University contributions to environmental sustainability: challenges and opportunities from the Lithuanian case

Higher education plays an important role in shaping an ecologically sound society. By greening the campus, initiating internal and external policies and activities, and including all stakeholders in the educational process, universities can contribute to environmental awareness and behaviour and, in turn, to environmental sustainability. Research in Central and Eastern European countries in this field is rather limited; moreover, there is a lack of resumptive methods evaluating university contributions to environmental sustainability. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate sustainability opportunities at Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. The results of this study show that environmental courses for all students might be of importance, especially when trying to reach students who are not environmentally committed. Regarding the university's official policies, analysis shows that the university is still in the early phases of building consistent policies for environmental sustainability. Furthermore, intentions are quite often “locked in”. Thus, university policies promoting environmental sustainability must be more consistent and continuous, rather than fragmented and occasional.