International conference
The Institute of Environmental Engineering (APINI) at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) organised this conference in collaboration with The Baltic University Programme, and the non-profit organisation VšĮ "Mes Darom". The conference welcomed participants to Kaunas as well as those who joined online.
This conference is part of the initiative to host a BUP event where the focus was for the BUP to financially support colleagues at BUP participating universities to host and organise a BUP academic event/activity that is of interest and relevance to sustainability and a Baltic Sea Region perspective, and that encourage interdisciplinary co-operations.
Evaluation of the event
During the conference there were 90 participants that took part in person, 80 people took part online during day one and 84 people took part online during day two. All participants were asked to evaluate the Symposium. We received 16 answers in the evaluation. The evaluation was sent to the participants at the end of the conference.
The participants thought that the conference staff was very helpful and responsive in the communication before and during the event.
A vast majority of the participants thought that the conference was helpful in terms of furthering their research. The participants got to network as well as gain new research ideas and knowledge of developments within the field of sustainable development. Panel discussions led to possibilities to get feedback from colleagues which was inspirational and helpful for their continued research.
The participants thought that some of the best parts of the event were the interesting presentations in a widespread number of themes and the interactive panel discussions within a variety of topics.
Participant evaluations
- The participants expectations before the event were estimated to be 8.7
- The event got a 9.4 overall rating
- Some participants would have liked the presentations to be longer to between 15-20 minutes.
All overall ratings were made on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is considered negative and 10 considered positive.
Voices of participants
Olga Anne - Participant from Klaipeda University
Before the conference I expected to get in touch with some real examples of sustainable production in line with circular economy principles. As for consumption, I was hoping to hear about responsible consumption examples that could be implemented in our region/country.
The presentations during the conference were informative and interesting, complete with the latest figures and indicators.
After participating in the conference, I became convinced that more and more people understand the necessity of the “sustainable production and consumption”. I gained new knowledge on the green financial mechanism, understood why business supports the European Green Deal and gained evidence of young peoples creativity directed toward sustainable development.
Laurynas Virbickas - Director of the public enterprise Kaunas Region Waste Management Center
When I read about the conference I was surprised about the speakers and agenda, it all looked very attractive and interesting.
The best part of the conference, for me, was probably the philosophy during the round table conversations. I also think that the presentations from speakers were of great value.
From the conference I will bring with me inspiration, knowledge, contacts and the feeling of being a part of a community.
Tatjana Tambovceva - Presenter from Riga Technical University
Before attending the conference, I expected to learn more about sustainable consumption and production and to meet people, who are working in this area, both from Academia and Industry.
The best part of the conference was the interesting plenary session. The presentations were very valuable and connected with the reality. The discussions after the presentations provided a lot of information for analysis and investigation.
From the conference I will bring with me that sustainable consumption and production development is happening in all industries. There are a lot of lucky stories, but it is a long way towards fulfilling all SDGs. We face a lot of barriers and challenges.
Images from the event
Photo: Justina Šuminaitė
Žaneta Stasiškienė, director of the Institute of Environmental Engineering of Kaunas University of Technology, welcomed participants during the opening speech.
Photo: Justina Šuminaitė
Raminta Radavičienė, Vice Minister of the Environment of the Republic of Lithuania, one of the plenary speakers, presented challenges of climate mitigation and sustainable development in Lithuania.
Photo: Justina Šuminaitė
Participants during the first panel discussion 'Do we all have the same understanding of the concepts: sustainable society, sustainable production, sustainable business, circular economy'.
Photo: Justina Šuminaitė
Participants taking part both in-person and online during the second panel discussion 'Sustainable cities: an opportunity to redraw the most powerful capitals'.
Photo: Justina Šuminaitė
Participants taking part in the panel discussion 'Is the age of consumerism coming to an end? What awaits science and business?'.
Photo: Inga Gurauskienė
Presentations took part at parallel sessions, that were available online, during the second day of the conference.