Blended Intensive Programmes(BIP) is one of the latest initiatives of the Erasmus+ project, where students, researchers or university staff can participate in a course organised by another university in Europe. So far, the University of Gdańsk has participated in BIP as a partner, while Monday, April 17, saw the start of the residential part of the course, in which UG is acting as a leader for the first time. 

'Sustainable City' is a Blended Intensive Programme course during which students from SEA-EU member universities can learn about methods of implementing the goals of the UN Agenda 2030 in businesses or local governments. Researchers from the University of Gdańsk will introduce them to, among other things, the concepts of a circular economy or the challenges of sustainable urban planning.

There will also be practical field trips. International students will see how the function of the space of the Gdańsk Shipyard has changed and visit Tricity businesses that are introducing sustainable solutions. As the programme's name suggests, an intensive week of theory and practice awaits them. 
Twenty-eight students from the University of Malta, the University of West Brittany and the University of Split have arrived for the residential classes. They are students of Geography and urban planning, Built environment, Architecture, Economy and tourism, Tourism and hotel management, Economy and tourism, Tourism and hospitality. To meet such diverse perspectives, researchers from the Social Sciences, Economics and Management faculties were involved in the initiative.

On April 17, the residential part of the course began. At the Faculty of Management, students from France, Croatia and Malta were welcomed by the Vice-Dean for Internationalisation and Development, dr hab. Angelika Kędzierska-Szczepaniak, prof. UG, and the Head of the UG International Cooperation Office, Magdalena Sawicz.

- 'We love to waste. Every year, the European Union produces more than 2.5 billion tonnes of rubbish,' – said dr inż. Aleksandra Koszarek-Cyra during the introductory lecture. - 'What do we throw away? Metal, wood, electronics or food products and their packaging. This is particularly important in EU countries where recycling is rare.'

We talked about Blended Intensive Programmes at UG with Monika Butkiewicz, University Coordinator of the Erasmus+ Programme at UG and dr Helena Garczyńska from the UG Institute of Scandinavian Studies.