachers’ Day 2022

The BUP Teachers' Day 2022 was dedicated for teachers that have taken part in the BUP Teachers’ Courses before. However, all teachers in Higher Education within BUP were welcomed. The Teacher Day took place online on 27 April, during the afternoon. The aim of this event is to offer an opportunity for teachers within the network to share experience and best practice, network and get new inspiration on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

The program featured a presentation and an exercise, together with the opportunity for a general discussion. The war in Ukraine was on everybody’s mind and, naturally, the key issue in the discussion. Event report from the BUP Teachers’ Day 2022.

ESD and Digitalisation webinars

The winter 2021-2022, the BUP National Centre in Finland arranged the second webinar series instead of a new course for BUP teachers, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The theme for this year was Education for Sustainable Development and Digitalisation – Implication of Digital Technology for Education Policy and Practice. The aim was to highlight the opportunities that Covid-19 has brought for reforming and innovating education. But also, contrary, to show negative implications. The target group was teachers in higher education and researchers at BUP participating universities, but the events were open for everyone interested.

All four webinars got positive feedback, the combined average evaluation was 4,45/5. Event report from the webinars ESD and Digitalisation.