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 discussions focused on the current challenges facing the Baltic Sea Region and how BUP participating universities can be models for our communities on how to adapt to a changing climate and build resilient communities.
Participants at the International Scientific Symposium. Photo: Dariusz Piekut
Evaluation of the event
The feedback after the event showed that the participants gained new insights about sustainability solutions at the university level, which they will try to apply in their own work. Some of the things that they liked best about the event were meeting many colleagues and having fruitful discussions regarding how other universities work with sustainability.
The participants noted that they will take with them new contacts as well as concrete ideas for further cooperation and research.
Some quotes from the evaluations:
"It was great in terms of organization, ideas exchange, and networking possibilities, with a perfect balance of scientific contributions and non-formal communication."
"I met so many interesting people with fresh ideas for the future development of universities."
"It was three wonderful days filled with meaningful reports, constructive discussions and interesting communication."
Organisers voice
"The motivation for organising this event was to bring The Baltic University Programme to Bialystok. With Poland being the host of the BUP presidency, we wanted to invite researchers, PhD students and administrators to our university to share our progress in implementing our strategy for sustainable development at the university level, and also receive some feedback about what can be improved.
All of our institutions are in different places in terms of the awareness of sustainable development goals and progress in achieving these goals on the scale of the university. we enjoyed meeting colleagues from partner universities, and hope we can continue to collaborate on other projects to bring more awareness about research and education on regional sustainable development issues.
Even though Bialystok does not lie on the coast, it lies within the drainage area of the Baltic Sea. Of the 80 million people living in this area, half are located in Poland, meaning Poles have a huge impact on the quality of the Baltic Sea environment. Many people at our university are not aware of the stresses the Baltic Sea is experiencing, and it was important to raise awareness about the need for cooperation between the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea, in order to come up with policies to improve the state of the Sea, with universities being the leaders on this issue."
Participant evaluations
- The participants noted that their expectations before the event were high, rating it at 7.8/10.
- The event was given a rating of 9.4/10 by the participants.
- Communication with the event staff before the event was rated at 9.7/10 and during the event it was rated 9.9/10.
- The participants noted that the event was worthwhile in attending, giving an 8.3/10 rating.
Voices of participants
Nomeda Gudelienė - Participant from Mykolas Romeris University
I was very excited to learn about the International Scientific Symposium and it exceeded my expectations in terms of networking possibilities, exchange of scientific knowledge and best practices as well as the potential for future cooperation.
Intellectually challenging presentations and thought-provoking discussions as well as best practices from other Baltic Sea region universities enabled us to evaluate our university progress and learn from others. The symposium helped to build partnerships and friendships and develop interdisciplinary and international networks that might lead to joint projects, research, publications, or events in the future.
The network and partnerships with sustainability professionals, site visits and best practices from other Baltic Sea region universities have enhanced my understanding of the importance of inter-university and university-city municipality cooperation in developing sustainable communities.
Mariana Ruda - Participant from Lviv Polytechnic National University
My expectations for participation in the International Scientific Symposium were especially optimistic. Because I've heard many positive reviews about the BUP, but this is my first BUP event. I wanted to meet like-minded people and gain new insights into the topic of my research, particularly in the field of green recovery of Ukraine's economy in the context of the European Green Deal and sustainable development priorities.
I consider the informal communication and lively discussions about future joint projects to be the best part of the Symposium. In particular, I liked the participants' presentations and the poster session.
I managed to meet new interesting people, receive new ideas, discuss the challenges of the circular economy in the EU and Ukraine, and also the implementation of sustainable development goals in the activities of my university.
Annina Kainu - Participant from Åbo Akademi University
I was mostly expecting to learn about the research conducted at other BUP participating universities. And to meet with some people I prior to this only had met online.
The best and most useful part was meeting all the other participants, establishing new contacts, and planning new ways of collaborating with other BUP universities. Also learning from the research and experiences of others was very valuable. I appreciated greatly the friendly BUP atmosphere of cooperation and sharing of best practices.
In addition to the new contacts and inspiration from the work of other researchers, I gained knowledge of teaching methods that I am going to implement in my courses. I heard of sustainability practices of other BUP universities and some of them I will test myself and some suggest at my university. And hopefully, some of the discussions may lead to joint projects one day.
Images from the event
Photo: Dariusz Piekut
Dorota Gawryluk from Bialystok University of Technology, Chair of the Organising Committee, opened the event.
Photo: Dariusz Piekut
Inguss Vircavs from the University of Latvia gave a presentation titled 'Development challenges through the application of the competitive neutrality principle in Latvia'.
Photo: Dariusz Piekut
Lisa Wälitalo from Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden, held a presentation titled 'RESPONSE – an approach for a faster transition to sustainable development through regional networks'.
Photo: Dariusz Piekut
The event was, according to the participants, an opportunity to gain new contacts as well as to get concrete ideas for further cooperation and research.