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

• Anna Batorczak

  University of Warsaw

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

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.

1. 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.

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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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EcoCampus – About. (n.d.). EcoSchools Global. Retrieved January 5, 2025, from https://www.ecoschools.global/ecocampus-about

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