CoMaDe Science and Sail 2026

The BUP's summer school, with a focus on the Baltic Sea environment and coastal development, took place from 2-9 August 2026. The event was hosted by Klaipeda University, Lithuania, and Riga Technical University (Campus Liepāja), Latvia. Attending the event were 31 bachelor's and master's students and 4 PhD students, who in total represented 27 different BUP participating universities.

One day of the summer school took place on board Klaipeda University’s sailing vessel Brabander, sailing from Klaipėda to Liepāja, while conducting tests and collecting samples. Participants also studied the unique coastal environment of the Curonian Spit and visited the Sventoji settlement, Seaside Regional Park, the Liepāja Sea Groyne, the Liepāja Nature House, and the Klaipeda Port Authorities. During the week, they learned about the impacts and solutions to climate change, biodiversity loss, and the human aspects of the unique Baltic Sea Environment. The excursions were accompanied by relevant lectures and seminars.

The summer school was the second of three events connected to the Swedish Institute-financed project 'CoMaDe - Coastal and Marine Development through Collaboration and Interdisciplinary Learning'. The project aims to foster connections among students across the region and deepen their understanding of sustainability challenges along the Baltic Sea coastline.

Student case studies

The students conducted case studies in small groups under the supervision of PhD students. Each group collected data, consulted experts, studied key indicators, and learned to draw conclusions to better understand coastal development in the Baltic Sea. To enhance the students’ learning experience, each group was asked to develop a storytelling project tailored to a specific target audience. The aim was to communicate key insights from their case studies in an engaging and accessible way. This encouraged students to reflect on and process what they had learned, while also challenging them to think creatively about how to communicate complex topics to different audiences. The projects were designed to raise awareness, engage their target groups, and support a better understanding of the challenges related to coastal development.

Here are some of the storytelling projects:

Group 1 - 'Navy: are you part of the pdf, 12 MB.
problem in the Baltic Sea?' (pdf) pdf, 12 MB., a newspaper targeted toward the navy in the Baltic Sea looking into how the navy affects the environment.

Group 2 - 'Big Fish' podcast, a radio show targeting boating and sailing communities, with a focus on issues relating to gray water.

Group 3 - 'Industry Insider', a podcast targeting the shipyard industry, with a focus on pollution from the shipbuilding industry.

Group 4 - The wonderful & unique Baltic Sea Region, an informational checklist targeting logistic workers (including maritime logistic workers), with a focus on how their occupation is affecting the Baltic Sea Ecosystem.

The participants photographed during the trip to the Curonian spit. Photo: Pontus Ambros

Evaluation of the event

The evaluation was completed by 27 students, and the summer school received an overall impression score of 9.2/10. There were a variety of program points, and the most appreciated parts of the event were the:

field trip to the Curonian Spit
workshop and lecture on the Baltic Sea environment
visit to Nida and the hill of the witches in the Curonian Spit
excursion on the research vessel Brabander and the water testing.

The participants gave the communication before and during the event high praise. The students stated that they felt both safe and well-treated during the course of the summer school. The vast majority also gave high ratings to both the food and accommodation.

Quotes from the evaluation

”For me, the dunes and the local flora were the highlights. I feel like I took away something useful from every place, but the dunes and nature of Liepāja were definitely the most interesting.”

”I liked and appreciated the lectures, there was an interesting contrast between them. There was a good balance between verbal stories and visual attractions.”

”I came with zero knowledge and will be leaving with great memories, new connections, and more knowledge about the Baltic Sea Region.”

Organiser voice

”This year, we had a fantastic group of students who were curious, dedicated, and willing to critically reflect on what they were learning. It was especially exciting to see them use their creativity to process and communicate their ideas. Their storytelling projects pushed them out of their comfort zones, and they surprised us with impressive background research on their assigned target groups, as well as thoughtful and critical ways of engaging with the material.

Moving between Klaipėda and Liepāja offered a great opportunity to reflect on shared environmental challenges and responsibilities and, perhaps most importantly, to demonstrate that environmental challenges simply do not know borders.

We also especially appreciate our colleagues at RTU and KU, whose support and collaboration make all of this possible. Every summer school brings us a little closer together, gives us the chance to try out new ideas, and allows us to build on what we learned the year before.”

Participant evaluations

Participants gave the supervision they received from the PhD students a 9/10 rating.
Participants appreciated the welcome session and the workshop on how to create a good working environment, giving it a 8.9/10 rating.

All overall ratings were made on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is considered negative and 10 is considered positive.

Voices of participants

Roksolana Lapshyna - Student participant from National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

I am trying not to settle some expectations before any event. After the first online meetings and conversations with my group, I was already expecting a great week in Klaipeda and Liepaja.

There were many memorable events and moments, but the best was sailing from Klaipeda to Liepaja. We got lucky because the weather was quite nice and the sail itself was chill. Also, it was my first time using a barometer and other equipment, which I had only seen in photos on lecture slides.

BUP Science & Sail gave me a great opportunity to learn about the Baltic Sea and discuss the wicked problem of this place. Also, I've met a lot of nice and amazing people from different countries with whom I saw the most beautiful sunsets and did a great group project (which I am very proud of).

Hubert Wulbach - PhD student participant from Adam Mickiewicz University

Before attending, I expected to connect with people from diverse academic disciplines to see how they approach the same challenges. I was also very curious to see how students would introduce the principles of storytelling into their work.

The best part for me was the group discussions after the site visits, where we could summarise our experiences and share our reflections and doubts. It really helped to synthesise the day and see what specific details caught different people's attention.

I will definitely take away great memories of how individuals from such diverse backgrounds can intersect and collaborate so effectively on a given task.

Images from the event

Photo: Pontus Ambros

The participants were welcomed by Prof. dr. Artūras Razbadauskas, rector at Klaipeda University.

Photo: Hanna-Triinu Järvine

After arriving, the participants went on a guided tour of Klaipėda.

Photo: Hanna-Triinu Järvine

The first full day kicked off with a workshop and lecture on Baltic Sea Environment, held by Lara and Pontus from the BUP Coordinating Secretariat.

A group of people in front of industrial buildings.

Photo: Hanna-Triinu Järvine

There was a visit to Memel city. The project aims to reconstruct Klaipėdas industrial areas into a housing district, which incorporates culturally significant aspects of Klaipėda and social projects for the citizens.