Pathways to Climate Neutral Campuses: Co-Creating Action Plans for Sustainable Universities

Course Type: Applied Blended Challenge (ABC) Program

Duration and Timeline:

• Course components and contact hours: 8 hrs. synchronous online, 40 hours onsite, and 35 hrs. independent and group work before and after the course.
• Online component:

October 12, CET 16:00-18:00

October 19, CET 16:00-18:00

October 22, CET 16:00-18:00

November 2, CET 16:00-18:00

On-site component: November 9 to November 13, 2026 (Riga, Latvia)

 

Award, Credits and Certification

On successful completion of the course, participants will receive 3 ECTS credits and a certificate of attendance

Organized by:

Latvian Academy of Culture (LAC), Latvia

Rūdolfs Kivlenieks

Asnāte Kalēja (coordinator)

Lietuvos Inzinerijos Kolegija Higher Education Institution (LIK), Lithuania

Gitana Vyčienė

Vilda Grybauskienė

External stakeholders that will be involved in the course:

ESG consulting agency “Sustinere Latvia”

 

Course Description and Learning Objectives

The ABC programme “Pathways to Climate Neutral Campuses – Co-Creating Action Plans for Sustainable Universities” is a practice-oriented course in which students work in interdisciplinary teams to develop realistic climate action solutions for higher education institutions. Through online sessions and onsite workshops in Riga, participants explore climate neutrality, sustainability, and environmental governance in universities, focusing on key impact areas such as energy use, mobility, waste, infrastructure, and resource consumption. During the onsite mobility week, students identify sustainability challenges, assess environmental impacts, and develop Climate Neutrality Guidelines or Climate Action Plans for real university contexts. They apply practical tools such as stakeholder mapping, basic carbon footprint logic, resource-flow analysis, prioritisation methods, and design thinking to transform challenges into feasible solutions. The programme combines theoretical input with practical workshops and field visits enabling students to connect sustainability frameworks with real institutional implementation.

 

Course Description:

Provide a more structured explanation of the course, dividing it into its main components:

• Online sessions: During the online phase October 12 to November 2, students’ baseline knowledge of climate neutrality concepts, sustainability governance, and institutional environmental performance is assessed through structured discussions and preparatory analytical tasks. This phase also equips them with methodological tools for campus-level analysis. In the onsite phase, students apply this foundation in practice: working in interdisciplinary teams, they analyse real university sustainability challenges, identify priority intervention areas, and develop evidence-based solutions in the form of Climate Neutrality Guidelines or a structured Climate Action Plan with measurable targets and implementation pathways.
• Onsite sessions: The onsite mobility week in Riga functions as an applied sustainability laboratory where students work intensively in interdisciplinary teams to develop practical climate action proposals for universities. Participants engage with real university sustainability challenges covering areas such as energy efficiency, mobility systems, waste and circular resource management, infrastructure performance, and sustainability governance. Workshops combine short expert inputs with hands-on application sessions focused on environmental impact assessment, stakeholder mapping, prioritisation of sustainability interventions, feasibility analysis, climate action planning, and creative design thinking. The learning process is highly practice-oriented, with students continuously applying tools and methods directly to their selected university challenge. The programme also includes field visits to sustainability-related sites and initiatives in Riga, allowing students to observe climate action and sustainability practices in real-life contexts and reflect on how theoretical approaches are implemented in practice. Each team develops a structured final output in the form of either Climate Neutrality Guidelines or a Climate Action Plan for a defined university context. The deliverables include a clear problem definition, strategic objectives, proposed interventions, implementation timeline, responsible stakeholders, and monitoring indicators. The mobility week concludes with final presentations and reflection sessions, where students present their results to academic staff, peers, and external sustainability practitioners.

Location and dates: Riga, Latvia, November 9 to November 13, 2026

• Follow-up / reflection: The follow-up phase goes deeper on structured student reflection. In an online session held after the mobility week, interdisciplinary teams present the refined version of their Climate Neutrality Guidelines or Climate Action Plan and reflect on their learning process. Students critically assess how their initial knowledge and baseline analysis developed into practical solutions, what challenges they encountered in translating sustainability concepts into operational measures, and how interdisciplinary collaboration influenced decision-making.

The reflection emphasises personal learning outcomes, problem-solving capacity, and the feasibility of proposed interventions. Where possible, presentations are shared with university management representatives, reinforcing the connection between academic work and real institutional impact.

 

Specific learning objectives include:

Please list clear and measurable objectives that students should achieve by the end of the course:

• Explain the concept of climate neutrality and its relevance to environmental safety, sustainability, and institutional resilience in higher education.
• Identify and analyze key sources of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts within a university context, including energy use, mobility, waste, and resource management.
• Collaborate effectively in interdisciplinary and international teams to co-create practical sustainability solutions.

Which students would find this course useful for them?

This course may be suitable for students from ACE²-EU partner universities enrolled in undergraduate or postgraduate programs in the following fields:

• Environmental science, sustainability studies, and climate studies
• Engineering and architecture
• Project management, public policy, urban development
• Education and social sciences

This course may be suitable for those who have an interest in:

• Climate neutrality, sustainability, and environmental responsibility
• Public policy, sustainable governance
• Engineering and architecture

• Recommended Language Level :

An intermediate level of English (B2), as the working language will be English.

Application Process:

Interested applicants should

🔗 Apply here: https://forms.gle/AdD1M8HgEZQc79RCA

Deadline for receipt of applications: July 25, 2026

Please note that submitting an application does not guarantee a place on the programme. Participating institutions apply their own internal selection procedures.

Prior to the start of the course, selected participants will receive a welcome email from the ACE²-EU Alliance containing detailed information and instructions specific to the programme.

Further Information

For any further information or queries related to the course, please contact:

Rūdolfs Kivlenieks rkivlenieks@gmail.com

Asnāte Kalēja (coordinator) – asnate.kaleja@lka.edu.lv