Workshop on Green Campus Development, Living Labs and Resilient University Management
SPECTRA Centre of Excellence of the EU, Faculty of Management, Comenius University in Bratislava, is preparing an international workshop entitled “Green Campus Development, Living Labs and Resilient University Management”, which will take place in Bratislava on 19–22 October 2026.
The event is organised within the framework of the STICS – Smart Transformation and Innovation Consortium Slovakia project, as part of Task T6.5 Green Smart Campus. The workshop will be organised in cooperation with ConnectED – German–Ukrainian University Network for Empowering Higher Education in Environmental Protection and Nature Conservation, coordinated by the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Germany. ConnectED supports long-term cooperation, knowledge exchange and capacity-building between German and Ukrainian higher education institutions in the fields of environmental protection, nature conservation, sustainability and institutional development.
Task T6.5 Green Smart Campus focuses on the development of a Green Smart Campus living lab as a long-term platform for sustainability, resilience, innovation, stakeholder cooperation and community-building. In this context, the workshop is designed as an international knowledge-exchange activity supporting the further development of the Green Smart Campus concept, strategy and action plan.
The workshop will bring together academic staff, university administrators, Slovak hosts, invited experts and representatives of Ukrainian higher education institutions. Participants will exchange practical experience related to sustainable campus transformation, living labs, resilient university governance, environmental management, innovative educational tools and community-building solutions.
The main objective of the workshop is to create a platform for mutual learning and discussion on how universities can respond to environmental, institutional and crisis-related challenges while strengthening their development strategies, cooperation networks and international partnerships.
Main topics of the workshop
The workshop programme will focus on several key themes related to sustainable and resilient university development. These include living labs as tools for sustainable campus and community innovation, governance and management of institutional and stakeholder networks, green and smart campus development, and the role of universities in environmental and social transformation.
A specific part of the programme will be dedicated to Ukrainian experience in managing the educational process under crisis conditions. Participants will discuss key lessons learned from operating universities in challenging circumstances and explore how these experiences can contribute to more resilient university governance and campus management.
The programme will also include presentations and discussions on innovative educational, promotional and communication tools, including the use of VR tours in higher education. Special attention will be given to international cooperation, networking and the role of initiatives such as ConnectED in supporting knowledge exchange, joint teaching activities, institutional capacity-building and the dissemination of good practices.
Expected outcomes
The workshop is expected to strengthen cooperation between Slovak, Ukrainian and German higher education institutions and partner networks. It will support the exchange of practical knowledge and transferable experience relevant to the development of the Green Smart Campus living lab.
The event will also help identify priority themes, recommendations and practical inputs for the further development of the Green Smart Campus strategy and action plan. In addition, the workshop will contribute to the community-building and international cooperation dimension of Task T6.5 and create space for future joint initiatives among participating institutions and networks.
Participating institutions
The workshop will include participants from Ukrainian universities and educational institutions, including representatives from Kyiv, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Rivne, Odesa and Sumy, together with Slovak hosts, invited experts and partners from the ConnectED network.