'Universities as Change Agents in Sustainable Development'
This symposium took place on 18-19 March 2026 at Tallinn University. It was an event held as part of the Green Week of Estonian universities. There were over 120 participants from 29 countries and 81 organisations, with 21 from BUP participating universities, highlighting the event's broad international scope.
The event was organised by the Research and Transfer Centre 'Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management' and the BUP Associated Secretariat at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany, the KEKO Cluster on Adaptation and Mitigation of Environmental Change and the ERA Chair project on Sustainable Futures (SustainERA) and the BUP National Centre in Estonia at Tallinn University, as well as The Baltic University Programme.
The event promoted collaboration and built international and cross-sectoral partnerships among universities, municipalities, NGOs, and businesses to increase their collective impact. It highlighted innovative, scalable, and transferable models for embedding sustainability into curricula, research, campus operations, and community engagement. It focused on Education for Sustainable Development. The conference also offered a platform for PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers to present their work and network with established leaders and senior researchers in sustainability.
The full programme, including speakers and their institutional affiliations, is available on the symposium event page on the Tallinn University website. The event included two keynote speeches by Prof Tauri Tuvikene and Dr Siret Talve, four parallel sessions, and two poster sessions featuring exciting research topics and their applications. A panel discussion, 'The Role of the University Partnerships towards Sustainable Futures - from the Perspective of Public and Private Sector Stakeholders', led by Vice-rector Katrin Saks with the SustainERA advisory board and the research members, as well as a World Café 'Universities as Change Agents through sustainability capacity-building' led by Prof Kai Pata, was organised. Participants also enjoyed various exhibitions at Tallinn University, including one titled 'Moths are chewing the uneven fabric of life' with artist Jane Remm.
Outcomes of the event
The symposium's full papers are collected for the book titled Universities as Change Agents in Sustainable Development and will be published by Springer Nature within the World Sustainability Series in 2026, a leading peer-reviewed series on sustainability in higher education.
Organiser voice
”It was a great success to organise a joint event with our partners and colleagues at Tallinn University and Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. Around 20 research and support staff helped make it happen as moderators, keynote speakers, panellists, and PhD students and PostDoc volunteers. Following direct feedback received during and after the event, people found it relevant both from a research and networking perspective, and they look forward to seeing and collaborating again soon.”
- Katrin Männik, Tallinn University
Participants and organisers at the symposium held at Tallinn University. Photo: Dušan Pajović
Images from the symposium
Photo: Marten Puidak
Dr. Katrin Männik, Tallinn University and Centre Director at the BUP National Centre in Estonia, one of the main organisers, welcomed the participants to the event.
Photo: Marten Puidak
During the parallel sessions, the participants were given the opportunity to present their research. After this, there followed questions and discussions.
Photo: Marten Puidak
At the SustainERA World Café, there was a workshop titled ‘Universities as Change Agents through sustainability capacity-building’.
Photo: Marten Puidak
Tallinn University’s Vice rector Katrin Saks moderated the SustainERA panel discussion titled ‘The Role of the University Partnerships towards Sustainable Futures - from the Perspective of Public and Private Sector Stakeholders’. Panellists were, from the left, Veiko Karu, Associate Professor of Raw Materials Circularity at Estonian Business School, Katrin Männik, Research Fellow on Sustainable Education of Tallinn University, Kristi Klaas, Estonian Ministry of Climate, Deputy Secretary General on Green Transition and Anna-Greta Tsahkna, CEO of Timbeter and Vice-President of the Estonian IT and Telecommunications Association.
Photo: Marten Puidak
Apart from workshops, the breaks and lunches were excellent opportunities for the participants to mingle and continue their discussions.