The Baltic University Programme (BUP) is a network of about 225 universities and other institutes of higher learning throughout the Baltic Sea region. The network is coordinated by the Baltic University Programme Secretariat a part of Uppsala Centre for Sustainable Development (Uppsala CSD) at Uppsala University, Sweden.
The Programme works mainly through producing and offering courses for studies of the Baltic Sea region, its environment, political change, and sustainable development. All courses have an element of regional studies and are interdisciplinary. Cooperation with other actors in society in applied projects is an important part of studying and developing sustainability strategies, and promoting competence development at large.
The Baltic Sea region is in this case the drainage basin of the Baltic Sea. There are 14 countries completely or partially within the basin, including the Nordic and Baltic States, Russia, Poland, and Germany, as well as the major inland states of Belarus, Ukraine and the Czech and Slovak republics. The region has 85 million inhabitants constituting 11% of the population of Europe.The Baltic University Programme is a network of some 225 universities and institutions of higher education in the Baltic Sea region, coordinated by a secretariat at Uppsala University, Sweden. The Programme main focus is to produce and offer courses for studies on sustainable development of the region, of its environment and its political changes.
The Baltic University Programme was initiated by Uppsala University in 1991. It has its roots in the major changes in the Baltic Sea region at the end of the Cold War. Global efforts to promote sustainable development started during the same period, with the World Summit for Environment and Development in Rio in 1992. Sustainable development addressing environmental, economic and social issues has become a widespread goal during the changes in the Baltic Sea region. Today, the Baltic University Programme has developed into one of the largest university networks in the world with more than 220 universities in the network. Several kinds of universities are active within the network: classical, technical, agricultural and pedagogical. The participating universities cooperate in areas of common interest for the whole region – a sustainable regional development.The Program produces curricula and teaching materials. All of the courses have an element of regional studies and are interdisciplinary and problem oriented. The Baltic University Program network intends to be useful to several sectors of society.
Baltic University Program courses are international, multidisciplinary, problem-oriented, and based on ongoing research at the participating universities. The courses intend to give comprehensive knowledge on education for sustainable development, the environment and of the societies in the Baltic Sea Region. The courses are organized as an international cooperation within the network. In this way, we keep the best standard possible, considering that the topics chosen are so wide that no single university, East or West, has the competence needed to produce such a course on its own. The course groups in the different countries are offered possibilities to get in touch with each other, and to participate in common events, lectures and seminars, using information technology.
To support the university teachers in the network, seminars and conferences are arranged for various subject areas. Each year we organize at least one large teachers’ conference on education for sustainable development and one teacher training on another subject. This year as many as three teacher conferences/ courses were held on Education for Sustainable Development. Also a teacher training on the European Union Chemicals policy, REACH, was arranged. Teachers get the opportunity to discuss with colleagues how to use the material, how to cooperate with practitioners, how to build networks and how to address questions of sustainability at one’s own municipality. Students are invited to attend summer camps, sailing trips and other events organized by the participating universities and the Baltic University Program Secretariat. Students’ conferences are arranged regularly to promote contacts, international understanding and democracy development. Since 2008 we have held both a spring and autumn Students conference
The activities and study materials have been used in many of the countries as a resource to develop national strategies of sustainable development. The network has also been a resource in the development of cities. Cooperation with other actors in society in applied projects is an important part of studying and developing sustainability strategies.
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