Education for Sustainable Development:
A University Perspective
Maris Klavins
1 Introduction: Sustainable Development on the Political
Agenda of Latvia
In Latvia, sustainable development (SD) was set as a political target for development
following the Rio meeting in 1992. Later on, it was harmonised with the objective of sustainable development as laid out in the EU Lisbon Strategy, and in the
Renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy (CEU 2006). In keeping with these
international and EU commitments, the political target of sustainable development
and corresponding objectives must be declared in national-level planning documents
(Saeima 2010). The responsibility for drawing up the National Development Plan
and monitoring the implementation of the Sustainable Development Plan of Latvia
until 2030 is laid in the Cross Sectorial Coordination Centre, subject to the supervision of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, with the planning and control
process taking place in ministries. Thus, the governance of sustainable development,
including its planning and implementation phases, is not implemented in a crosscutting manner in Latvia. Admittedly, progress towards sustainability has largely
been declarative, short of practical measures and outcomes. For example, impacts
of restructuring of the economy and the recent recession arising from the economic
crisis resulted not only in a major decrease in GDP but also in reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and use of fertilisers, as well as depopulation of the country
due to massive emigration. These trends are misattributed as progress with respect
to sustainable development.
At the same time, there have been marked achievements in the development governance of Latvia in several sectors. For instance, remarkable progress has been made
in promoting a sustainable energy policy. Despite various challenges, a sustainable
M. Klavins (B)
Department of Environmental Science, University of Latvia, 19 Raina Blvd, 1586 Riga, Latvia
e-mail: maris.klavins@lu.lv
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities, Sustainability and Society: Supporting
the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63399-8_18
277
A University Perspective
Maris Klavins
1 Introduction: Sustainable Development on the Political
Agenda of Latvia
In Latvia, sustainable development (SD) was set as a political target for development
following the Rio meeting in 1992. Later on, it was harmonised with the objective of sustainable development as laid out in the EU Lisbon Strategy, and in the
Renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy (CEU 2006). In keeping with these
international and EU commitments, the political target of sustainable development
and corresponding objectives must be declared in national-level planning documents
(Saeima 2010). The responsibility for drawing up the National Development Plan
and monitoring the implementation of the Sustainable Development Plan of Latvia
until 2030 is laid in the Cross Sectorial Coordination Centre, subject to the supervision of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, with the planning and control
process taking place in ministries. Thus, the governance of sustainable development,
including its planning and implementation phases, is not implemented in a crosscutting manner in Latvia. Admittedly, progress towards sustainability has largely
been declarative, short of practical measures and outcomes. For example, impacts
of restructuring of the economy and the recent recession arising from the economic
crisis resulted not only in a major decrease in GDP but also in reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and use of fertilisers, as well as depopulation of the country
due to massive emigration. These trends are misattributed as progress with respect
to sustainable development.
At the same time, there have been marked achievements in the development governance of Latvia in several sectors. For instance, remarkable progress has been made
in promoting a sustainable energy policy. Despite various challenges, a sustainable
M. Klavins (B)
Department of Environmental Science, University of Latvia, 19 Raina Blvd, 1586 Riga, Latvia
e-mail: maris.klavins@lu.lv
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities, Sustainability and Society: Supporting
the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63399-8_18
277