Erasmus+ - sustainability ideas and practical solutions

2024-04-12

From 8-12 April, the Utenos kolegija hosted the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme "Sustainable Consumption", which brought together students from Latvia (Rezekne Academy of Technology and Liepaja Academy of Riga Technical University), Poland (Bialystok University of Technology), the Czech Republic (Newton University) and Lithuania (Utenos kolegija).

On the first day, the students listened to a presentation of the programme (Head of the International Relations Department (IRD) R. Jurgelionienė, IRD specialist D. Kurlavičius, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Technology dr. V. Bartkutė-Norkūnienė) and lectures related to sustainability.

Dr. E. Wojcik from the University of Economics in Katowice (Poland) gave a lecture on "Governance for a sustainable economy". Dr. R. Narkūnienė (dr. R. Narkūnienė) talked about the ecological and social aspects of sustainable tourism. Sustainable fashion and sustainable production of materials and clothing were discussed by lect. I. Breitmozerė. The ecological and social side of sustainable catering was discussed by dr. V. Starkutė (LSMU). The aspects of transport and its sustainability and the impact of consumer preferences on sustainable transport were discussed by dr. A. Čibinskienė.

Throughout the week, international student teams developed sustainability-related solutions for fashion, tourism, food production and transport, which were presented at the closing event. These practical tasks were prepared by representatives of the restaurant "Alaušo slėnis", MB "Nebūk nudoga", UAB "Hermes Asset Management". The students were advised by lecturers dr. R. Narkūnienė, G. Stasiulionienė, I. Breitmozerė, R. Puidokaitė-Savicienė and J. Aksomitienė.

The students also had an interesting socio-cultural programme: they visited the Utena Museum of Regional History, took part in a bowling tournament and had a battle of wits.

Participants had the opportunity to get acquainted with Lithuanian culture at an evening party organised at the Utena Cultural Centre.The folklore ensemble "Davila" (director M. Morkūnaitė) helped to create a good mood and taught Lithuanian dances and games, and the café "Metų laikai" presented the culinary heritage.