BUP student conference: Environment and Well-being
This student conference began as a student initiative and it was organised by The Baltic University Programme (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 program for this conference was put together by the BUP Czech National Centre based at the University of Ostrava and it was specifically developed with the Czech Technical University in Prague and VSB Technical University in Ostrava to provide a strong Czech impetus and context.
The goals of the event was to:
- Improve the knowledge of students around the key topics of this conference: Environment and Well-Being: a joint venture of technology, sciences, and humanities.
- Promote and encourage stimulating discussions between students and staff members especially around the relevance of the topic for the everyday.
- Discover and learn more about the city of Ostrava, its historical context and current situation, as well as a Czech context on the highlighted topics.
- Build skills in intercultural and interdisciplinary cooperation.
Students who completed the student conference were rewarded with a certificate.
Photo: Pontus Ambros
Evaluation BUP student conference: Environment and Well-being
All participating students were asked to complete an evaluation on the final day of the summer school. This was completed by 31 of the students. Prior to the event, students held an average expectation of 7.4/10, a number that was exceeded in the overall score of the conference. The most appreciated parts of the conference were the lecture Biodiversity and citizen science project presentation by Aleš Dolný and Stanislav Ožana, the lecture Introduction to Augmented and Virtual reality activity by Filip Beneš, the program at the Planetarium as well as the program at Dolní Vítkovice. The students also gave high praise to the meals and food.
One of the aims of the evaluations is to look for ways of improving our events and even though the event was very appreciated there were a few things that need to be improved for future events. The students thought that the program on the first day of the conference was slightly too packed and there could have been a bit more focus on interactivity with, for instance, discussions and networking between the students. Furthermore, some of the lectures were not as connected to the conference themes and they could have been either removed or replaced with another lecture.
Finally, the students said that they will bring home new knowledge, experiences, memories, and new friends.
Participant evaluations
- The students gave the event an 8.96/10 overall rating.
- The communication with BUP staff during the event got a 9.67/10 rating and the communication with local staff during the event got a 9/10 rating.
- The participating students thought that the student conference was worthwhile in attending, in terms of their studies, future aspirations, and career.
Voices of participants
Klaudia Jasiewicz - Participant from Adam Mickiewicz University
Before attending, I thought the conference would be strictly technological. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the topics varied and very well-explained (even if outside of my field of study).
There were many points to the programme, that I found very fun and interesting. If I had to pinpoint one event, however, I would say the lecture about dragonflies.
At the conference I met new people from all around the world and gained knowledge from different areas of expertise.
Images from BUP student conference: Environment and Well-being
Photo: Pontus Ambros
The participating students were given a guided tour of the Sport City Campus by PhD Jan Plešek.
Photo: Pontus Ambros
PhD Aleš Dolný, University of Ostrava, gave a lecture about the use of dragonflies as a biodiversity indicator in post-industrial environments.
Photo: Niumi Dissanayake
At the end of day one the students got to visit the Planetárium Ostrava.
Photo: Pontus Ambros
Mrs. Pavla Cvachovcová from the Czech Ministry of the Environment, presented their work on the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Photo: Oleksandra Petrova
During the second day the students went on a tour to Dolní Vítkovice, a former blast furnace complex, where they learned about the history of Lower Vitkovice and pig iron production.