Needs and opportunities for studentparticipation in decision-making for sustainabledevelopment at universities

Anna Batorczak

doi:10.16926/eat.2025.14.13

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Published: 2025-12-08

DOI: https://doi.org/10.16926/eat.2025.14.13

Keywords:

students, participation, university, sustainable development, education

Anna Batorczak

University of Warsaw

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7740-3586

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to draw attention to the importance of student participation in decision-making for sustainable development at universities. In the article a pedagogical model that empowers and motivates students to become active and critical citizens, able to participate in shaping a sustainable future is briefly presented. Additionally some of conceptual frameworks of students participatory practices in school presented the research literature are discussed. The last part of the article presents two international programs aimed at strengthening student activity for sustainable development at universities: eco-campus and green office.

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Issue

No. 14 (2025)

Section

On the border of fields

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

AUTHOR'S STATEMENT

I am aware that the Educational Transactional Analysis journal is published under a Creative Commons license - Attribution (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode).

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Author Biography

Anna Batorczak, University of Warsaw

Anna Batorczak, PhD - biologist, ecologist. She defended her doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Pedagogy at the University of Warsaw on the state of education for sustainable development in formal education in Poland and the UK. She is currently an assistant professor at the University of Warsaw at the University Center for Research on the Natural Environment and Sustainable Development and teaches Education for Sustainable Development to students of the Interdepartmental Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development major.

Over the years, she has coordinated numerous national and international projects relating to various aspects of education for sustainable development such as education in protected areas, education of people with disabilities, school as an institution of sustainable development, and the use of multimedia. She is a lecturer at Universities of the Third Age and Children's University.

She is the author of numerous lesson plans and educational studies. She cooperates with numerous organizations and institutions dealing with education, including the Polish Committee for UNESCO and the Foundation for the Development of Education Systems. Expert of the European Commission in the Horizon Europe program.

How to Cite

Batorczak, A. (2025). Needs and opportunities for studentparticipation in decision-making for sustainabledevelopment at universities. Educational Transactional Analysis, 14, 231-243. https://doi.org/10.16926/eat.2025.14.13

References

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Bucharest EU Children’s Declaration | UNICEF Romania. (n.d.). Retrieved January 2, 2025, from https://www.unicef.org/romania/bucharest-eu-childrens-declaration

Hart, R. A. (1992). Children’s participation: From tokenism to citizenship (Innocenti Essays No. 4). UNICEF International Child Development Centre. https://ideas.repec.org/p/ucf/inness/inness92-6.html

Hart, R. A. (2008). Stepping back from “the ladder”: Reflections on a model of participatory work with children. In A. Reid, B. B. Jensen, J. Nikel, & V. Simovska (Eds.), Participation and learning: Perspectives on education and the environment, health and sustainability (pp. 19–31). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6416-6_2

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Rusak, K., & Batorczak, A. (2022). “Green Office” jako forma oddolnej studenckiej inicjatywy wprowadzania zasad zrównoważonego rozwoju na uniwersytetach. Polish Journal for Sustainable Development, 25(1), 75–82. https://doi.org/10.15584/pjsd.2021.25.1.8

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