April 17th-21st, 2023, Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) Faculty of Human and Social Studies Prof. Gražina Čiuladienė and Lecturer Vaida Aleknavičienė attended an international workshop in Vietnam, " HEIs as Innovative Triggers of Sustainable Development in European Cities in Post COVID-19 Era." 

Prof. Čiuladienė exchanged good practices and met with representatives of the Danang University and students.

The Erasmus+ financed international project, HEIsCITY, includes several MRU academics: Prof. Čiuladienė who is the project manager, Prof. Dr. Jolanta Pivorienė, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gintarė Žemaitaitienė. Prof. Čiuladienė went to Vietnam to take part in the international workshop along with Lecturer Aleknavičienė.

The project focuses on creating universal curricula (methodology and teaching tools) for all types of university courses to teach students the best ways to coordinate communication between citizens and local authorities for sustainable urban development in the post COVID -19 era.

Communication between local authorities and citizens should be carried out in different fields (environment, inclusiveness, economics, education, technical aspects, infrastructure, social support, etc.). Sustainable urban development is based on good communication between local authorities and citizens and on common values for both actors. Citizen involvement and participation in city development activities is crucial for inclusive and sustainable city development.

The HEIsCITI project will give students (from different specialities) the skills to animate citizen-local authority communication based on inclusive civic engagement with a focus on sustainable development based on environmentally-friendly solutions. Eventually, students will become more aware of the need for civic engagement and become responsible citizens, but also acquire knowledge and skills in sustainable urban development.

Universities can be a link between the needs of citizens and the objectives of local authorities, triggers for innovation to bring together the expectations of citizens and authorities by finding common values.

There will be a new studies course curriculum created within the project framework. Its usefulness will be based on data received from 3 different European universities WSB (Poland); Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart (Germany) and MRU (Lithuania).

Project runs from Dec. 1st, 2022 to Nov. 30th, 2025.

The project is funded by the Erasmus+ KA2-Cooperation Partnerships programme.