European Universities as Community Leaders of the Education for Sustainable Development

Program: Key Action 2: Cooperation among organisations and institutions/ „Partnerships for Cooperation” the field of higher education
Project Coordinator: prof. Ewa Kurantowicz
Duration: 01.10.2023 - 30.09.2025
Grant amount: 250 000 EUR

The project is implemented by the DSW University of Lower Silesia (project lider) in partnership with Universidade Do Algarve (Portugal), University of Degli Studi Di Milano-Bicocca (Italy) and Gothenburg Universitet (Sweden).

Aim of the project: Under EUGreenComp(2022), all educational settings provided by the university develop awareness and civic competences to take action to transform society into a more sustainable one. ESDEUS aims to build university capacity as a leader in Education for Sustainable Development by identifying its resources. It focuses on ESD-relevant teaching and collaboration with stakeholders.

 

Partners

Activities

The main activities are the evaluation of the curricula' relevance to ESD priorities and objectives; designing a curricula development plan; identifying university and stakeholders collaboration forms in the ESD field; describing ESD best practices in different EU regions. The consortium implements these activities by organising cross-sectoral learning/teaching events and using various methods based on place, problem, peer learning, good practices exchange, and mapping ESD university engagement.

 

Outputs planned are a Catalogue and Toolbox of HE ESD, a Report of HE stakeholders' perspective on ESD, ESD Collaborative Actions Booklet, Reports on ESD digital course design and pilot implementation, and Edu-events. The project directly impacts building links and enhancing relationships of HE with all community stakeholders. Long-term benefits relate to the sustainable society's value and LLL university promotion. ESDEUS follows green and digital principles in all its activities and outputs.

 

ESDEUS mini-series: Voices of ESDEUS: Exploring the Frontiers of ESD:

 

ESDEUS Conference: Who is a Leader of the Education for Sustainable Development?

ESDEUS Project Consortium invites to participate in the international conference: Who is a Leader  of the Education for Sustainable Development?

June 10-12, 2025, Wrocław, Poland (Wagonowa 1st, DSW University of Lower Silesia)

 

We offer a conference meeting for individuals and communities interested in talking about education for sustainable development. The conference will be organized in the Round Tables and Posters sessions. All sessions will be moderated by members of the ESDEUS team. Conference participants will submit a proposal of a topic that will be introduced during the round table session or presented in the form of a poster. During the conference, we will offer an introductory lecture to the conference debates "Who is a leader of the education for sustainable development". We propose the following thematic areas for ROUND TABLE and POSTER sessions:

  • Round Table I: ESD and the University: Practices – Challenges – Tensions
  • Round Table II: ESD and the Community: What are the faces of ESD in local communities?
  • Round Table III: Community, Stakeholder and University Collaboration for ESD: opportunities and barriers
  • Round Table IV: The sustainability educators: who are they and how do they work?
  • Poster sessions: the poster sessions will be organized depending on the participants' submissions. We expect that the posters will present:
    - the results of research in areas of interest to the conference title
    - good, inspiring practices related to ESD
    - examples of ESD social actions and activities based on the cooperation among universities, various stakeholders and communities. 

Participants’ submissions
Please send your topic proposal for discussion during the Round Table sessions (max.500 words) or the poster’s title you want to present during the conference to the following address: esdeus@dsw.edu.pl or submit it via the registration form by March 31, 2025. The conference is free of charge.


Scientific and organizational committee
Ewa Kurantowicz, Paweł Rudnicki, Urszula Kłobuszewska, Małgorzata Fit (ULS DSW), Adrianna Nizińska, Dimitrios  Papadopoulos (GU); Antonio Fragoso, Sandra Valadas, Liliana Paulos, Carla Vilhena, Amanda Barbosa, Catarina Doutor (UAlg), Andrea Galimberti, Alessandro Pepe, Greta Persico (UNIMIB).

 

Post-ESDEUS conference event 
ESREA Network: Between Global and Local-Adult Learning and Communities and the University of Lower Silesia DSW invite to participate in 14th Conference of BGL-AL&C ESREA Network Critical Learning for Sustainable Development: Communities' and Universities' Discourses 12-14 of June 2025.
More information and registration

 

 

Project Team

António Fragoso is Associate Professor at the University of Algarve (Portugal) and one of the editors of the European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults. He coordinates the Research Centre on Adult Education and Community Intervention (CEAD). His research interests include adult education, community education and development, non-traditional students in higher education, and the education and learning of older adults.

Carla Vilhena holds a Ph.D. in Educational Sciences from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of the New University of Lisbon. She is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Algarve; an integrated researcher at the Center for Research in Adult Education and Community Intervention (CEAD) at the University of Algarve, and a collaborator in the "Educational Policies and Organizations and Educational Dynamics" Group at the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (CEIS20) at the University of Coimbra. She is currently the director of the undergraduate program in Educational Sciences and Training at the University of Algarve.

Liliana Paulos is an Invited Assistant Professor at the University of Algarve (UAlg) (since 2021), and a researcher at CEAD/UAlg (since 2020). She is the Director of the Postgraduate Program in Education and Learning for Older Adults (2023-2024 / 2024-2025) and the Subdirector of the Postgraduate Program in Preparation for Retirement (2024-2025) at UAlg. Her scientific career began in 2015 as a research fellow in a European project aimed at enhancing the employability of non-traditional students in higher education (2014-1-UK01- KA203- 001842-TP, Erasmus+). From 2018 to 2022, she conducted her PhD (SFRH/BD/132068/2017, FCT) on the transition to the labour market of higher education graduates: identity, agency, and structure. In 2023, she completed her post-doctoral project aimed at enhancing the strategies of students' career management and the support of career services at UAlg (UIDB/05739/2020 CEAD BASE). She is leading the Scientific Dissemination Program at CEAD, alongside Sandra T. Valadas, with the primary aim of sharing and discussing scientific results in community public spaces (since 2022).

Sandra T. Valadas is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences of the University of Algarve and a researcher at CEAD. Her current research interests include employability in higher education, the transition of traditional and non-traditional students and graduates to the labour market, life trajectories of graduates and older individuals, and the impact of social capital on academic and professional success. She has been involved in various national and international research projects funded by FCT and Erasmus+ for several years. She mainly publishes in national and international peer-reviewed journals on adult education and educational psychology. As part of her academic management activities, she is responsible for numerous partnerships and protocols with community institutions.

Catarina Doutor is an Invited Assistant Professor at the University of Algarve and a Researcher at the Research Centre on Adult Education and Community Intervention (CEAD). She holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Lisbon, as well as a Master's degree in Social Education and a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from the University of Algarve. With experience as a research fellow, Catarina Doutor has focused her work on themes such as literacy, adult education, and non-traditional students in higher education. Her research interests include adult education, transition to higher education, African students, racism, and discrimination.

Adrianna Nizińska is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Education and Special Education, Faculty of Education, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. She is a member of ESREA research network. She has published and researched on adult learning in higher education, non-traditional students, and social dimensions of European universities. She is involved in the Master in Education for Sustainable Education as a teacher and a member of the MA ESD programme council, exploring ESD from the multidisciplinary perspective in different social spheres.

Dimitrios Papadopoulos is a doctoral student and a lecturer at the Department of Education and Special Education, Faculty of Education, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He is interested in social sustainability in adult learning and education, with a particular focus on the SFI program (Swedish Tuition for Immigrants). Former secretary of the Collegium for Politics in Education (POP), active member of the SwISCAR network (Swedish section of the International Society for Cultural-Historical Activity Research) and  ESREA.

Paweł Rudnicki is a professor at the Faculty of Applied Studies, University of Lower Silesia, excels in pedagogy and political science. As the director of doctoral school, he specializes in critical pedagogy and the educational dimensions of NGOs and informal groups. His collaborations focus on global education, anti-discrimination, and human rights. An expert in interventionist social research, Rudnicki studies minority groups, refugees, and informality. 
 

Ewa Kurantowicz is a researcher in the area of  transnational research in adult education, learning communities and higher education. Research has addressed the following areas: theories of reflective and autonomous learning, RPL, experiences of non-traditional students in HE, social responsibility of universities, cooperation with the local communities and the management of social and identity aspects of cultural heritage. Ewa has been leading the national research projects (2009 – 2011 and 2020-2023) and international ones EDUPRO (2014 – 2016); EUCUL (2018 – 2021). She is an active member of ESREA and BGL Adult Learning and Communities research network; works in the editorial group of INSTED and RELA.

Andrea Galimberti, PhD, researcher in General and Social Pedagogy at the Department of Human Sciences for Education “R. Massa”, University of Milano Bicocca – Italy. His research interests are mainly focused on epistemologies of education, transformation processes in higher education, adult education and sustainability issues. He is joint convenor of three international research network: “Access, Learning Careers and Identities Network” and “Working Life and Learning Network” - ESREA (European Society for Research on the Education of Adults) and “Research in Higher Education Network” - EERA (European Educational Research Association).
 

Disclaimer

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author or authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Foundation for the Development of the Education System. Neither the European Union nor the entity providing the grant can be held responsible for them.