Greening Relevance in Operations in Western-Balkans Tertiary-Education Habitats (GROWTH)

Greening Relevance in Operations in Western-Balkans Tertiary-Education Habitats – GROWTH

STRAND 1

Duration: 36 months

Keywords: Environmental sustainability, Climate change, Green university; climate neutrality; green methodology and practice; green transition

Description: Planet on which we live has seen better days, and one of the main culprits for its present unfortunate state are human globalisation and civilisation. Relentless use of natural resources in an unsustainable manner has led to pollution, global warming, overpopulation, waste disposal, and loss of biodiversity, to name but a few. The European Union (EU) has set a very ambitious task of making our continent climate neutral by 2050. In order to do that, the EU Commission presented the document titled the European Green Deal. Such an ambitious task can only be carried out if all our societies join forces and knowledge to achieve it. Among other solutions presented in the aforementioned strategy, one of the most conspicuous is education of today´s generations for the world of tomorrow, or “learning for environmental sustainability” (GreenComp:6). GROWTH joins overall efforts towards climate neutrality by tackling the issue of environmental awareness and green transition in the Western Balkans. It gathers 7 partners from the EU and Western Balkans, whereby the core intervention locations are four target higher education institutions (hereinafter: HEIs) from B&H and Montenegro. Interventions are aimed at raising environmental awareness among HEI stakeholders by introducing the concept of green universities and green education methodologies and practices in four partner HEIs in Western Balkans. Project outcomes will benefit four HEIs in B&H and Montenegro, HE students, teaching and non-teaching HE staff, HEIs management, state institutions, institutions of local self-government, and the media by presenting them with environmentally friendly alternatives, waking them up to the dangers of climate changes, and empowering them to act and significantly contribute to a green and bright future by stacking their own pieces of environmental efforts into the mosaic of climate neutrality.