BUP for teachers

The Baltic University Programme (BUP) is committed to supporting teachers across the Baltic Sea Region. Educational opportunities for teachers at BUP participating universities include events such as the BUP Teachers' Day. The theme of teacher events is always related to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The lectures include distinguished international researchers in the field. Other educational opportunities for teachers include contributing to the BUP Course Platform as well as using the course material in local courses via the BUP educational material bank. Additional educational events for university teachers are organised depending on funding.

There are many events and opportunities for teachers to get involved in and we invite you to do so. We can grow and develop together.

BUP Teachers’ Training 2026

This three-day training aims to strengthen the implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the UN Agenda 2030 within teaching and learning practices in higher education. The event is titled 'Sustainability Competences – Sharing Knowledge, Best Practices, and Challenges'.

The training will take place on 12-15 October 2026 at Riga Technical University in Latvia. It is organised as a cooperation between the BUP Associated Secretariat in Finland, at Åbo Akademi University, and the BUP National Centre in Latvia, at Riga Technical University.

The Teachers' Training event page.

BUP’s 35-year celebratory webinars

To celebrate the Programme’s 35th anniversary in 2026, we will host a series of webinars dedicated to sustainability and the ten BUP themes. All BUP colleagues are invited to contribute and are welcome to apply to give a presentation.

The content of each webinar will address sustainability and one of the ten BUP themes, and may take the form of a lecture, workshop, seminar, or similar format.

Apply to present at the BUP 35-year celebratory webinars.

Supervisor Collegium

This is an initiative where colleagues contribute with their skills and knowledge to supervise master and PhD students from participating universities all over the region. This is a win-win situation. Both for students who can get a second set of support, but also for supervisors who get to add this to their skillset.

The main aim of the Supervisor Collegium is to exchange, grow and develop a Collegium of supervisors who can collaborate and learn together and exchange experiences in an interdisciplinary and intercultural environment.

Register to be a part of the BUP Supervisor Collegium.

Introduction to Education for Sustainable Development

This online course is provided by the Open University at Åbo Akademi University (Turku/Finland) together with BUP Finland. The course is arranged annually.

The course is for students and educators who want to:

• Understand ESD and how it broadens the holistic and interdisciplinary understanding of sustainability.
• Understand how competencies like critical thinking, future scenarios skills and collaborative decision-making are promoted by ESD.
  
• Understand the role of ESD in both formal and informal learning.
  
• Get an insight of the state of ESD at the own university.

More information on the Åbo Akademi University website.

BUP educational material bank

As part of our efforts to develop and make educational materials widely available within the Programme, we have launched the BUP educational material bank. This is a service to BUP participating universities, supporting internationalisation and knowledge within sustainability science in English. The material bank is envisioned to give colleagues at BUP participating universities the opportunity to download and use a wide range of material while creating local courses at their university.

Register to use the BUP educational material bank.

BUP Teachers’ Day

This event is open to all teachers in higher education within The Baltic University Programme. It is a possibility to network, gain new knowledge and inspiration, and share experiences and best practices with colleagues around the Baltic Sea Region.

The title in 2026 was 'How to Deal with Eco-emotions - An Interactive Lecture for University Teachers' and the event was led by Minerva Peijari, Social psychologist specialised in environmental issues at Tunne ry - Känsla rf and Erika Silventoinen, Educational Developer at the Archipelago Sea Area Biosphere Reserve. The Teachers' Day took place on 23 March.

The Teachers' Day event page.

The BUP Course Platform

One of the key missions of The Baltic University Programme is the creation of courses in a multi- and interdisciplinary sustainability context. The BUP courses are created as massive open online courses (MOOCs) that are unique in that they focus on sustainability in a Baltic Sea Region context.

The BUP is happy to welcome new contributions to all of our current courses that are published on the Course Platform. There is great value in providing new material. This could be for example a lecture focused on a specific case in the Baltic Sea Region, an analysis lecture focusing on an issue not yet covered or perhaps a new theoretical angle. So far, about 90 colleagues from 27 participating universities have contributed to the Course Platform.

The BUP Course Platform on Studium.