From 2 to 17 May 2025, the TransLearnN Spring School “Strategic Adaptive Management for Sustainable Reconstruction and Restoration” was held at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.
The project, and consequently the Spring School, is co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnerships programme. The aim of the event was to pilot a newly introduced teaching module for students and to train academic staff from Ukraine to independently deliver this course at their home universities.
The programme brought together more than 20 Ukrainian and Lithuanian students, as well as ten lecturers from Ukraine, Lithuania, and Germany.
The course development was coordinated by Angela Dichte from the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (Germany), while Dr Vaida Šerevičienė, together with the Sustainability Hub VILNIUS TECH team, was responsible for organising the on-site component of the Spring School in Vilnius.
The educational objective of the course is to develop practical competencies in adaptive governance by introducing students to the concept of the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation (Conservation Standards by the CMP)—an internationally developed and widely recognised open-source methodology used worldwide for nature conservation and for managing human–nature conflicts.
Students completed the first three of the five steps of the methodology:
Situation assessment – including the identification and evaluation of the viability of relevant biodiversity targets, as well as the analysis of various drivers of their degradation, such as human activity, war, and the impacts of climate change;
Planning phase – involving the identification of “entry points” for effective restoration strategies; and
Initiation of the implementation phase – through the development of a functional partnership framework, as well as a preliminary timeline and budget plan.
The Spring School consisted of two logically interconnected phases. During the first week, which was held online, students became familiar with the theoretical concepts of sustainability and adaptive governance, as well as the Conservation Standards methodology. Lectures on the next methodological step, presentations on current challenges in various sectors (such as forestry, agriculture, water resources, energy, waste management, and transport), and group work—during which students developed their own situation assessments using an online collaborative board—were closely interwoven throughout the programme.
The second week took place on-site at the VILNIUS TECH campus. Here, international teams refined their models and transferred their work into the analog world, using colored paper, pens, and tape. This week was dedicated to the creative development of projects through building theories of change and initiating precise adjustments to activities to ensure effective impact.
The work resulted in the creation of four pilot projects targeting different natural regions of Ukraine—the Carpathians, Polissia, Forest-Steppe, and Steppe. These projects include the development of recreational and educational spaces for veteran rehabilitation, environmental awareness initiatives, a roadmap for a demining financing tool for agricultural lands, and measures to conserve aquatic biodiversity. All teams successfully presented their work and received participation certificates.
