Nordplus Green Seminar
Nordplus for a greener future
“Transformative education for a world in need of change”
Thank you all who attended the seminar! More than 230 participants from all the Nordic and Baltic countries attended the seminar which was aired from the Nordplus office in Sweden and hosted by the Swedish Council of Higher Education in Stockholm.
If you were unable to attend the seminar, please find the relevant materials below for your reference.
In this brochure, Nordplus for a greener future, you will find an insightful interview with Karen Ellemann, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, and project stories from various Nordplus projects.
Panel discussion- Nordplus for a greener future! The panel discussion was a part a webinar with focus on the follow up on the theme "Enhancing educational cooperation and preparing pupils, students, and adults for a greener future." Nordplus has played an important role in contributing to the enhancement of quality education on sustainable development at all levels of education by supporting collaboration between institutions on this issue. Participants in the panel: Andrés Pétursson, main coordinator of Nordplus, Rannis, Iceland, moderator of the panel Professor Ólafur Páll Jónsson, University of Iceland Graduate student at Stockholm University, Emilia Nygård, Finland Associate professor Lars Dermant-Poort, University of Greenland Amela Fific (moderator of the webinar) Panel discussion recorded in Solna strand, Sweden, May 28th 2024
Presentations from the panelists:
Another Dream_Educating for a future / Ólafur Páll Jónsson
Nordic educational network for innovative climate reporting_John Frølich
Think green, act green_Sandra Venckuviené and Karina Miskauskaité
Artic sense: Using virtual reality in Marine education
Spica - Global challenges in a Nordic context
For whom: The seminar is aimed at all educational sectors and organisations and institutions, interested in green and sustainable cooperation and projects.
We especially welcome teachers and those who work with pupils and students working on green subjects and sustainability.
Examples from four projects that have been chosen from all Nordplus projects working with the highlight from 2021 - 2022.
Example 1: Spica (NO and all Nordplus countries) Higher Education - Åsmund Aamaas.
Spica is a Nordic teacher education network that organises a yearly intensive course (5 ECTS) adapting global
questions and challenges to the characteristics of a local Nordic context and facilitates student and staff mobilities. Their work is focused on the key areas of sustainability, diversity, democracy, and citizenship in education.
Åsmund Aamaas, the coordinator of the network, is an associate professor in social studies at the University of South-Eastern Norway. His research interests include internationalisation of higher education, diversity in education and sustainable education.
Example 2: Think Green, act Green. Sandra Venckuviené – Kauraliaus Vocational Training Centre (LT) Junior.
The aim of this project is to identify the climate change issues at the local level and to promote the climate change awareness of students and teachers from Lithuania, Latvia, and Iceland.
Sandra Venckuviené is a biology teacher with over 20 years’ experience of teaching sustainability.
Example 3: Climate journalism - John Frølich - Nordic Journalist Centre (DK) Adult.
The project is a good example of how the higher education institutions use Nordplus Adult programme for the further training of specialist groups, in this case fully qualified journalists who must learn new things about climate journalism.
Example 4: Marine Conservation Platform - Marianna Helene Rasmussen Arctic Sense: virtual reality for ocean education S.V. Barba (NO). Horizontal
Barba is a marine conservation platform with a mission to generate tangible results that advance the protection of Arctic waters through storytelling and scientific exploration.
The three main pillars of this vision are as follows:
- A green Nordic region – together, we will promote a green transition of our societies and work towards carbon neutrality, sustainability and a bio-based economy.
- A competitive Nordic region – together, we will promote green growth in the Nordic region based on knowledge, innovation, mobility and digital integration.
- A socially sustainable Nordic region – together, we will promote an inclusive, egalitarian and interconnected region with shared values.
Nordplus has played an important role in contributing to the enhancement of quality education on sustainable development at all levels of education by supporting collaboration between institutions on these issue.
In 2021 and 2022, Nordplus welcomed applications for the programme with the theme ”Enhancing educational cooperation and preparing pupils, students and adults for a greener future.” This Nordplus highlight related to all Nordplus programmes and to all sectors within the field of education and training. The focus related to themes, not only in a technical sense, but in a broad societal way. Integrated with this theme was also the Nordic competitiveness based on knowledge, innovation, mobility and digital integration.
Good practice and inspiration
We have chosen fourteen projects from all five Nordplus sub-programmes. The main focus or highlight in these projects is sustainability and we hope they can inspire others in their projects and work. If you want to read even more about them, you can always enter the name of the project in our project database.
- Nordplus Higher Education
Name of the project: ABS (2023/10209)
About: ABS is a network of 16 Nordic and Baltic universities cooperating in environmental education and connecting students and teachers accross the fields of physics, chemistry, meteorology, biology, and geosciences.
Name of coordinating school/organisation: University of Helsinki
Name of the project: CIRRUS (2023/10045)
About: CIRRUS is a Nordic-Baltic network of Art and Design higher education. There are 18 excellent art and design schools from the Nordics and the Baltics in the circle of this cooperation. The central activities of the partner institutions are art and design, including innovative activities, technical development and artistic practices.
Name of coordinating school/organisation: Estonian Academy of Arts
Name of the project: SPICA (2023/10145)
About: The Spica-network is an arena of professional development by 9 nordic universities for student teachers and teacher educators in the key areas of sustainable development, diversity, democracy, and citizenship. The network focuses on interdisciplinary perspectives and innovative methods in education.
Name of coordinating school/organisation: University of South-Eastern Norway
- Nordplus Junior
Name of the project: NPJR-2021/10073: ” Think green, act green!”
About: The aim of this project is to identify the climate change issues at the local level and to promote the climate change awareness of students and teachers from Lithuania, Latvia and Iceland.
Name of coordinating school/organisation:Karalius Mindaugas Vocational training centre (LT) Junior.
Name of the project: NPJR-2018/10235: “From the bottom to the surface”
About: The project is between upper-secondary schools in Finland, Estonia and Latvia, and is set out to widely explore the element of water and its impact on life. All the meetings were different offering visits and activities suitable to the place of visit, which only emphasized the fact that the theme can be accessed from quite different angles.
Name of coordinating school/organisation: Lappajärvi Upper Secondary School (FI)
Name of the project: NPJR-2021/10057: Fokus Östersjön
About: YBC, Young Business Creatives, is a public upper secondary school in Nacka, a municipality just outside of Stockholm. With programmes in entrepreneurship and creativity, the school’s vision is ”We will change the world”. The school has been a member of the international network Changemaker Schools since 2014. The organisation behind Changemaker, Ashoka, supports initiatives in social entrepreneurship all over the world.
Name of coordinating school/organisation: Svenska Wisbygymnasiet (SE)
Name of the project: NPJR-2020/10145: Nordiska Changemakerskolor antar utmaningen FN:s globala mål
About: “Through the network, we had already made contact with Nordahl Grieg Vidergående Skole in Bergen, Norway, and Örestad Gymnasium in Copenhagen, Denmark,”
Name of coordinating school/organisation: YBC Gymnasiet (SE)
- Nordplus Adult
Name of the project: NPAD-2021/10074 – Klimajournalistik- Nordisk Uddannelsesnetværk for Innovativ Klimajournalistik
About: The project is a good example of how the higher education institutions use Nordplus Adult for the further training of specialist groups, in this case fully qualified journalists who have to learn new things about climate journalism. These are solid Nordic partners. The report is on its way, so this project is a good bet for a just completed project within the green highlight.
Name of coordinating school/organisation: Nordic Journalist Centre (DK)
Name of the project: NPAD-2021/10201 – Growing Seed Savers in Museums
About: The project is a cooperation between 8 Nordic organisation and will improve and spread knowledge of agrobiodiversity and how it is important to future sustainable agriculture and food systems.
Name of coordinating school/organisation: Latvian Permaculture Society (LV)
Name of the project: NPAD-2020/10256 – Short Food Supply schemes in Nordic-Baltic
About: The overall aim of the project is to foster establishment of the short food supply chains in rural areas through improvement of farmers knowledges on short food chain examples. Partners are from Norway (Hanen Viken), Denmark (Lystbaekforeningen), Iceland (Adult Education at the Agricultural Univ. of Iceland) and Lithuania who are also the program director (Association Viva Sol).
Name of coordinating school/organisation: Association Viva Sol (LT)
- Nordplus Horizontal
Name of the project: NPHZ-2021/10036 “Arctic Sense: virtual reality for ocean education” som døme på grøne prosjekt frå Horisontal-portefølja.
About: S.V. Barba is a marine conservation platform with a mission to generate tangible results that advance the protection of Arctic waters through storytelling and scientific exploration.
Name of coordinating school/organisation: S.V. Barba (NO)
Name of the project: NPHZ-2021/10117 “Nordic and Baltic Educational Roadmap for sustainability in the Textile and Clothing Sector”
About: The SusTexEdu project investigated the higher education of textile materials, responsibility and circular economy and how the education answers to the requirements of sustainable development in working life and the EU’s carbon neutrality goals in the Nordic and Baltic countries.
Name of coordinating school/organisation: Finske Metropolia UAS (FI)
- Nordplus Nordic Language
Name of the project: NPLA-2022/10011 Atlantbib 4.0 – Inklusion og grøn omstilling.
About: Atlantbib.org er et skoleprojekt med deltagere fra Danmark, Norge, Sverige, Finland, Island, Færøerne, Grønland, Estland, Letland, Litauen, Sydslesvig og de samiske områder i Skandinavien. Projektet er økonomisk støttet gennem Nordplus Nordens Språk 2022. Projektet startede i 2015 med støtte fra Nord Plus Språk 2015.
Name of coordinating school/organisation: Vonsild Skole (DK)
Name of the project: NPLA-2021/10044 – Digitale sprogmøder og øget nordisk samarbejde for en grønnere fremtid
About: Projektet har til formål at udvikle og distribuere undervisningsmateriale til grundskolen, som løfter sprog og kulturundervisningen i Norden og integrerer en nordisk dimension i klimaundervisningen
Name of coordinating school/organisation: The Federation of Nordic Associations (DK-FNF)
