Students’ Engagement in Sustainability Initiatives in the Context of Baltic Higher Education

Jelena Titko; Valerija Kozlova; Kristine Uzule; Anna Manakova; Natalija Cudecka-Purina

doi:10.1007/978-3-032-22076-9_27

Students’ Engagement in Sustainability Initiatives in the Context of Baltic Higher Education

Jelena Titko^*
, Valerija Kozlova
, Kristine Uzule
, Anna Manakova
, Natalija Cudecka-Purina

^*Corresponding author for this work

EKA University of Applied Sciences
Transport and Telecommunication Institute (TSI)

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Research › peer-review

Abstract

The role of higher education in achieving sustainable development goals has been emphasized since 2012, when the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) was launched in the Rio + 20 conference. However, sustainability activities and initiatives are still not very popular in Baltic higher education institutions. The goal of the research was to identify common teaching practices to help academic staff in their efforts to implement education for sustainability, or else environmental. In the given manuscript, the author focused on identification of students’ engagement activities in sustainability initiatives. The research is based on interviews with educational and sustainability experts (heads of eco-councils and related departments, heads of study programmes), aimed at developing the list of sustainability-focused initiatives and tools for students engagement. The research findings allow providing practical recommendations to HEI administration for integration of sustainability-related activities in curricula.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Sustainability Transition and Global Citizenship in the Digital Era: Innovations in Universities
Editors	Walter Leal Filho, Laís Viera Trevisan, Sandra Caeiro, Mahsa Mapar, Jorge Trindade
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer International Publishing
Pages	569-591
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-032-22076-9
ISBN (Print)	978-3-032-22075-2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-22076-9_27
Publication status	Published - 2026
Externally published	Yes

Publication series

Name	World Sustainability Series
Volume	Part F2438
ISSN (Print)	2199-7373
ISSN (Electronic)	2199-7381

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 4 Quality Education
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 15 Life on Land

OECD Field of Science

5.3 Education
1.5 Earth and Related Environmental Sciences

Keywords

Engagement
Higher education
Sustainability education

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-032-22076-9_27

Cite this

Titko, J., Kozlova, V., Uzule, K., Manakova, A., & Cudecka-Purina, N. (2026). Students’ Engagement in Sustainability Initiatives in the Context of Baltic Higher Education. In W. Leal Filho, L. Viera Trevisan, S. Caeiro, M. Mapar, & J. Trindade (Eds.), Sustainability Transition and Global Citizenship in the Digital Era: Innovations in Universities (pp. 569-591). (World Sustainability Series; Vol. Part F2438). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-22076-9_27

Titko, Jelena ; Kozlova, Valerija ; Uzule, Kristine et al. / Students’ Engagement in Sustainability Initiatives in the Context of Baltic Higher Education. Sustainability Transition and Global Citizenship in the Digital Era: Innovations in Universities. editor / Walter Leal Filho ; Laís Viera Trevisan ; Sandra Caeiro ; Mahsa Mapar ; Jorge Trindade. Cham : Springer International Publishing, 2026. pp. 569-591 (World Sustainability Series).

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abstract = "The role of higher education in achieving sustainable development goals has been emphasized since 2012, when the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) was launched in the Rio + 20 conference. However, sustainability activities and initiatives are still not very popular in Baltic higher education institutions. The goal of the research was to identify common teaching practices to help academic staff in their efforts to implement education for sustainability, or else environmental. In the given manuscript, the author focused on identification of students{\textquoteright} engagement activities in sustainability initiatives. The research is based on interviews with educational and sustainability experts (heads of eco-councils and related departments, heads of study programmes), aimed at developing the list of sustainability-focused initiatives and tools for students engagement. The research findings allow providing practical recommendations to HEI administration for integration of sustainability-related activities in curricula.",

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author = "Jelena Titko and Valerija Kozlova and Kristine Uzule and Anna Manakova and Natalija Cudecka-Purina",

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Titko, J, Kozlova, V, Uzule, K, Manakova, A & Cudecka-Purina, N 2026, Students’ Engagement in Sustainability Initiatives in the Context of Baltic Higher Education. in W Leal Filho, L Viera Trevisan, S Caeiro, M Mapar & J Trindade (eds), Sustainability Transition and Global Citizenship in the Digital Era: Innovations in Universities. World Sustainability Series, vol. Part F2438, Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp. 569-591. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-22076-9_27

Students’ Engagement in Sustainability Initiatives in the Context of Baltic Higher Education. / Titko, Jelena; Kozlova, Valerija; Uzule, Kristine et al.
Sustainability Transition and Global Citizenship in the Digital Era: Innovations in Universities. ed. / Walter Leal Filho; Laís Viera Trevisan; Sandra Caeiro; Mahsa Mapar; Jorge Trindade. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2026. p. 569-591 (World Sustainability Series; Vol. Part F2438).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Research › peer-review

TY - CHAP

T1 - Students’ Engagement in Sustainability Initiatives in the Context of Baltic Higher Education

AU - Titko, Jelena

AU - Kozlova, Valerija

AU - Uzule, Kristine

AU - Manakova, Anna

AU - Cudecka-Purina, Natalija

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.

PY - 2026

Y1 - 2026

N2 - The role of higher education in achieving sustainable development goals has been emphasized since 2012, when the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) was launched in the Rio + 20 conference. However, sustainability activities and initiatives are still not very popular in Baltic higher education institutions. The goal of the research was to identify common teaching practices to help academic staff in their efforts to implement education for sustainability, or else environmental. In the given manuscript, the author focused on identification of students’ engagement activities in sustainability initiatives. The research is based on interviews with educational and sustainability experts (heads of eco-councils and related departments, heads of study programmes), aimed at developing the list of sustainability-focused initiatives and tools for students engagement. The research findings allow providing practical recommendations to HEI administration for integration of sustainability-related activities in curricula.

AB - The role of higher education in achieving sustainable development goals has been emphasized since 2012, when the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI) was launched in the Rio + 20 conference. However, sustainability activities and initiatives are still not very popular in Baltic higher education institutions. The goal of the research was to identify common teaching practices to help academic staff in their efforts to implement education for sustainability, or else environmental. In the given manuscript, the author focused on identification of students’ engagement activities in sustainability initiatives. The research is based on interviews with educational and sustainability experts (heads of eco-councils and related departments, heads of study programmes), aimed at developing the list of sustainability-focused initiatives and tools for students engagement. The research findings allow providing practical recommendations to HEI administration for integration of sustainability-related activities in curricula.

KW - Engagement

KW - Higher education

KW - Sustainability education

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DO - 10.1007/978-3-032-22076-9_27

M3 - Chapter

AN - SCOPUS:105049616020

SN - 978-3-032-22075-2

T3 - World Sustainability Series

SP - 569

EP - 591

BT - Sustainability Transition and Global Citizenship in the Digital Era: Innovations in Universities

A2 - Leal Filho, Walter

A2 - Viera Trevisan, Laís

A2 - Caeiro, Sandra

A2 - Mapar, Mahsa

A2 - Trindade, Jorge

PB - Springer International Publishing

CY - Cham

ER -

Titko J, Kozlova V, Uzule K, Manakova A, Cudecka-Purina N. Students’ Engagement in Sustainability Initiatives in the Context of Baltic Higher Education. In Leal Filho W, Viera Trevisan L, Caeiro S, Mapar M, Trindade J, editors, Sustainability Transition and Global Citizenship in the Digital Era: Innovations in Universities. Cham: Springer International Publishing. 2026. p. 569-591. (World Sustainability Series). doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-22076-9_27

Students’ Engagement in Sustainability Initiatives in the Context of Baltic Higher Education

Abstract

Publication series

UN SDGs

OECD Field of Science

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this