The exhibition is a part of Scandinavian Days organised by Kaunas Municipality, providing a chance to Kaunas people to get to know the Scandinavian culture, lifestyle, and business relations. “Accepting the challenge – Sweden and the 2030 Agenda” invites the public to get acquainted with the global sustainable development goals and introduces Swedish achievements in this field.
“I am very grateful to Kaunas city for the brilliant initiative of Scandinavian Days and for Kaunas University of Technology for the openness to the new ideas. University is the most fitting place for this exhibition and the academic community is the perfect audience for spreading sustainability ideas. We, Swedish, believe that our country can become a global leader in the fight with sustainability challenges. I believe that each of us can contribute to solving these problems, and the main thing is that we are aiming to do this together. Only acting together, we can implement changes”, said H.E. Ms Maria Christina Lundqvist, the Ambassador of Sweden in Lithuania during the exhibition’s opening speech.
KTU Rector Professor Eugenijus Valatka emphasised the importance of sustainability in the context of the development of innovations’ ecosystem in Kaunas region. According to the Rector, sustainability must be the keyword in the discourse on any kind of development, as it is related to the future of human existence. He quoted the words of the 15-year-old sustainability activist from Sweden Greta Thunberg whose speech to the leaders of the United Nations Climate Change COP24 Conference was among the most impressive.
The initiator of the exhibition, Visvaldas Varžinskas, Associated Professor of KTU Institute of Environmental Engineering says that the main link between Kaunas city, KTU and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden is the Baltic University Programme (BUP). BUP is a network connecting 225 Baltic Sea region universities, coordinated by BUP Secretariat headquartered in Uppsala University in Sweden.
“KTU is an active member of the network, a founder of BUP Lithuanian National Centre. The main goal of the Baltic University Programme is to develop and to expand the ideas of sustainability, environmental protection and democracy in the Baltic Sea region. This exhibition is the perfect opportunity for the academic community and Kaunas residents to get more knowledge on the global sustainable development goals and Swedish achievements in this sphere”, says Dr Varžinskas, Head of the BUP Lithuanian National Centre.
BUP Lithuanian National Centre (similar centres are operating in 12 countries of the Baltic Sea region) is a regional coordinator facilitating international research partnerships, inviting into international science and student conferences, organising summer schools, training sessions and other activities. The dissemination of sustainable development ideas is among the priorities in the Centre’s activities.
