Baltic Sea Region Universities’ Seminar on Sustainable Development | Gdańsk University of Technology

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were developed and adopted by all UN member states in 2015 as a universal call for action to eradicate poverty and hunger, comprehensively protect our planet's environment and climate, and ensure peace and human well-being by 2030. Meeting these goals will be even more challenging in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is affecting global economies and industry.

The seminar, which took place remotely on 29 April, emphasized that recovering from the crisis will require a recovery driven by transformation and public investment supporting green infrastructure, digitization and responsible consumption and production. This should go hand in hand with increased efforts and investment to improve education and skills across Europe and the world and accelerate the convergence of living standards.

The seminar participants emphasized the key role of universities in achieving the goals of sustainable development through targeted education, research and innovation as part of the university's social mission. The need for a thorough understanding of how universities can effectively participate in the implementation of SDGs in their daily activities was emphasized.

BSRUN member institutions are actively involved in activities for sustainable development. They organize various events, open courses and implement projects based on energy issues, circular economy, climate change, waste management, recycling, etc. Ten BSRUN members (including Gdańsk University of Technology) were classified in THE Impact Rankings in April 2021. The aim of the seminar was to learn about the approach and strategies implemented in the field of sustainable development goals at universities. The speakers presented the solutions introduced at their universities and how it influenced their position in the rankings.

Gdańsk University of Technology as a research university, whose activities are focused on priority research areas related to the goals of sustainable development, was presented by prof. Dariusz Mikielewicz, vice-rector for organization and development. The implementation of projects and tasks within four Gdańsk Tech research centers contributes significantly to the implementation of the SDGs. Most of them are reflected in at least 11 out of 17 defined sustainable development goals. As a technical university, Gdańsk Tech focuses in particular on SDGs dedicated to innovation and industry. In the latest, third edition of THE Impact Rankings, Gdańsk University of Technology has been classified in the overall ranking and in 8 individual SDGs rankings. Gdańsk Tech turned out to be a leader among Polish universities in four areas: Innovation, Industry, Infrastructure; Climate Actions; Responsible Consumption and Production as well as Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.